A Hundred Cliches That Really Need To Die

#77: The Action Movie Formula

    Here are the basics of your average, cliche action movie.  A regular person is suddenly pushed into chaos by some type of evil organization.  The evil organization, led by a terrorist or crime boss kidnaps those who are important to the character, planning to kill them if the hero doesn't listen to their demands or just because.  Our everyday common man is thus pushed to take matters into their own hands, collecting guns and other weapons to save the ones they love.  Throughout their journey, they meet up with a few other characters with goals similar to theirs and join forces with them.  In the climax, the hero is on his own, with his new friends either killed or kidnapped themselves.  This forces them to do the final battle against the organization all on their own, with an epic testosterone filled showdown.  The hero is able to kill the main villain in a blaze of gunfire and explosions, winning their family back in the process.  They then walk off into the sunset with their mission fulfilled, well at least until a possible sequel due to box office success.

  If you were thinking of at least two or three film plots while reading this summary, you just figured out most action movies lack originality.  They follow the same story structure, with no variation to the plot at all.  In fact, most action movies really lack plots.  All you get out of them really are the action scenes and maybe one or two good characters.  Otherwise, they are dry and very cliche.  There is a reason why the newest Die Hard film hasn't made over a billion dollars, or that anyone really cares about Taken anymore.  They are sick of the cliches and want to see something new.  I agree 100% and present to you the idea of an action movie with a complex plot and new concepts to breathe new life into these films.