Action comedy research

Robert Davis-PEA1/MS

Action comedy is a sub-genre of both action and comedy,fusing together violent scenes and consequences with slapstick,ironic and other types of comedy.

This hybrid genre became vastly popular in the 1980's, when well-known actors such as Eddie Murphy and Mel Gibson decided to incorporate their humorous backgrounds into such violent films and stunts, such as Beverly hills cop(1984) and Lethal weapon(1987),both of which had a well-rounded sense of humour whilst still showing some of the most stylistic features within action movies.These cleverly used tactics earned both films over three-hundred million dollars respectively, also helping them to become much more successful in later years.

This style has since been followed and developed to the present day, with movies such as Without a paddle(2004),which earned over sixty-nine million dollars, and although this figure doesn't suggest it has been as successful as past action-comedy movies such as Lethal weapon and Beverly hills cop, it still has been hailked as one of the more modernized action comedy movies of today.It also features some of the world's best renowned modern comedy actors(Seth Green, Matthew Lillard,Dax Shepard), and naturally importing violent ideas into their acting skills.

However, whilst this hybrid genre has been hailed as an idea to attract global audiences,there have also been movies that didn't get to the stage of being nominated for grammy awards, movie awards,etc.; E.g. Epic movie was widely regarded as a box office flop for its deliberate use of amateur comedic skills and commonly used action scenes that had been frequently thought of by hundreds of directors decades before, and whilst the slapstick humour in this movie was regarded by a few to be hilarious to some degree, it still didn't seem to silence critics in a global fashion. However, it has received more than eighty million dollars worldwide, and whilst critics have rarely appeared to like this film, it still managed to reach the top position in the charts, making it more successful than more consistent movies of the same sub-genre such as Without a paddle and Lethal weapon.

In comparison to ridiculously filmed action comedy movies such as Epic movie and Without a paddle, there have been a few films such as Alien resurrection(1997),which,whilst displaying the action comedy genre at it's strongest,also took the necessary risks of incorporating black humour into its violent scenes, and so escaped the consequence of becoming a box-office flop by cleverly fusing common genres together.

To summarise, the diachronic variation of the action-comedy sub-genre has changed dramatically from pure slapstick humour in the 1980's(Lethal weapon,Beverly hills cop), through amateur acting performances in the modern age(Epic movie,Without a paddle) ,to incorporating fresh ideas into commonly used graphics(Alien resurrection).If these cleverly used genres continue to envelope into each other's scenes,then this hybrid genre may very well become its own film status.

Audience

The action comedy-sub-genre has attracted audiences of all ages and sexes, some films even causing conflicts between fans of different genres,through the sheer and deliberate use of Black Comedy. Dr.Strangelove(1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick, focussed on the sudden movement of war between the U.S.A and other countries containing nuclear bombs,and as this appeared to the audience as a serious matter,black comedy was used throughout the movie when discussing the situation of war, but also at the same time consecutively using satirical jokes, to represent a concrete fusion of the action and comedy genres respectively. Naturally,this would cause conflicting opinions between the common audience, critics especially, and although it did cause editors and fans alike to argue amongst themselves,it still succeeded in becoming an all-time great for the action comedy sub-genre.

Whilst there have been conflicting views between fans and critics alike, concerns amongst two different genders(male and female) have risen dramatically since most action comedy movies regard the male gender as the main character, though there have been films where this situation has been corrupted. Charlie's angels(2000) was a prime example of deliberately using the other gender, and portraying them as strong,eager,powerful characters,also taking part as the main characters of the film. To emphasise this fact,no guns were involved within the three female actors(Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu,Drew Barrymore), which is why they were used as martial artists instead,to prove that in an action comedy sub-genre,no weapons are needed by the main characters. This supposedly helped the film to increase it's gross revenue worldwide, making it one of the most famous action comedy films to date.

Directors

Although there have been directors of action-comedy style movies who have delved into other common genres in later years, there have been cases where some directors have decided that the films which do contain the action-comedy sub-genre to a degree are still naturally their tour de force. A prime example of this would be writer and director of Beverly hills cop, Martin Brest, in which he has,over the past two decades, been involved in over 20 different movies, most of which contain the elements of the action and comedy genres respectively to an unlimited degree. His most successfull and respected involvements particularly revolve around Beverly hills cop(1984), Midnight run(1988) and Going in style(1979),which is respectively, one of the oldest prime examples of the action and comedy genres fusing together into one to create a new sub-genre.

His activity within these action-comedy style films have proved to be trustworthy, and in other action-comedy style movies he has even opted for cameo roles, making a name for not only himself, but the casts around him. These include Beverly hills cop and Hot dogs for Ganguin, both of which portray his theatrical skills as well as playwrighting involvements. All these qualities have naturally retained his status as a professional actor/screenwrite/director, but only in the action comedy sub-genre has he been at his best performance.

Even though he has directed movies involving various types of genres, most notably action/comedy, none of Richard donner's films have contained the action-comedy sub-genre to any extent, but in an overall sense, all of his works have maintained a varied product of different styles, most notably action (Lethal weapon) and comedy(Salt and pepper), in which his most famous performances have come from these two genres respectively. As a whole,he has received over a hundred million dollars for his inclusion with action and comedy related films respectively, whilst also gaining positive reviews worldwide.

His sudden involvement with some of the most successful action movies, such as Superman(1978), which received a well-rounded bonus of over three hundred million dollars worldwide, have been particularly useful over time, as they have only increased their importance to the action genre, also cementing Richard Donner's position in the world of cinema.

Likewise, his involvement with comedy related films has been slightly less successful, directing movies such as The toy(1982) and The goonies(1985),both earning over fifty million dollars from the box office alone, and also creating his position as a well-balanced director of several different genres,most notably the action-comedy sub-genre, of which he has made the most money and earned the most success.