Expendables 2, and other horrific action movies

[Yogimus]

Expendables was a work of art, you philistines!

[Rod]

Just came back from The Expendables 2 and wife and I both enjoyed it. Small audience but everyone was laughing at all the in jokes. Wife caught the Lone Wolf remark right off the bat.

[Jered]

Just came back from The Expendables 2 and wife and I both enjoyed it. Small audience but everyone was laughing at all the in jokes. Wife caught the Lone Wolf remark right off the bat.

I caught that one too!

You've been back enough!

[blackeagle603]

Ex 2 was like "Commando" but with a budget. Suspend disbelief at the door, embrace the corn and cliche's, enjoy.

Still hard to match the best line/response in Commando
"Where's Sully?"
"I let him go."

...no match for Rae Dawn Chong. To fair, a pretty high standard that.

[HTRN]

Still hard to match the best line/response in Commando
"Where's Sully?"
"I let him go."

Frankly, half the fun of Commando is the Arnold's bad puns.

"I lied"
"Don't disturb my friend he's dead tired".
"let off some steam, Bennett"

[Jered]

Still hard to match the best line/response in Commando
"Where's Sully?"
"I let him go."

Frankly, half the fun of Commando is the Arnold's bad puns.

"I lied"
"Don't disturb my friend he's dead tired".
"let off some steam, Bennett"

Arnold's movies always have bad puns.

True lies:

"You're fired."

[workinwifdakids]

You are an intellegent man and it looks like , Expendables , The last boy scout, The Comando, Rambo, et al, are not your taste . Dont blame you I like them because of their wild sillyness, like a lot of things Chineese opera amoung them, it is an acquired taste.

Oh, God, I loved the Last Boy Scout! It's an amazing movie in so many ways.

Frankly, half the fun of Commando is the Arnold's bad puns.

"You're fired."

Yeah. IIRC, Arnold's character in True Lies said to someone (Tom Arnold or Jamie Lee Curtis, I forget which) that it's easy to kill people. You just mutter something appropriate (like "Surf's Up" if you kill them on the beach), and voila! I think True Lies was also a tongue-in-cheek parody of all his earlier stuff, made under the thin veneer of an actual action movie.

And yeah, what about Act of Valor? I thought those guys did a hell of a good job. The SEALs on cast said they stayed as true as humanly possible to the action sequences, within the constraints of filming. And really, I thought their acting (sub-par at times) added a documentary-level amount of realism to it.

[Jericho941]

And yeah, what about Act of Valor? I thought those guys did a hell of a good job. The SEALs on cast said they stayed as true as humanly possible to the action sequences, within the constraints of filming. And really, I thought their acting (sub-par at times) added a documentary-level amount of realism to it.

That's the thing, though: It's noticeable. Good acting is not noticeable. Those "sub-par" moments tended to get a pass from critics since, after all, they aren't actors, but it's exactly why you can't shoehorn people into acting. Whether or not it's bothersome or adds something to the movie is subjective; acting shouldn't break -or threaten- suspension of disbelief.

For examples outside of action/military roles, it can still be really hard for people to act convincingly when they're playing a character with their real-life job. First example that comes to mind: Jessica Chobot playing a reporter in Mass Effect 3: She's a game journalist for IGN and G4, and every scene she's in sounds like she's reading a phonebook. It's pretty bad.

(Incidentally, don't let anyone ever tell you that voice acting is not acting.)

People even have a tough time playing themselves in "based on real events/true story" shows. Some can pull it off, since they're basically reenacting what they've already been through. Others can't because they simply can't act at all, or they might've used to be able to, but went through some sort of change that made them unable to act the way they used to (got older, got out of the military, mellowed out by marriage, etc).

Basically, a big fat +1 to everything Chris said about acting being really damn hard.

[HTRN]

I think True Lies was also a tongue-in-cheek parody of all his earlier stuff, made under the thin veneer of an actual action movie.

No, that's the Last Action Hero, a movie that bombed, but it still a great deal of fun.

[workinwifdakids]

(Incidentally, don't let anyone ever tell you that voice acting is not acting.)

Interesting, in a way, that I've had many people ask me why I'm doing anything except voice work. People, including communications people, hear my voice and tell me right away I "have to be" in the business.

Then again, maybe they're telling me I have a face for radio.