Action Chicks Making A Comeback!
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Awesome Applesauce: Charles Quevedo
I don't know what it is, but there's just something so sexy about an "action chick" in film and television. Yes, males STILL dominate the "action" genre, but females have slowly been taking over. If I had a choice to be shot at or have my ass kicked by somebody, I'd have to pick the beautiful long-legged female with luscious lips than some big muscle-armed dude.
From the mid-90's through 2000's, we had our share of beautiful women taking on the "action" mantle. They didn't wait for Prince Charming to come and rescue them. They rescued themselves ... and pretty much everyone around them. They could do plenty amount of damage to the bad guys if pissed off enough and given the right motivation. In the end, they were just as deadly (or even more) as the men were.
In the "Alien" film series, Ripley (played by actress, Sigourney Weaver), fights off monsterous aliens that are using human beings as incubators for their offsprings.
In "Terminator 2", Sarah Connor (played by actress, Linda Hamilton), shows off her ripped physique as she displays her ruthlessness for survival against the human-hunting machine, "The Terminator", who is out to kill her son, John.
In "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" TV series, Buffy Summers (played by actress Sarah Michelle Gellar), is "The Slayer"; a young female born with the power to kill vampires, demons and other supernatural creatures. Armed with a crossbow, a wooden stake, and several other weapons; she lives in the small town of Sunnydale where secretly protects its citizens from dark forces.
In the "Dark Angel" TV series, Max Guevera (played by actress, Jessica Alba), is a gentically-enhanced warrior who fights off the military while searching for her "genetically-engineered" brothers and sisters.
In the film, "Elektra", Elektra Nachios (played by actress, Jennifer Garner), is a warrior who has survived a near-death experience and becomes an assassin-for-hire. When she is hired to kill her next targets -- a father and daughter -- she decides to protect them instead. She goes toe-to-toe with supernatural assassins.
In "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" and "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle Of Life", Lara Croft (played by actress, Angelina Jolie), is a British aristocrat who races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts. She is skilled in hand-to-combat, weapons training, and foreign languages.
In the "Resident Evil" film series, a woman, known only as Alice (played by actress, Milla Jovovich), is a genetically-altered human weapon. She's on the run from the Umbrella Corporation, the company that released a deadly virus and made almost the entire population of the world into flesh-eating zombies. In Alice's blood, they believe they have the cure. Alice is a skilled warrior with powerful telekinetic abilities.
In the last few years, the supply of female action stars have been short. But recently, they seem to be making a comeback.
The new Cable TV series, "Covert Affairs", came out a few days ago and seems to be a smash hit. It is about a fresh off "The Farm" (the CIA's training facility) operative, Annie Walker (played by actress, Piper Perabo), who finds herself on a tough mission on her very first day and uses her deadly skills to defeat the bad guys. We haven't had a good female spy show since "Alias". This show is produced by the same people that brought us "The Bourne Identity" trilogy.
Angelina Jolie, probably the only female in Hollywood who has been successful in the "action" genre, has starred in some of the best action movies made. Jolie has starred in "Gone In 60 Seconds" (2000), "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001), "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" (2003), "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (2005), and "Wanted" (2008).
In the upcoming "Salt" (2010), Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who uses all her skill and experience as a covert operative when she goes on the run after a Russian defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. This movie is due out in theaters on July 23, 2010.
Here's to hoping that MORE women join the ranks as "action chicks". They're a lot more prettier to look at when buildings are blowing up and bullets are flying.
Follow Charles on Twitter: @FuglyCharlie