Bad Ass

If you are a regular on this blog, you know I go on the occasional rant about a few things...  You also may know that sometimes I rant about the same things.  In the past few months I've been ranting about ageing actors taking on bad ass roles to demonstrate that, just because they are ageing, they are still tough guys.  Some do it better than others but we see it in movies often.  We've seen it from Clint, and Bruce, and Liam, and Denzil and even Michael Caine.  I've qualified this rant by acknowledging that these top actors are probably pissed about ageing and, frankly, I'm pissed about my own ageing, too. So, I get it.


Based on the trailer, Bad Ass is the story of  a "senior citizen" (albeit in really good shape) that defends himself on a bus and ends up kicking the crap out of two young hoods.  The incident is captured on another passenger's video phone and posted on the internet.  The trailer tells us that this senior citizen has never used a keyboard, doesn't own a computer, nor has he ever been on the internet.  However, the popularity of the video makes him a hero and it appears that he becomes wrapped up in his new role as senior bad ass that he becomes a vigilante, of sorts.


When I was a teenager I was heading to a club to meet some friends. I was on a busy street and passed an alley where I heard a man yelling. I stopped to look and a guy was pushing a girl. I'm not sure why, but I was feeling righteous that day and entered the alley. I walked right up to the guy and said, "hey, leave her alone." He pushed me hard and I fell back on the concrete as he told me to "mind your own f**king business." As I was about to get up, both he and the girl left the alley. The funny thing was that they held hands as they walked away. In hindsight, I realized I could have been stabbed or shot. But what does one do to stop what they perceive as a crime? The police say to call the police, first. 


I really like vigilante movies.  I enjoy seeing regular people - generally underdogs - take matters into their own hands and seek out justice.  This theme is far from new, both on screen and in the real world.  On screen, the good guys usually win, or die for the right reasons.  In real life, I'm not sure if the good guys usually win.  When they do, we hear about it on the news.  But I think that's kind of like hearing about the 100 year old smoker - he's the exception and not the rule.


On film, though, the vigilante takes the law into his own hands and kicks ass... kicks bad ass.  The whole internet/social media aspect of Bad Ass gives the old theme a new take... kind of like teaching an old dog new tricks.... or judging a movie by its trailer....

This trailer was entertaining and that's often good enough for me.