Battleship

Ok, first the good.  Well, the trailer turned out to be very good after many months of development.  In fact, the trailer deserves its own special award. I applaud them for hyping me up to see it.  It did in its tacky way try to honor veterans. There was eye candy action and good special effects, as it should have been for such a big budget Hollywood production supported by the military.  However, many better made action movies have had those necessary qualities such as Armaggedon, Top Gun, Independence Day, The Transformers, etc.  Don’t get me wrong.  I really wanted to like this movie and had always enjoyed naval war films.  But I also knew to expect sacrificing a certain level of things like storyline, logic, believability, and character development.  In this case, that expected sacrifice was far too much to ask for.  Seagall and Van Damme movies have had more character development and for way less production budget than this atrocity.  Liam Neeson, the only real actor in the film, should have been embarassed at taking on this project.  Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna were just “pretty” people doing laughably, impossible things. Speaking of Rihanna, what kind of skunky, beaver weave was she wearing? Typical, predictable, and nonsensical cheeziness are taken to new heights by Battleship.  Small reference to the actual board game that this movie was based on, was made to seem like a rocket science solution to defeating the aliens.  Lest I forget the empty plot that the trailer does a better job of summarizing, aliens conveniently come to invade the earth in Hawaii and the U.S. Navy and it’s old dry-docked battleship is somehow conveniently the only force that can save the world under the leadership of rebel bad boy and fast tracked naval officer (Kitsch) and WW2 veterans.  Save your money and wait for the movie to come to your cable network or free at your library, because it should have been merely titled an extended Navy recruiting film or what I prefer - Battleshit.

Greatest Female Action Stars

  Criteria varies but may include -

• Actual physical ability on-screen
• Great acting or conveyance of strong character
• Kicking ass and sexy
• It may be a film or television role
• It may be just from one memorable role

My Candidates

  

Angela Bassett - she may not be considered an action star per se, but her many roles exemplify how strong, sexy, and capable she is.  Check her out in Strange Days.

Angelina Jolie -  always smart, sexy, and lethal in many roles like Laura Croft Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Salt.

Anne Parillaud - she changed the whole contemporary game for women in Luc Besson's  La Femme Nikita as she morphed from wild criminal to trained and refined assassin.

Carrie-Anne Moss -  because her character of Trinity in The Matrix rocked.  She's definitely one you'd want on your team and it's no wonder Neo fell for her.

Cynthia Rothrock - when female action stars were few, if any in America, this champion martial artist went to China first to become one. Check her out in Yes, Madam. 

Franka Potente - ever since seeing her in Run Lola Run, I've been hooked and she didn't let down in The Bourne Identity.

Gena Davis - her fabulous transformations in both Thelma & Louise and The Long Kiss Goodnight are magical.

Gina Carano - an actual MMA fighter who's film debut in Haywire showed how women can tangle with the big boys in all levels of combat.

Halle Berry - she gave 007 a run for his money in Die Another Day and dazzled us in the X-Men movies.  I forgave her for Catwoman.

JeeJa Yanin - the female Tony Jaa.  This girl kicks serious ass in Chocolate.

Jennifer Garner - though she hit the big screen portraying Elektra, it was her portrayal of agent Sydney Bristow on the television show Alias that cemented her position here as one of the best female action stars.

Kate Beckinsale - has there ever been a sexier vampire hero?  See Underworld.

Keira Knightley -  how she can seamlessly go from classic period films to straight, no chaser action films like Domino, is no joke.

Kimberly Elise - she can go from innocent to steely intensity in a flash, if you remember Set It Off.

Linda Hamilton -  buffed, tough, and no-nonsense in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Maggie Cheung - this talented beauty can do it all in any genre.  She would have made the list even before her great performance in Hero as Flying Snow.

Maria Bello - her character of Detective Jane Timony of the Prime Suspect show is one of the best strong female characters I've seen on television.  NBC had to be on crack for canceling the show. 

Meiko Kaji -  if you think Lucy Liu was cool in the Kill Bill movies, then check out
this Japanese actress in the 1973 classic Lady Snowblood, part of the inspiration for her role.

 

Michelle Yeoh - the queen of Asian action, this former Miss Malaysia has 25 years worth of hard hitting films including the classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

 

Milla Jovovich - beautiful and hardcore in the Resident Evil films.

Natalie Portman - her debut in The Professional was outstanding.

Noomi Rapace -  nothing against Rooney Mara's performance in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but there's nothing like the original Swedish actress.

Pam Grier - the superbad and superfine queen of 70's action.

Regina King - she's come along way since 227 and is one of the best things about the TV show Southland.

Salma Hayek - smoking hot and sultry in Desperado.

Sigourney Weaver - her character of Ripley in the Aliens films is the epitome of female action star and Sigourney is a veteran champ of that.

Thandie Newton -  she gets a bit overshadowed in Mission Impossible 2 with all the great action, but she fired it up pretty nice in that role.

Uma Thurman - she will forever be a classic action star, getting down and dirty in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2.

Vivica A. Fox - a memorable performance in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 going toe to toe with Uma Thurman leads me to include her.

Ziyi Zhang - she came out the gate swinging with youthful energy in groundbreaking martial arts classics like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House Of Flying Daggers.

Zoe Saldana - her lead debut in Colombiana, but let's not forget her as the new Uhura in Star Trek or that sexy blue alien in Avatar.