“What if ‘The Expendables’ were women?”
Seeing as The Expendables did well at the box office on its opening weekend, FlavorWire ponders this idea:
The Expendables opens today, and if you didn’t know already, it’s an action movie that features a leather bag brimming with bundled cash, a helpless woman with an accent, and lots of bad-ass dudes dressed in black running around killing other men lesser than themselves. Sylvester Stallone directs the cast of scowling veterans — whose average age must be around 50 — in a film that is sure to be about exactly what it looks like it’ll be about. We, however, wondered if this movie would be doing better with critics if the male action superstars were replaced by their female counterparts.
I’ll give you two of their choices:
1. Sylvester Stallone replaced by Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is no stranger to violent conflict. Whether it’s a ferocious alien or an entire swarm of them, Weaver’s been there and done that a couple of times. You can count on her to lead when survival seems unlikely.
4. Dolph Lundgren replaced by Milla Jovovich
The star of The Fifth Element, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, and the Resident Evil series, Jovovich is familiar with every kind of warfare from the Middle Ages through to the distant future. That degree of battle experience is a rare quality, and is sure to make one cold inside.
Hit the link above to see the rest.
Raises an interesting question: Who is the most kick-ass female movie character of all time?
Tough call…
UPDATE: Per this comment from James:
The problem is there just isn’t a female Expendables equivalent because there aren’t many females that are known for action roles.
Worth discussing in its own right, but also brings up a subject I was just discussing the other day with a young screenwriter. What I’d love to see is more women write in the action genre. First off, I think that is a huge opportunity, but also a challenge. I think it’s fair to say that in Hollywood, if you mention “women writers” and “action genre” in the same sentence, the default thought is how the studios will often bring in women at the latter stages of script development to bump up the depth of the characters and provide more emotional resonance. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying it’s what happens.
If, on the other hand, a woman could write a kick-ass action spec script that also came with a good measure of character depth and emotional resonance, that writer would probably have more work than they could handle.
Do the studios think that the action genre is better serviced by male writers? Probably. Several years ago, I remember reading how screenwriter Leslie Dixon, who had a long resume of comedy hits including Outrageous Fortune (1987) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), was trying to bust into the action field. As I recall from the article on Dixon, it was not an easy transition. And if you look at her credits in the last several years, they’re mostly comedies. But Dixon does have a thriller with what sounds like some action elements in it in post-production, a movie called The Dark Fields (2011). Premise per IMDB:
A copywriter discovers a top-secret drug, MDT-48, that enhances intellect and other abilities. As his usage begins to change his life, he begins to consider the drug’s shadowy origins; meanwhile, a group of killers trail his every move.
Perhaps there are other female action writers GITS readers know about. Please post in comments. I’ll be happy to do some follow-up research. But again, I think there’s an opportunity there for women, if action is the genre they love to write.
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