The next action hero
Coming soon to a theatre near you . . . again
Ben Poggemiller Staff
Movie clichés are a beloved part of Hollywood. Sometimes, overworked and over-analyzing students need to kick back and watch a new movie that they’ve seen a hundred times before. Here are some of my favourite movie clichés. Notice that I use male protagonists in all of my examples, so before you call me a sexist prick, realize that macho male heroes are a cliché in themselves and they’re awesome.
The unexpected gunshot
The hero and the villain are locked in battle in what seems to be the final confrontation of the movie. They both have guns pointed at each other in a most menacing fashion and the scene is abounding with close-ups. Suddenly a gunshot rings out and the protagonist has a shocked look on his face. Oh no, he’s been shot! Wait a few seconds and watch the smirk on the villain’s face fade away as he realizes that he has been shot. As he falls down, the killer is revealed standing behind him, usually in the form of a girlfriend, wimpy male sidekick of the hero, or abused second-in-command to the villain.
The justifiable execution
Sometimes the hero finds himself in a morally ambiguous situation. The protagonist has defeated the antagonist in battle and has him on the ground. The protagonist knows that the antagonist deserves to die, but if he kills a defenseless man, what separates him from the antagonist? Conveniently, the villain pulls out a secret gun from a hidden holster and attempts to shoot the hero. The hero pulls his gun first and dispatches the villain with extreme prejudice. That’s what separates the hero from the villain: better reflexes.
Training montage
The training montage is essential for showing improvement. The only actually funny part of Team America: World Police contained a parody of the training montage. Each shot shows a little improvement in various skills essential for the protagonist to achieve victory. The best training montage ever is in Rocky IV, when Rocky’s rustic, bearded, barn training is contrasted with Ivan Drago’s technological, rigorous, chemically-enhanced training without losing the underlying issues of the Cold War. It’s brilliant.
Sarcastic slow-clapping
This is my all-time favourite. The hero has defeated a monumental amount of enemies and fought hard for his life. The action seems like it’s over and the hero is satisfied. Suddenly a slow, monotonous, regular noise emerges from the darkness. The villain is sarcastically clapping in reverence of the hero’s “accomplishments,” which were carefully orchestrated by the hero himself. The worst example of this is in Ghost Rider after the Rider defeats some boring henchman. Blackheart emerges out of the darkness clapping sardonically. This chilling moment is followed by an Oscar Wilde-worthy quip:
