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About this video essay:
A critical video essay analyzing the state of modern action cinema.
Content:
00:00 The Aesthetics of Modern Action
01:48 Towards an Objective Ideal
05:53 The Problem with Previsualization
08:28 The Rise of Second Unit Directing
13:17 Lessons from Last Year’s Best Fight Scene
15:49 The Ever-Importance of Storytelling
19:00 Concluding Thoughts
Further Reading:
Like Stories of Old – The Complete Reading List: https://kit.co/likestoriesofold/reading-list
10 Books that changed my life: https://kit.co/likestoriesofold/10-books-that-changed-my-life
10 More books that inspired my thinking: https://kit.co/likestoriesofold/10-more-books-that-inspired-my-thinking
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Media included:
1917, Alex Cross, Ant-Man Quantumania, Atomic Blonde, Avengers Infinity War + Endgame, Baby Driver, Birds of Prey, Black Panther, Black Widow, Bullet Train, Captain America Winter Soldier + Civil War, Casino Royale, Children of Men, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Daredevil, Deadpool 2, Die Hard, Echo, Extraction 1 + 2, Fast Five, Fast X, Gladiator, Hanna, Hard Boiled, Heat, Hitman Agent 47, John Wick 1-4, Kate, Kingsman The Secret Service, Mission Impossible Fallout + Dead Reckoning, No Time to Die, Oldboy, Parker, Police Story, RRR, Saving Private Ryan, Silent Night, Skyfall, Spectre, Suicide Squad, Taken 1 + 3, Terminator 2, The Accountant, The Bourne Identity, The Expendables 2, The Defenders, The Gray Man, The Hunger Games, The Killer, The Matrix, The Raid 1 + 2, The Wolverine, True Detective, Venom
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The best action I've seen recently has been in HBO's Barry
The way you can articulate your thoughts is so well honed; your perspective is considerate of the sum of the subjects parts. Just the idea that you’re not speaking in terms of polarity is much appreciated. Every time I wonder when looking at a title of your video what you will discuss you invariably mention the things I hoped you’d give your thoughts on. I loved Fincher’s movie; especially the action; it’s highly kinetic, I was so impressed with Fassbinder in that film. The first thing I thought about was the hallway seen in Old Boy; my favorite action sequence in any film; Park Chan Wook is a master of his craft. Thanks for everything you make; it’s my favorite criticism on the internet by far. ❤
I think fight scenes have become too choreographed and polished. Even the good examples shown in this video, while extremely brutal and technical and inventive, they've moved well past any connection with reality. The action that sticks with me the most are the scenes that look, or better yet, feel real. For instance, I grimace and my stomach turns and I feel the weight of a punch/kick that connects when I'm watching a UFC fight significantly more than I do when watching a Wick movie. Obviously one is real and one isn't, but by the movie industry's standards, the UFC fight should be boring because it doesn't include backflips, aerials, tricks, wild kicking/punching sequences that simply wouldn't happen, two guys fighting 8 guys at once, the protagonist knowing what's going to happen before it happens as well as what's happening behind them, dudes flying 10 feet when being punched etc. So if a movie is trying to elicit a response from the audience, I suggest a greater emphasis on realism at the sacrifice of flash – the net effect will be greater this way.
Dune doesn't look the same
The film industry is no different than any other industry—cloistered & made up of a small group of people with outsized influence. We lose sight of that when we hear that hundreds of people worked on a film. The truth is you could count the number of those people with actual influence and decision making power on one hand. It’s the same reason seemingly unrelated fashion designers all put out the same styles & colors at the same time or around the same time. Just like the asst directors & stunt coordinators mentioned in this video, the fashion industry rotates through a small list of creative directors & head designers. Take for example, Prada. The same creative team oversees Prada, Miu Miu, Helmut Lang, Church’s shoes, Jil Sander & Azzedine Alaïa (see “Clueless” for the uninitiated). Or a single designer like Hedi Slimane, who has done his own label, Dior, YSL & Celine.
Ive been saying for years, and will continue. We need a movement of Realism. Realism. NeoRealism. no more of this CGI horsehit, fantastic, unbelievable crap.
Yes this…. these stuntmen driven action scenes are so boring.
It's pure self-indulgence and wankerism.
