For now, it is impossible to know what the citizens of the future will mean when they talk about “2020s movies.” The eye cannot see itself, and the present cannot have historical perspective on its own culture. But I have a few guesses about what the moment we’re in will eventually be remembered for. This will be a nadir for music, literature, and a handful of other dying arts, but also a renaissance age for one of the great rituals of American mass catharsis: the ass-kicking action film.
Comedy films died in the 2020s as a popular art form. “What a weird period it was,” they’ll say, “when they were afraid to laugh.” But we were not completely shot through with artistic cowardice back in the 2020s. They will admire us for our action movies. I’m sure of this because I just saw the ambitious, fun, confident, and shocking Nazi-killin’ masterpiece Sisu, released April 28.
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