As he prepares to join fellow action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Tomb, Sylvester Stallone has taken a moment to discuss the state of the action genre with Entertainment Tonight, and more specifically, the impact of the superhero movie on this once-glorious section of cinema: “[The action] genre unfortunately is becoming… let’s just say it’s fading away… You have the superheroes today which are possessed with all extraordinary powers; they can blink and a fireball comes out of there. It’s great. And then you have a bunch of us which is just your basic male-pattern badness… Kind of like hands-on action.”
Before The Tomb, Sly and Arnie will also line up alongside action legends Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the explosive Simon West-directed sequel The Expendables 2, which is due to hit cinemas this coming August. With a cast that also includes the likes of Jason Statham and Jet Li, box office success is all but assured, but clearly it’s unlikely to challenge the might of The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man or The Dark Knight Rises in terms of global receipts. Still, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance must surely be in its sights.
Do you agree with Sly? Has the superhero movie killed the traditional action genre?
Originally published May 30, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
