Women Heroes in the Movies...

[Thanee]

Funny, I never had a problem with Dark Angel. I suppose it's because the premise was founded on super-science. I wasn't being asked to believe that a slip of a girl could beat up the weekly villains, I was being asked to believe that a genetically engineered metahuman with superior muscle density, reflexes, bone density, nerve pathways, etc.--who happens to look like a slip of a girl--could beat up the weekly villains. And I bought it. Completely different setup from Charlie's Angels.

Yep. I also found Jessica Alba to be perfectly fine in that role, much better than Halle Berry in Catwoman.

And the first season was pretty cool, too. Too bad they could not continue on that level.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Berandor]

Believability *is* a problem. When there's a female action lead, and she runs like a nine-year-old schoolgirl with her arms waggling about, and she throws punches like someone who would break their hand hitting anything with it - it just loses momentum.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, it certainly helps, if they know a bit about kung fu!

I liked the driver from Strange Days (name eludes me right now) on that behalf.
A very powerful woman in many ways and highly fit (uhh pun) for that role.

And a cool movie, too.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Chun-tzu]

Believability *is* a problem. When there's a female action lead, and she runs like a nine-year-old schoolgirl with her arms waggling about, and she throws punches like someone who would break their hand hitting anything with it - it just loses momentum.

Bridgette Wilson, who played Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat, is a prime example of this. Possibly the worst action heroine performance I've ever seen. She obviously can't fight, and if the movie guys bothered to train her in martial arts, they did a terrible job. Why she was chosen for the role in a martial arts movie is beyond me. And some of the fight scenes with Liu Kang and Jonny Cage are really quite good. Sandra Hess, who took over the role in Mortal Kombat Annihilation, was much better than Bridgette.

 

[Berandor]

Yeah, it certainly helps, if they know a bit about kung fu!

I liked the driver from Strange Days (name eludes me right now) on that behalf.
A very powerful woman in many ways and highly fit (uhh pun) for that role.

And a cool movie, too.

Bye
Thanee

That's Angela Bassett, who would've been my first choice for Storm in X-Men.

She rocks in that movie and is a really strong female sidekick to the wimpy Ralph Fiennes. But the film is also directed by Kathryn Bigelow (in 1995) who has made yes, two movies and 1 series episode in the follwing 10 years - one movie being French and the other being a submarine film.

But we're getting from strong female characters/leads to female directors, which is quite a different topic (why do Uwe Boll, Paul WS Anderson et al continue to make movies, but someone like Bigelow is almost blacklisted?).

 

[barsoomcore]

Angela Basset. MeOW!

She would have been an AWESOME Catwoman.

 

[Rackhir]

That's Angela Bassett, who would've been my first choice for Storm in X-Men.

She rocks in that movie and is a really strong female sidekick to the wimpy Ralph Fiennes. But the film is also directed by Kathryn Bigelow (in 1995) who has made yes, two movies and 1 series episode in the follwing 10 years - one movie being French and the other being a submarine film.

But we're getting from strong female characters/leads to female directors, which is quite a different topic (why do Uwe Boll, Paul WS Anderson et al continue to make movies, but someone like Bigelow is almost blacklisted?).

Most of her experience was as a producer not a director. Also, none of Bigelow's films have been big box office successes and at least one or two of them have been expensive failures. Her divorce from one of Hollywood's most powerful/influential directors (James Cameron) is unlikely to have helped much.

I agree in any case that Angela Bassett would have been a MUCH better Storm. She was terrific in Strange Days. Though ironically she gutted one of the main plot threads in "How Stella Got her Groove Back", since the female lead was supposed to be plain and not very attractive. Something you can not say about Ms. Bassett.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Angela Basset - my favorite. She makes a very fine Tina Turner too. Better than Tina herself, IRTS.

 

[Villano]

Then there is Million Dollar Baby, female boxer movie by Clint starring Hillary Swank, gee I have not heard of Hillery for a very long time, think it was the New Karate Kid and look, Oscar nods and is that not a female hero?

Do you mean not hearing of Hillary Swank as an action hero or in general? She was in Boys Don't Cry and won an Oscar for it. Of course, you may not have recognized her since she was dressed like a guy most of the time.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Do you mean not hearing of Hillary Swank as an action hero or in general? She was in Boys Don't Cry and won an Oscar for it. Of course, you may not have recognized her since she was dressed like a guy most of the time.

Mostly as an action hero, I knew she has won an oscar before but you only hear of her every once in a few where next to some that are deemed flavor of the week that you hear about every day.

She (and a few others) can carry a movie as a lead, Jennifer and Hallie, I don't think can.