Why yearn for ACTION movies?

Amalshan GUNERATHNE

As I was watching a popular superhero movie recently,it just baffled me as to how much I crave for all those explosions, carnage and fast paced action sequences that they capture in modern action movies.

The film did not have strong dramatic moments or strong characters to keep me interested, but fast paced action and wondrous CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) effects were enough to hold my interest and keep me on the edge of my seat.

Why do we love action oriented fantasy movies that much, I started to wonder. We yearn for blood-pounding action sequences, car chases, shoot-outs or bit of R-rated cheap comedy that we would not mind overlooking other deficiencies of the film as long as it feeds us with such cheap thrills. It is rarely that we demand movies to have strong dramatic elements or in-depth character developments that would engage us emotionally. Not even Oscar winning movies get the same recognition, popularity and esteem that some of the Hollywood summer box-office movies get these days.

May be it comes with age, that we yearn for bit of action, adventure and thrill that everything else just bore us. As an avid marvel comic fan and fantasy movie buff, Thilina Perera notes, "Normal drama like films are way too main-stream and realistic. But youth prefer something different. They love the thought of something out of the ordinary happening instead. Supernatural, sci-fi and fantasy films can easily get people to the heights of excitement where they can get that adrenalin rush they crave."

This is not to say that all youth opt for such forms of entertainment, but rarely that we surf internet trying to find a good film which has rich aesthetic value. Almost, all such fantasy, action films unravel around the same stale theme of conflict between good and evil. They all have the same old story of good guys beating living hell out of bad guys, is it not? Almost all of them would have some diabolical, evil villain or some criminal- mastermind hatching a plan to bring about the end of the world.

And they all would also have some desperate good guy against all odds trying his heart out to stop such doomsday from happening. If that is the case, why have not we got bored with same cliché, hackneyed storylines that they portray through those action or fantasy movies? Despite the clichéd story, we still watch them in sheer fascination. With this regard we need to ask ourselves why we yearn for same dose of entertainment over and over again.

May be it is because with the aid of modern CGI effects they have been able to recreate the same old story in different visual styles that we do not feel we are watching the same old story over and over again. Truth be told, we admire visual effects and marvel at action sequences that we do not bother much about story loopholes or other cinematic elements.

May be it is because such movies provide us with a mode of escapism, that they transport us in to a fantastical world filled with excitement, adventure and thrill that we lose track of our hectic real life. As Perera further states, "It is easy to imagine you being a hero and think how cool it would be to have powers or get teleported in to some ancient alternative dimension.

Plus girls are pretty and you get to explore strange things. They get us one step closer to what we want to become in our dreams, what we always wanted but never can get. In that sense being transported in to that fantasy universe provides them with a sense of hope, happiness and excitement as well.”

One could also argue that not all action films are based on cheap thrills and that good action films actually do focus on character development and other aesthetic elements. As Rashen Lalendra, another superhero fan eloquently noted, “You cannot say that action or superhero movies do not focus on dramatic elements. If you take the new Batman film series for instance, you would see that it is not all about Batman beating the bad guys. There is more to it than that. The character development is absorbing to an extent that we even begin to develop a sense of liking towards the main-villain (Joker). The moral choices, ambiguity are all there and it is those intense moments that make the film interesting and fascinating one to follow.”

Having said that how many of us focus on those strong points? Youth watch action films to be thrilled at all the fast paced action; they do not seek a strong story in an action film. As long as the film has good stunts, explosions, car chases, gun shoot-outs and martial-arts duals, they are satisfied.

Most would say that different people have different tastes and that everyone is entitled to follow whatever genre of films that they prefer, you cannot force people to like something either. But if the trend follows, chances are that youth could lose their aesthetic senses and will continue to admire visual marvels instead of engaging themselves with other aesthetic elements in films.