Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One: Is Tom Cruise the last action hero?

There have been attempts to build non-superhero action franchises around younger actors, especially actors named Chris, eg The Gray Man with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, Extraction with Chris Hemsworth, and The Tomorrow War with Chris Pratt. But none of these have been taken off, partly because they debuted on streaming services rather than at cinemas. “There’s so much content being pumped out that it’s really hard for one franchise or star to stand out,” De Semlyn says. “In the 80s, a blockbuster could be in the cinema all summer and people would keep talking about it. That’s different from turning on your TV and seeing Chris Hemsworth kill 1,000 people.”

Still, while we’re feeling sorry for those youthful actors who can’t establish themselves as action superstars, we should spare a thought for those less youthful actors who can’t establish themselves as anything else. As far as mainstream cinema is concerned, they have almost no option but to sign up for action movies, because Hollywood has pretty much abandoned the quieter mid-budget films that might have allowed them to deliver dialogue without throwing bad guys through windows at the same time. time. The John Wick series, with Keanu Reeves (58), has demonstrated that action movies are currently the only way to revive an ailing career. Just think about Cruise. He can get audiences to watch him sprinting along the top of a train, but could he persuade them to watch him in a gentle romantic comedy or a political drama? That might be a mission impossible, even for him.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is on general release

Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world.

If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.