We’ve seen plenty of people hitting each other.

As audiences, aren’t we ready for something else?

Give us themes such as those over the hollow core ofWild Wild Westany day, thank you.

Action

To be clear on something first: I love action cinema.

I love really good action sequences.

I just despair that most big films seem to have no other way to conclude their stories.

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Inevitably,Man Of Steelis the most obvious exhibit.

Lots of it, in that case, going on for what felt like forever.

But whilstMan Of Steelattracts the ire, its far from the only guilty party.

The character was removed from whatever comfort zone he did.

In fact, go down the list of last years comic book movies in particular.

As well as those mentioned, we haveThor: The Dark World,Iron Man 3andG.I.

The year before?The Avengers,The Dark Knight RisesandThe Amazing Spider-Man.

Every single one of them.

Superman was always going to beat Zod, it was just a question of how.

This has, of course, gone on for some time, which doesnt help matters.

In the 80s,Superman IIIhad Superman fighting Superman.Batmanhad the duel between the title character and The Joker.

Even then though, the outcome was never really in doubt.

They had to learn lots of lots of moves, we were told.

It was going to be an amazing fight!

And yet before one lightsaber had hit another, everyone watching the film knew who was going to win.

So, without wishing to be unkind, what was the point?

Why focus all the energy and time on what amounts to the most predictable part of the film?

Why not cut the predictable bit down to its bare bones, and beef up other elements?

It would be fair to say that few blockbuster movie endings could say the same.

But why dont they look elsewhere for inspiration?

The final act ultimately amounted to the pair of them standing side by side waiting for a message.

They didnt hit each other: they didnt need to.

Theyd done that earlier in the film.

Go back to John Woos brilliantThe Killeras well.

Examples are there to be found, theyre just not making it into films budgeted at over $100m.

How many of us go on about the eventual fisticuffs?

Very few, Id wager.

At the point the audience is expecting the most noise, pull the rug and slow things down?

Yet the financial evidence is to the contrary of what Im saying, and I do sadly recognise that.

The box office numbers are satisfying.

There is another way, and there has been for a long time.

I just dont think that Warner Bros, even now, would take the bet.