Penn can't save dying Gunman

The action movie The Gunman had some things going for it. Star power, for one, with Sean Penn in the lead role and a supporting cast that included Javier Bardem and Idris Elba. It was also the work of director Pierre Morel, who knows how to make an audience white-knuckle its armrests.

But the movie, which flopped last weekend with a dismal $5 million take at the box office, is a cautionary tale of what happens when templates -- in this case the Taken mold -- become more important than scripts.

You see, in Hollywood, a hit movie is never just a hit movie; it's a formula for future hit movies. That's why the success of American Sniper will mean a slew of new war films and why you should brace yourself for more Fifty Shades-style erotic fetishes on the big screen.

It's also the reason why, in the last few years, every semi-buff actor over 50 has been recruited to play an armed vigilante with superb hand-to-hand combat skills and the precision to navigate European cobblestones in a sports car. We can blame Liam Neeson.

For a while, it made sense. Taken was a huge sleeper hit in 2008, drawing crowds even on a Super Bowl opening weekend, usually a quiet time for theaters. It ultimately scored more than $226 million globally, working from a script by Luc Besson (The Professional, Lucy) and Robert Mark Kamen (The Fifth Element.)

The deeply appealing story followed retired CIA operative Bryan Mills as he shifted back into killer mode after his teen daughter got kidnapped by sex traffickers in Paris. It offered sensational globe-trotting action reminiscent of James Bond, Jason Bourne and the many Mission: Impossible sequels, plus a poignant redemption narrative -- the workaholic absentee dad finally coming through for his baby.

The biggest selling point, though, was Neeson. The former Oscar nominee elevated a cheesy script by lending a sensitive side as well as a hulking presence. And most importantly? He was much older than the typical action star, in his mid-50s when the movie came out -- cinematic proof that retirement doesn't mean obsolescence. A very reassuring message for boomer audiences, who wouldn't normally flock to theaters to see bad guys get blown up. It inspired a new genre -- yes, you can call it "geriaction" -- of old guys kicking butt.

But seven years later, the formula has grown tiresome. Audiences aren't showing up the way they used to. And yet, Hollywood continues to churn out look-alikes, including a couple of recent duds. The latest Neeson vehicle, Run All Night (this time saving a son, not a daughter), opened March 13 to a weak $11 million, considering its $50 million price tag.

And that brings us to The Gunman, Penn's first foray into the sharpshooting retiree realm. But neither the star-studded cast nor the Taken director was enough. Critics eviscerated the movie, and audiences didn't bother.

More proof that Hollywood's tendency to bet big on supposed sure things is falling short. Which does not bode well when you eyeball movie release schedules from now until 2020, teeming with dozens of very familiar superhero movies and comic book adaptations.

In recent years, John Travolta (From Paris With Love), Denzel Washington (Safe House) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables) have joined the ranks of action hero of a certain age. Not to be outdone, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis also jumped aboard to prove they still have what it takes to annihilate villains.

But Neeson has remained the undisputed king of the genre. The Taken franchise, now three movies deep, has remained a strong box-office draw, although each movie has done less business domestically than the one before. People also flocked to see him in Unknown, in 2010, and 2011's The Grey.

But interest in the other one-offs and franchises has been unpredictable at best. The copycatting reached a saturation point in 2014, with three nearly indistinguishable Neeson movies -- A Walk Among the Tombstones, Non-Stop and Taken 3 -- plus The Expendables 3, featuring Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford, Sabotage, also starring Schwarzenegger, 3 Days to Kill, with Kevin Costner in the lead, and Washington as The Equalizer.

Even Neeson is getting weary of playing the same part. According to The Guardian, he has vowed that he only has a couple more years of action star left in him..

All of this isn't to say that septuagenarians can't be action stars. Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery and Neeson himself all made convincing gunslingers despite some creaky joints. But Hollywood would be wise to start looking at those scripts on a case-by-case basis, rather than banking on our willingness to pay for cheap replicas.

MovieStyle on 03/27/2015

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