Do they still rock?
MINI ANTHIKAD CHHIBBER
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Do sequels come from a certain lazy and easy logic of what worked earlier should work now? Will the success of Rocky Balboa bring many of our beloved old stars back into action?
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Photo: AFP
GOING STRONGBalboa is the sixth instalment of the franchise and comes out 30 years after the original Academy Award -winning film
In a time of tweeners and Dakota Fanning a world-weary thespian at 13, we also get to see Sylvester Stallone insisting: "It ain't over `til it's over" in Rocky Balboa. Stallone at 60 returns to the boxing ring, arthritic knees and all for one last bout. Balboa is the sixth instalment of the franchise and comes out 30 years after the original academy award winning sleeper success won over all and sundry with the story of a fighter who defeats all odds to emerge the king of the world.
Balboa has a strange whimsical charm of its own and has had critics and the box office cheering. The movie has the right blend of nostalgia and gentle poking fun at itself. The fight between Rocky and the reigning champion is on the right side of hopelessly improbable and as movies are all about escapism, Balboa makes you want to believe in the ultimate fantasy - that you can cheat time just that one last time.
The fact that Balboa worked is worrying as it might just signal a lot of well beloved action stars returning for one last shot at recreating the magic. The talk of a fourth instalment of Indiana Jones hitting the screen has been floating around for quite sometime.
In 1981, Steven Spielberg directed a breathless cliffhanger based on good friend George Lucas' story called Raiders of the Lost Ark. There was Harrison Ford fresh from conquering galaxies far, far away as part-time archaeologist, part-time adventurer (and whole time confused as MAD magazine slyly put it) Indiana Jones chasing after the Ark of the Covenant with sadistic Nazis and creepy rival archaeologists in the race. The story hurtled across the globe from a pre-credit sequence in South America (who can forget the huge, runaway boulder?) to Nepal, with brief stopovers in a classroom in the States and onward to the Israel and Egypt. Ford was mind-blowing as Indiana with his Fedora, his bullwhip and wry sardonic humour. Raiders was followed by the rather forgettable Temple of Doom (`84) where Indy comes to India encounters thugs and Amrish Puri as wicked priest Mola Ram, rolling his eyes in the most alarming manner. Spielberg returned to form with the Nazis and the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade ('89). An added bonus was Sean Connery as Dr. Henry Jones, Indy's father.
And now Ford just short of 65th birthday, is getting ready for the fourth instalment of the series. While there has been talk of factoring in Ford's age ("Indiana Jones and the ravages of time" is one of the working titles from industry wags), one wonders if this is such a good idea. Ford's sagging jowls in Wolfgang Petersen's Airforce One were itself painful to look at and to think of him trying to be the cool dude is just a little sad. Then there is Bruce Willis returning at 51 to his tough talking New York cop John McClane of the Die Hard series with Live Free or Die Hard. John McTiernan directed the first ('88) and third ('95) instalments of the franchise, which basically puts McClane in all sorts of impossible situations. The first part saw a building held hostage, followed by trouble with planes and airports and then the city was held hostage. McClane saves the day with bullets and dry wit with unfailing regularity.
Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to return as the Terminator for the third time but the Harley Davidson and the shades could not hide time's winged chariot hurrying near and so at the end of the movie, Schwarzenegger thoughtfully says of the lovely luscious Terminatrix: "She'll be back." Hopefully, that would also mean that director James Cameron and Schwarzenegger are not planning to resurrect True Lies! One of the reasons given for all these action heroes creaking out of the mothballs is that these actors have made the characters their own. For instance, you cannot imagine anyone but Ford playing Indiana Jones. However, if one looks at the longest-running franchise, James Bond, younger actors have taken on the role quite comfortably. And though everyone said they could not imagine anyone stepping into Sean Connery's shoes or for that matter replacing Pierce Brosnan, the delectable Daniel Craig with sizzling hot bod and tiny blue swimming trunks has fitted the tux to the T. And there was Ben Affleck doing a very credible Jack Ryan in The Sum of all Fears, a role that Harrison Ford essayed in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
So it all boils down to a certain degree of laziness - the sequel curse and the logic of what worked earlier should work now. Why bother to think out of the box when all it takes to make a blockbuster is to throw ingredients that earlier spelt success together again? And there is also the allure of being forever young that could drive these actors to taking on roles that made them famous in their youth.
Getting older is not crime even in an industry that worships youth. One can just get older gracefully like Diane Keaton and the glorious Jack Nicholson. It is even more heartbreaking to see actors you worshipped in iconic roles go through this self-deluding exercise. Only thing one can be thankful for is Tony Montana dying at the end of Scarface. To have a geriatric Tony asking you to say hello to his little friend would be totally crushing.
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