Woke bylaws have dramatically changed Hollywood’s product.
Raunchy comedies are out, with “Ricky Stanicky” being an exception relegated to Amazon Prime. Old-school rom-coms went the way of the fax machine, with the mediocre “Anyone But You” over-performing with love-starved patrons.
Yet Hollywood’s new moral order has no qualms about making hitmen (and women) the newest trend.
Yes, many recent films ask us to empathize with stone-cold killers. They murder for a living, earn fabulous paychecks, and often live to see the end credits roll. And they anchor a shocking number of films. Let’s tally up some recent examples.
- Brad Pitt in “Bullet Train” (2022)
- The “John Wick” franchise – plus “The Continental,” a new Peacock series and the upcoming “Ballerina” spinoff with Ana de Armas.
- Michael Fassbender in “The Killer” (2023)
- “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” (2017) and its sequel, “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” (2021)
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” (2021)
- Jessica Chastain in “Ava” (2020)
- Sasha Luss in “Anna” (2019)
- Michael Keaton, Maggie Q in “The Protégé” (2021)
- Glen Powell in “Hit Man” (June 2024)
- Taraji P. Henson in “Proud Mary” (2018)
- Three…
