The problem is that too many action movie directors on all continents have mimicked John Woo’s action style rendering the look and style somewhat cliche.

You have to look no further than Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado which started the plagarizing of Woo’s style. Ever since then, every director and 2nd unit stunt director has ripped this style off whole sale — slow motion, explosions, paper flying everywhere, people with two Berettas shooting while flying sideways…

The question is whether John Woo will adhere to his classic style or reinvent his style.

I know he was technically “first” to make that style popular, but just because you start something doesn’t mean you can WAY overuse it and expect it to have the same effect EVERY time… I don’t think it’s a “bad” thing to have some “cool” moments and slow motion, but it has to be used carefully to highlight those moments. Use it too much and it begins to numb your mind into expecting it all the time so when those “cool” moments happen you can’t really tell because it was in slow motion just like the rest of the film. If an entire action scene was in full speed, fast and hectic, and then they slow motion one part, like a crazy dodge or kill shot, you know there’s significance there and you appreciate it. But if the entire scene is in slow motion, it’s just an action scene…

It’s definitely his style, but in my opinion it’s not a very creative one. To me it seems like he’s trying too hard to seem poetic and it’s a little annoying. I don’t mind slow motion to tell you the truth, there are some great moments in slow motion, but using it ALL THE TIME for EVERY STUPID THING is not creative. I’m serious when I say Woo slow mo’s everything. Watch some of his movies and not only are key action scenes in slow motion, but he’ll slow-mo someone turning their head, someone getting out of a car, someone taking off a scarf (that majestically flies away while a white doves flies by), it’s like come on… I swear if some of his movie had no slow motion it would have been 30 minutes shorter…

His older Chinese movies weren’t bad, but mainly because it wasn’t a gimmick then, the slow motion was used for dramatic effect. It just seems like it’s an overused gimmick now.

Most recently, I watched a kung fu movie called Ip Man (WATCH IT NOW!!) it has slow motion in its fight scenes, but only at very key moments. The majority of it isn’t. And on top of the overall amount being less, the moments they use slow motion were very carefully picked and added to the fight scenes. I LOVED the way slow motion was used in that film. It CAN be done to great effect.

John Woo’s Face Off had some great moments of slow motion, like the boat flying through the air with the two characters flying along with it. But someone drinking something, turning their head, taking off sunglasses, etc. really shouldn’t be in slow motion. Even action scenes, I like the frenzy and flurry of bullets hitting everywhere and flying past and fast shooting more than an entire shoot out in slow motion. Look at Equilibrium, they made sure not to slow motion the action scenes (actually increasing speeds at some points) because the whole point is how fast and good he is. And come on, don’t tell me you weren’t blown away at the style of those action scenes.

Anyway, I’m just not a fan of Woo’s style lately, the whole long dark hair, trenchcoat, and sunglasses thing is very immature to me, something I thought was cool maybe 10 years ago. I’d much rather see soeone that actually looks like they have been dedicated to training him/herself in combat, maybe someone with a more military clean cut look, even someone that might seem kind of “lame” in his social life but just so kick ass in firearms that he’s unstoppable.

But it’s just my own opinion, obviously, John Woo has plenty of fans, and for good reason, people like his style, I simply don’t. But I don’t limit it only to John Woo, a big reason why I didn’t like Matrix 2 and 3 was because after Neo discovered his powers, he started strutting around always wearing his sunglasses and being all “cool” for the next two movies and I thought it was kind of lame. I liked him better when he was just in there to do a job and stay alive. But at least for him I could see the reasoning behind his transformation, but the other characters seemed to have done the same too. They were always “cool” even in the first one, but I felt it seemed like they got even more robotic and looked more like they were posing everywhere they went than a bunch of people there to kick ass and take names in the sequels. And I also liked the “bullet time” and other slow motion effects better in the first one since it was used sparingly, but it was just a constant barrage of it in the sequels to the point where it loses its charm in my opinion.

That helicopter scene sticks in my head as being the coolest scene in any of the Matrix movies. The slow motion use was perfect as it showed just the initial impact of the helicopter and the “ripple” effect on the glass, then it sped up to real time to show it all exploding and the chaos that results. The slow motion was really only used to highlight very short parts of the scene, not the entire action scene like in the sequels and in so many other movies.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now, my posts always get too long, lol. It’s just my opinion anyhow.

For those mocking John Woo’s style as trite and overdone you must remember that he did it first and in a handful of movies and that all these crappy hollywood imitators like the Waj Bros., Brett Ratner and or any Joel Silver produced action film are the ones that played things out with ridiculous wire work, slow motion bullets, ect.

But isn’t seeing a guy jumping through the air firing two handguns, taking out a dozen guys in the process, all that more kick-ass if we can see it in slow-motion?:P

I can see where you’re coming from with Woo (and the majority of directors) using the same techniques again and again but personally, in Woo’s case specifically, I don’t mind it. I love it when you can tell that it’s a certain director’s film because of certain things within – it’s what makes them what they are as filmmakers. Isn’t the slow-motion thing part of Woo’s style? It’s not as if he’s just using if for the sake of it (perhaps you may see it that way, though).

I do not remember pigeons in Hard Target. Slow-mo yes, but no pigeons. Nor did Van Damme wield two pistols, I think.

Agree, Ross, sounds like it won’t be Chow in the main action role and that’s no good.

The Crow 2
Predator 2
Exorcist 2
The Next Karate Kid
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Changing lead+director usually ends in disaster. One or the other is interchangeable ( Alien/Aliens )but hardly ever both.

-slow motion, lots and lots of slow motion, it doesn’t even need to be an action scene, because he thinks it’s “artistic.” But in reality, it’s just “annoying.”
Explosion? Slow motion
Car driving away? Slow motion
Taking a sip of tea? Slow motion
You get the point.

-White doves: I mean, come on, how much more poetic can you get than white doves flying? (in slow motion of course) But come on, think of something else, it’s almost like the white doves handlers have stock in John Woo movies or something…

-motorcycles: Either the protagonist has to be riding a motorcycle at some point or the main badguy, or there’s a motorcycle chase (with lots of slow motion, that’s a given) somewhere in the movie, etc.

-sunglasses: It doesn’t matter if the movie takes place mostly in the dark, the super cool protagonist has to always sport some hip looking shades, because why bother fighting crime if you can’t be cool while doing it?

-trenchcoats: And what goes better with cool sunglasses than a cool trenchcoat of some kind? And how cool does a swirling trenchcoat look in SLOW MOTION?? Yah, so awesome! *rolls eyes*

-long hair: short and neat hair are for squares, the protagonist is too cool for that, he has to have long straight hair. And like everything else, it looks cooler in slow motion.

-dual wielding pistols: Sights on weapons?? psssshhhh, aiming with the sights is soooo overrated. “Normal” people need to use sights to shoot accurately, but the protagonist in John Woo movies aren’t normal. They can just hold two handguns in front of them, firing them at the same time (in slow motion), not even look at the sights, and still hit his targets more accurately than an enemy using their sights.

And the last thing is, not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but another thing about John Woo movies that I’m a bit sick of is the SLOW MOTION!!!

Oh, I did mention that before, lol.