The Contemporary Era of action movies is nearing its end.
It began with movies in the 1980s such as DIE HARD, THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, TOP GUN, BIG TROUBLE LITTLE CHINA.
Small movies with grounded plot points that focused on the character acting to make us smile, think, and keep us on the edge of our seat guessing how they were going to get out of it.
These movies made actors Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Cruise, and Kurt Russel into huge global celebrities.
Or as I like to think of it. Those unknown stars at the time, made those otherwise plain stories magnificent.
Thus paving the way to 2024/2025 where the last movies in the grounded world of dramatic action is making its last explosive punch.
In 2024 FAST AND FURIOUS, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, and a few others end their franchise, and mark the transition of passing the torch to a new generation of action movies.
For now I consider it the Gen Z era. We’ve already seen a few examples with SPIDER-MAN SPIDER-VERSE movies and THE BATMAN. Both made for Gen Z specifically. With the Spider-verse series animation being made by Gen-Z kids.
This is the voice of their generation telling the stories of the future.
Good or bad or ugly, this is how art works. We pass the torch to the next and sit back to learn something new.
That said, I do lament because the last movies of the Contemporary Era are lackluster.
Thankfully, JOHN WICK CHAPTER 4 and TOP GUN: MAVERICK was a strong finish that honours all the decades of Great action moves that inspired it.
We’ll see how MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and FAST AND FURIOUS end in their part 2s next year. It may redeem their individual franchises and make us all proud to say we lived during the Greatest era of action cinema ever.
Reply with your favorite action movies or why. Or tell me what you think about what Gen Zs take on cinema will be.
Be well,
Knox