Bringing out the Dead

Is the age of the American action star over? Are the days of Schwarzennegger, Stallone, and Willis really dead and gone? I've just come from my weekly "popcorn cinema" showing, where Teddy and I watched Renny Harlin's 12 Rounds (2009). For those who aren't familiar with Harlin's past work, his repertoire includes such actions movie dregs/classics as Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), and Deep Blue Sea (1999). Tonights choice was about as predictably uninteresting as any film i've seen in a while, complete with explosions, soulless 1-dimensional characters, and a well placed 1 liner or 2. The only really intriguing thing thing about it was the classic approach to making an action movie like they did in the old days. The star, John Cena, is a former professional wrestler turned actor, like Goldberg, or Dwayne "the rock" Johnson. The only real difference between Johnson and Cena is that Johnson has all of the talent and comic timing of a young Mel Gibson, while Cena is about as interesting to watch as Ed Norton in Kingdom of Heaven (2005). So i'll pose the question once more; who is the predominant action star of today? Has the big tits, big guns, explosion filled genre been replaced by tights and super powers? The box-office earnings of those films would certainly suggest it. If anybody can think of an action star currently working who rivals the aforementioned legends, speak now, or forever hold your peace. In fact, if anyone can suggest someone worth mentioning, i'll let them decide on the theme for next weeks films. That said, lets get back to the man formerly known as Nicolas Coppola.
Bringing out the Dead (1999) is a very slow film. The pacing is clearly intentional, as the mentality of the main character, an EMT played by Cage, is very fatigued and exhausted. The tone of the film is manufactured by the colorful cast of supporting characters, and their slightly crazy mannerisms, which in turn are juxtaposed against an environment so unthinkably horrific, it becomes an arbitrary detail rather than a motive for action. Among the supporting cast are John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore, and a predictably irritating Patricia Arquette. While I certainly wouldn't say that Martin Scorsese is known for his sweeping tributes to formulaic Hollywood, I would still fault this movie for straying so far from a tried and true structure that it loses the focus of the watcher. Although I was forced to watch it in 4 segments due to available time, I still feel it lacks definition in its plot developments, failing mostly in its second act (the middle 45 minutes). Scorsese directs the borderline crazy Cage in a very emotive performance, reminding me just a little of the dementia shown by DeNiro as Travis Bickle in the classic 1976 film, Taxi Driver (1976). As per usual, Cage has found himself in the middle of an interesting, but disappointing project, where he is the best thing involved. Who'd have thought Nicolas Cage would outdo the rest of the movie, even when Martin Scorsese is involved. Stranger things have happened.
-Ben