Real Bad Dudes

A critical and biographical appraisal of the modern Hollywood action hero,  from Charles Bronsons and Bruce Lees in the 1960s to all the way through to the Tom Cruises and Tom Hollands of today and tomorrow. 

The double-barreled success of Tom Holland, first for carrying Spider-Man: No Way Home and then— while channeling Tom Cruise in Cocktail—helping Uncharted to unexpectedly strong box office figures, demonstrates a truism of the film business.  People want their film stars and action heroes.  Every generation needs its own. And that’s the topic of REAL BAD DUDES:  THE STARS WHO SHAPED ACTION MOVIES, the next project for popular film and culture writer Tres Dean.

REAL BAD DUDES is about action heroes in the broadest sense, so long as they’re about action.  It’ll cover the kung fu stars.  It’ll look at Angelina Jolie, whose career provides a prism via which to explore the difference between movie star and action star, and Charlize Theron’s ride down Fury Road.  It’ll travel from the Mexploitation of Robert Rodriguez thru the Tarantino revivals of Pam Grier and Kurt Russell to the superhero, from Wesley Snipes before Marvel had become MCU, to Chris Evans as the embodiment of an MCU superstar. The sample chapter covers the risky business of Tom Cruise from early in his career to the impossible mission of reincarnation after mid-career mishaps.