Dream Cast for All-Female ‘Expendables’

As the success of The Expendables continues to grow and the franchise likely to continue with a third instalment after kick-starting Sylvester Stallone’s and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career it should come as no surprise that this idea is spawning a sister project (of sorts). There are talks for an all female cast to step into the action boots and make an ‘Expendables‘ type film with the biggest female action stars of past and present. Here are my picks of the women I would like to see take part…

 

SIGOURNEY WEAVER

Sigourney Weaver pretty much changed the face of the female action scene with her role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien films. She has even been names the greatest female character in science-fiction film. Her role in this franchise helped carve the way for plenty of female-led action films in the future so Weaver is a shoe-in in my books. She would definitely have to be the leader of the group, the Stallone among our women.

 

HELEN MIRREN

Helen Mirren is a very accomplished English actress and although she is probably most famous for portraying Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen she has recently turned her hand to action films in Red and the upcoming sequel Red 2. She may not be able to keep up with the younger girls in the film but she could definitely fit the Bruce Willis role of the first film with an option for some action scenes later on.

 

ANGELINA JOLIE

Jolie’s film career seems to have waned recently but you cannot dispute the fact that she is an action hero through and through, no matter how serious she tries to be in other films. Tomb Raider, Mr & Mrs Smith, Wanted and Salt have all proven that Jolie has the action credentials to more than hold her own.

 

MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ

Here is one of Hollywood’s most common go-to-girls when in need of a tough female to compete with the action heroes. Rodriquez boasts such credits as Avatar, Fast and Furious and played the rough Anna-Lucia in LOST. I can tell you I definitely wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her, she just looks like she could kick some serious ass.

 

LUCY LIU

Jet Li is the Asian representative for The Expendables and I think Lucy Liu would be the ideal woman to portray a similar role in a female version of the film. She has been in the (albeit not very serious action) film version of Charlie’s Angels but was terrific in Kill Bill.

 

HALLE BERRY

X-Men, Catwoman, Die Another Day have all shown that Halle Berry is capable of being bad-ass at times. She is clearly a talented actress (even though it didn’t show in Catwoman) and I think she could definitely bring something different to the table.

 

MILLA JOVOVICH

She is the star of one of two of the most famous modern female-led action franchises of all time: Resident Evil. The other being…

 

KATE BECKINSALE

Underworld. And as well as here Beckinsale is showing off some action skills in the recent remake of Total Recall.

 

GINA CARANO

Finally, all of the above women have already proven they have what it takes in their long careers so they’re going to need some young blood too. Female action heroes aren’t something you find much among today’s young actresses but Gina Carano is currently making a name for herself, having appeared in Haywire and had a previous career in kick boxing and mixed martial arts. Would you really want to mess with her?

 

CHLOE MORETZ

This is my final choice. The male version of The Expendables focusses on a team of mercenaries and while Moretz may be too young for this the female version won’t be a carbon copy or remake of the original testosterone fuelled action film. Even if Moretz just had a small part as another character’s daughter who had a couple of scenes where she could really let loose that would be great!

 

Anyway… that’s me done. Who would you want to see take action in a female led action ensemble film?

The Man With The Iron Fists [Red Band Trailer]

Stars: RZA (director), Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Jamie Chung, Cung Le, Byron Mann.

Plot: In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.

The Man With The Iron Fists is the directorial debut from Grammy award winning Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA, co-written by him and Eli Roth, produced, in part, by Quentin Tarantino. The trailer doesn’t really give much away but it looks as though it has enough to entertain fans of Tarantino’s style of directing and it reminds me strongly of Tarantino’s Kill Bill; Lucy Liu features in both and the style of Kill Bill was reminiscent of Asian martial arts films I think.

As we don’t get much plot from the trailer it is difficult to tell who will be the main characters of the story but with Russell Crowe signing on you would expect him to play a rather key part. Although the film is in the English language and is from the United States it clearly wants to try and capture the essence of the Asian martial arts films which always feature fantastic fight scenes and stunts which are always incredible to see and the trailer shows that there is a lot of potential for that style here.

The films original cut was over four hours long and there were talks of splitting The Man With the Iron Fists into two film however it was eventually cut down to just an hour and a half. And though I think the trailer looks exciting this news makes me wonder just how good the film will really be; sure if they cut down from four hours to ninety minutes then what is left should be the very best but if they were able to just discard two and a half hours of the film will what’s left just be average too?

No release date has been stated yet for release.

Jackie Chan to Quit Action Films?

Jackie Chan has announced that his upcoming film Chinese Zodiac will be his last outing as an action star and will concentrate on the acting side of his career rather than the action part of it.

Jackie Chan has made so many memorable action films in his career. Since starting as a stuntman alongside his idol Bruce Lee, Chan has come a long way, starring in films such as Armor of God, Police Story and of course the hilariously entertaining Rush Hour trilogy. Jackie Chan has appeared in over 100 films, albeit most of them made and released in his home continent of Asia but despite that if you mention his name to anyone they will more than likely know who he is.

But the action films come to a halt this year as Jackie Chan has decided that he is too old to continue doing his own stunts at the ripe old age of 58. He now wants to be seen a more serious actor, but what will the future of his career hold?

Jackie Chan has made the odd appearance in animated films voicing Monkey in hit film Kung Fu Panda and its sequel. He has also appeared in comedies such as The Spy Next Door and Shanghai Noon. However, at Cannes film festival Chan is quoted as saying “I want the audience to know also I’m not only a comedian. I can act. Day by day, year by year, I’m going to show you the real Jackie Chan” which hints at more serious roles in future.

I saw Jackie Chan in the recent remake of The Karate Kid alongside Jaden Smith as Mr. Han, the role of teacher. This was a role that didn’t include many fight scenes for the veteran martial arts star and instead focussed on an emotional performance from Chan, something relatively different to what his many fans are used to seeing. Although many people tipped Chan for an Oscar nomination for this performance I think that this was a little over the top but it was a fantastic dramatic performance from him nevertheless.

This may be a great loss to the action genre and martial arts fans everywhere but Jackie Chan has done the right thing, in my opinion, in order to further progress his career as a film star.

 

Here’s a short clip of Jackie showing off some of those moves that made him a household name worldwide: