This September will find two very different men united by one common theme: kicking ass.
First up, James Marsden will find his resolve tested against a pack of rapin’ Southerners in Rod Lurie‘s remake of Sam Peckinpah‘s “Straw Dogs.” The whole thematic arc of the piece rests on Marden’s nerdy, Harvard graduating intellectual character defending his wife’s honor and proving himself as A Man when his home comes under siege from a bunch of local yokels with a score to settle. It’s manliness defined through maiming, an interesting stand to take in what should be a much talked about version of a still controversial forty year old film. This first clip shows Kate Bosworth accusing her hubby of being a coward, to which he responds by throwing a boot across the room. Marsden is no Dustin Hoffman. “Straw Dogs” opens on September 16th.
Meanwhile, there’s no doubt about the testosterone coursing through Jason Statham, it’s just a question of how it will be put to use. In “The Killer Elite,” he plays the world’s most skilled special-ops agent (obviously), who comes out of self-imposed exile to put together a team to rescue his former mentor played by Robert De Niro. This writer got a lot of flack for shrugging at the pretty tired trailers that have come out thus far, but honestly, this clip only confirms how plain uninspired this movie feels. If this is supposed to build our excitement, this movie is doomed. A rooftop chase! How novel! Too bad it feels like any of the other five dozen similar scenes in action movies over the past forty years. WILL JASON STATHAM SURVIVE THE JUMP FROM THE ROOF? If you really don’t know, hold your breath and wait to find out when “The Killer Elite” opens on September 23rd. [Hollywood/Twitch]