Inconsistencies In Action Movies, Anime/Manga & Games

Don't you just hate it when you're watching a fighting movie, and the protagonist at first has the upper hand in a fight with the last boss, then all of a sudden the boss smiles and laughs and has strength pulled out from his/her ass, starts to beat up the protagonist hit after hit, then the protagonist may recall some memory of a beloved one or some tragic memory, and then pulls strength out of his/her own ass and wins and all is good and THE END.

That sums up about 99% of action movies, anime/manga, game stories. That is so predictable. There is something I would really like to see illustrated, and that is the reality of variance of success in a battle. For instance, when you are arm wrestling someone who's strength is JUST under yours, you are slowly and gradually taking them down. There may even be some still moments where strengths are temporarily matched.

Whenever I watch a fight scene on TV or in the movies, I find that I get most tense (really into it) when it's a matched fight (equal skill/strength). For example, when Buffy and Faith fought sometimes, it was so intense to see the block, block, block, snuck in kick, block, block, snuck in punch. And these weren't just regular let-me-put-my-arms-in-front-of-my-face block, but more like "I'll block you by maneuvering your arm/leg somewhere else" and the other person's response to such block is "I'll figure something out very quickly with how you just manipulated my body".

I also hate inconsistencies. The protagonist usually has a high level of skill, but sometimes the protagonist is caught by the simplest sneak attack. For instance, Kakashi in Naruto is one of the most skilled ninja. In the Animal Riot of Crescent Moon Island movie, Kakashi totally missed a flying explosive kunai that was targetted at him. The explosive kunai had a gas bomb that has chemicals that alter your senses. Now, in the anime and manga, Kakashi never seems to disregard any sneak attacks, any invisible enemies, or following enemies that may be within quite a distance. But for some reason, he failed to sense this kunai while on a VIP bodyguard mission. Very inconsistent, and it pissed me off.

Another inconsistency is in the latest Catwoman with Halle Berry. In the last fight scene, Halle with her quickness and cat senses, was beaten up by a villainous hardening-makeup-wearing woman who had no fighting experience. Just because Halle couldn't do damage to this woman does not mean this woman should have the ability to beat Catwoman up. Halle even got stabbed. That's like a cat not landing on its feet. How ridiculous. No wonder this movie got poor ratings.

I hate when characters sometimes just talk when they could be fighting during a fight scene. It's an open spot, a chance to stab at your opponent that any real-life fighter would take advantage of. For example, when the power rangers take time to morph. If I were the villain, I'd just kick them or throw some power bolt at them while they were morphing. Makes sense right? It would make it much more interesting. Or when protagonists are lying on the floor, seemingly defeated, and the villain is looming over them, staring at them for a few last seconds before making their "finishing" move. But wait! The part that you didn't see coming happens. The seemingly defeated hero/heroine opens their eyes and dodges the villain's finishing move and the fight proceeds and the hero/heroine wins! BORING!!! PREDICTABLE!!!

How about when the protagonist finally defeats the villain and then just walks away without even checking if the villain is REALLY defeated. Then 5 seconds later, the villain opens their eyes. Um, I think if my life were threatened in a one-on-one fight with a someone who I knew was truly evil, not minding that I had possibly killed him/her, I would at least make sure they would not be able to pursue me, by maybe stabbing them and see if they react or cut their Achille's tendon so they can't walk or run.

I wish I had the finances to create my own anime series, action movie. It would be fuckn awesome.