I think another issue that The Killer makes obvious by its lack is that a lot of action has little risk or impact. When two guys can hit each other with punch after punch and not feel it, you tend to get bored. It’s just another DBZ fight. In The Killer, you can see Fass’s character start to get desperate because of how hard he’s getting whipped. He’s scared, he’s physically outmatched – the narrative has set up a situation where a fight being long is a really bad and scary thing for our character, not just an endurance match between two risk-free guys who apparently can’t hit hard enough to beat the other guy. Stakes (reasons you need to win vs. reasons you are likely to lose), wounds (a Chekov’s gun sort of timer), and fear are the blood and guts of action.
Thank's for this video. I'm an Independent film maker and i'm always trying to make action scenes the more realistic as i can get. But it is not simple to find the way to do that.
Love it. Great analysis. Very accurate and I can tell you're a real student of action. Nice job giving praise where it's due but highlighting room for improvement
It's a shame that you didn't mention Everything Everywhere All At Once.
These modern action movies are so generic and boring… Just compare them to Aliens, the Wild Bunch, Heat and Terminator 2.
Modern action has largely become very well choreographed noise. People tune out as we all know the beats and we all know that very little story (if any) will be in the sequence. Action should never feel like it's not part of the same movie, it should be telling the story as much as the scene before and after.
It's funny that, in almost every modern film you touched on (Raid, Wick, those Hemsworth ones, Fast etc) they all have essentially no story, they're JUST action movies. Of course they have plot, in some cases way too much plot (looking at you Fast movies) but no storytelling of any substance. Like the montage of older action movies suggested at the end, stuff like Die Hard, HEAT, The Matrix and T2 are famous because they have great punching choreography but also because the action reflects the substance and story of the films so effectively. John McLeans fights sorta suck compared to John Wick but they feel human, personal, dangerous and high stakes. To say nothing of those other great films.
tldr. Action may look amazing now but it doesn't matter
I'm very glad you agree with story being critical to making action scenes better. That is my approach to my filmmaking. These action directors are my inspirations and I will always use them as my references. Blending both compelling narratives and impressive action gives everyone an amazing experience. We're getting closer to amazing stories blended with amazing action being released more often. We have to keep learning and grinding.
YEssss truth.
I feel like 2000s action had too much of the shaky cam and chaotic, jerky motion and stilted sound effects that became so popular, because the big names that made it popular at that time, worked well for what those scenes needed at the time. Hunger Games and Jason Bourne come to mind. The action isn't their focus. The directors don't want to show off the violence and chaos of combat as "good" or "applaudable" or anything of the such. They're necessary themes that are meant to convey the uncertainty, the instability, and the wickedness. The stories demand something different. Whereas if you put the same effects into something like John Wick or Extraction, and you would get the same argument of "it's old and it's out of place" that you got from the dozens of action movies after Bourne who implemented the same styling, because that particular brand doesn't need it. John Wick doesn't have thematic elements depicting violence and chaos as deplorable and gutwrenching; it's why we're there. In my opinion, that is one of the small elements that at the moment in cinema, a lot of directors aren't utilizing as much, and when you do see why certain styles are chosen, you see the storytelling benefits that some "outdated" techniques and styles can still muster.
The fight scene from The Killer kinda reminded me of another one similar to it from a Love Death and Robots episode called Bad Travelling. That episode was also directed by David Fincher coincidentally!😂
4:40 which movie?
I was just watching The Bourne Identity. I appreciated that they ramped up tension before the surprise attack and car chase.
Thanks bruh, this was so boring I have unsubscribed. Tuning out and getting on with real life . Farewell
I worked on The Fall Guy. Your thoughts on transformation of 2nd Unit Directors to 'auteurs' is exactly correct in my opinion. The stunts drove the production, while story, script and motivation were treated like an afterthought. They are masters of the stunt craft though, and even if it was a bit chaotic on set David Leitch was very cool. No pretention at all really.
In real life, 2-3 punches will knockout somebody, and fighting over 3 minutes will tire most people unless you are a professional boxer or martial artist
Fantastic video.
Yet, old Hong Kong action movies are still superior how they portray the action: you can actually see how incredibly skilled the actors where (Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan for example) when its not masked with camera and editing tricks.
It's crazy that we're complaining about how GOOD action movies have gotten. Yes there are lots of similar-looking scenes but at the end of the day, they're spectacular. The Gray Man, Extraction, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Kate, Nobody and the newest Bond movie have some AMAZING action scenes in them, but we're complaining about it? Personally, I can't wait for a third Extraction movie and a second Gray Man!
