People We Could Do Without (Rant)

During my lifetime, I have seen some actors come and go…and maybe come back again. Some that have come back again, I have been excited to see. For example, Robert Downey Jr. Downey left Hollywood, not by his choice, but came back in a huge way. He became one of the first superhero action star over 40 with his portrayal of Tony Stark aka Iron Man. He was fantastic as the self-absorbed alcoholic turned hero, maybe implying some life lessons. Then there are some actors that may just need to stay retired.

Sylvester Stallone is one such actor. Now I know that Stallone never really retired, but let us be real Stallone was under the radar for a time and we kind of forgot about him. Especially with new action stars emerging, like Jet Li, Jason Statham, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. So what did he decide to do? Bring back his career with old characters. Why did we need this? Why can't we enjoy Rocky Balboa and John Rambo where they belong? Those movies were great in the 80s because they were different for their time and that is what made them classic. The concept of Rambo has been done ad nauseam since then, so when Rambo (2008) reemerged the film was kind of pointless. Rocky… well do we really need to see an almost 60 year old man get beaten up (this goes for Grudge Match as well)? I will give Stallone credit though, he has the knack for old school action flicks, but the end result is not so great, i.e. The Expendables. This just became a “who’s who” of action stars. Great concept, I will give it that, but a horrible movie nonetheless.

Speaking of The Expendables, why is Arnold Schwarzenegger still making movies? You have a love child now man, stop trying to make movies. Arnold hasn’t made a decent movie since End of Days and that was in 1999. Yes, I skipped over Terminator 3 because that was crap… sorry. Arnold needs to relinquish his action star status to someone else. I don’t really care to whom, but it needs to happen. He isn’t Conan anymore and I think we all know it, but him.

Another actor that needs to go away is Nicholas Cage. Why is this man still in movies? He single handedly ruined a great comic book franchise in not one, but TWO movies! You want to make a Ghost Rider movie, than do it with someone that can act. Go British if you have to, hell we did it with Superman AND Batman. Both of those movies turned out great.  Now I know I might catch some flak for this, but come on… people got in such an uproar when Ben Affleck has announced to be Bruce Wayne/Batman. This is because of the response to Affleck being Daredevil. I thought the film was bad, but Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil was actually good. Cage on the other hand, cannot act. He has proven that with Ghost Rider, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Season of the Witch. I’m also just amazed that he has that same dumbfounded look on his face in every movie he is in (see Matchstick Men).

Going from many bad characters to the same bad character, we have Vince Vaughn. He is the same character in EVERY film that he is a part of. I challenge you to inform me on a movie that this man has been in where he isn’t the lovable loser that talks way too much. Vaughn has made this his forte and we keep paying to see it. Why? He is the same guy! Dodgeball, The Break-Up, even Four Christmases… all same character, just different names. I say we throw Vince in an action movie. Thinking of the upcoming planned comic book movies, why not have Vaughn as Cable in the rumored X-Force film or Dr. Octopus in one of the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man sequels.  That would be interesting… seeing Vaughn as a villain.

I’m sure there are more that I can list, but these four come to mind first. If you all disagree, please let me know or if you want to add to this list.