One of my personal favorites is The Man From Nowhere. Youll love the action.
If you want good fights that every filmmaker copies for 20 + years just hire Zack Snyder.
I was just talking about this. It literally feels like everything’s the same. It reminds me when I was watching Marshall art films with my dad as a kid I couldn’t fully get into it because all all of them did the exact same thing.
Its called previz When they shoot the action in like a gym or something and then give it to the Director so they know what it would look like before shooting on the day. Normally second unit tends to take over in this department with the and Stunt coordinator.
Great video, and I'm so happy to see The Killer get some love. By far the best fight scene I've seen in years. A hundred times better than anything in John Wick and proof that an innovative, intelligent director will supercede a stuntman any day of the week.
Even as indonesian i kinda tired of these "the raid" clones. Because ever since "the raid" took off almost every film in indo that have any action sequences are monopolized by iko uwais crew so everything just look the same 😅
There's a strange fixation on hand-to-hand battles.
There is one thing that can improve, make the fight more environment aware, listen to Jackie ^_^
wow. the way you broke down that taken scene. I have never seen it in that clarity.
Another point: I know everyone loves the John Wick movies. But especially the later ones are a prime example of how the story does not carry the load of action that is infleced on the viewer.
Please use AI for narration. Your voice makes me sleep
Damn guy is low energy
I actually really disliked John Wick because it looked so fake. The entire movie you could just see people trying to dance, no one's actually hitting each other, people throw themselves around or act like nothing happened so there's no weight. And there's a ton of obvious bad-looking CGI. I don't understand how they got so popular. And now it is in all the other movies. Watch people make these ridiculously large, wide, and slow haymakers as they nod to the other actor to duck or block it.
The best action scene is the one in aliens in rhe attic when the grandma fights the boyfriend
TVL killing it as always. He has been doing this for years. Thank you
lol " IF 2023 was a good year for film." answer. no, it wasnt. although, im willing to take recommendations. not afraid of subs. no cape shit, thats all i ask. no cape shit. hit me with some movies i should see.
great content as usual. keep it up.
Wonderful analysis about the action genre.
I feel the same way, “action” cinema isn’t the same, I always look back on action sequences in past films and happy to watch clips of my favourite action films on YouTube.
But, I can’t remember a film in the last 10 or so years that wowed me. I will give credit to (odd choice, don’t judge me) but Universal Solder: Day of Reckoning really impressed me, a true bare bones, meat and potatoes action film made on a shoestring budget and puts the rest of action the last few years to shame.
We’ve had many interesting and incredibly constructive sequences, but they never have any weight regarding character or narrative, I feel action now is just a cheap mechanism in a film makers arsenal to make it exciting or wake the audience up.
I feel action is always best in short bursts, less is more. Action scenes are too large, too much and too in your face, too grand and it’s always pitted against the destruction of the universe or galaxy, those odds are too large for us as humans to comprehend.
Action is the release to suspense, to which cinema doesn’t have anymore, film makers lack patience.
We need to learn how to film suspense again, not TikTok fast dopamine releases.
Think Bullitt or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as prime examples.
Takeshi Kitano explains action and the construction of such scenes perfectly.
Feel the last great action director was Tony Scott.
Anyway, great video, incredible topic to discuss, it’s a genre i truly miss.
Last great action sort of movie was The Gentlemen. Because it has a phenomenal script, excellent dialogue and real actors, not celebrities.
Now, the scripts are shit, very superficial, dialogue is like a 7 yr old wrote it, the scores… i wont even mention & are done by people like gal gadget who CAN NOT act and the rock who CAN NOT act.
if hollywood thinks that normal adults are interested or entertained by dumb super hero bullshit movies, they have another thing coming.
People respond well to great character arcs, clever scripts, Hans Zimmer scores and no CGI bullshit.
Enough is enough. We're all fed up!! I use to LOVE going to the cinema but there's nothing to see!! Last movie I watched was The Gentlemen & it was well worth it.
We the audience deserve real actors, no CGI bullshit, great scripts and phenomenal dialogue.
Your editing at the beginning is great!
This was a great video
Thank you for wording and explaining why recent fight scenes, although impressive, have been feeling like demo reels in the past years, which I feel bad saying it because it's not like the people behind it did anything wrong per se.
Insigtful and informative
I want Edgar Wright to do a comedic and "deeply serious" action movie about gardening and the perils of competing baclyard vegetable farms