And there ends 2019. Before we get on to looking at what’s to come in the action heroine arena for 2020, let’s quickly review what was saw this year from the film out of the 2019 preview. It was al mix of hits and misses – but probably skewed, rather disappointingly, towards the latter. Anna, Dark Phoenix, the Charlie’s Angels reboot and Terminator: Dark Fate all severely underperformed at the box-office. With even Battle Angel not exactly setting up a franchise, probably only Captain Marvel should be considered as a definitive hit. And it probably says something that I haven’t seen it yet. Our film of the year probably goes to She Never Died, which managed not just to match but surpass its predecessor. And with that… on to 2020, which should have at least a couple of definitive hits on the schedule!
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (7 Feb)
We’ll start with what seems certain to be the clunkiest title of the year, which everyone will refer to as Birds of Prey. Or maybe BoP. On the plus side: Harley Quinn was pretty much the best thing about Suicide Squad and Margot Robbie has repeatedly proven herself very watchable e.g. Terminal. On the other… Well, that trailer is a mess. I’ve watched it several times, and still have no clue what the film is about, It’s clearly a girl-gang/girl-power film, but I’ve got a horrible feeling it’s going to end up closer to Spice World than Switchblade Sisters. We will see.
Black Widow (1 May)
From Marvel to DC, and a project which has been in the works since at least 2004. Traction grew after her arrival in in Marvel Cinematic Universe, and though she’s not the first superheroine film in its renaissance. will have to fill the large shoes of Avengers: Endgame, merely the biggest box-office hit in the history of cinema. [I’m not counting Spiderman: Far From Home, because reasons] Scarlet Johansson has proven a good fit for the character, and has an action pedigree, even if Ghost in the Shell was underwhelming. I am cautiously optimistic for this one.
Enola Holmes (TBA)
This is the first entry of what’s hoped will be a franchise. The characters are based on the books by Nancy Springer, about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes’s teenage young sister. Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things plays the title character, who in this movie will be investigating the disappearance of her mother. Henry Cavill is Sherlock. The makers will be hoping no-one links it to Holmes and Watson, a turkey which won the 2019 Razzie for worst picture.
Gretel and Hansel (31 Jan)
Directed by Oz Perkins, the change in the traditional title was to stress she is the focus of the story, with her considerably older than her little brother (16 and 8 respectively). Perkins had described it as a “coming-of-age story,” though the basic premise remains as in the Grimm fairy-story: the siblings are trapped in and having to escape from, the house belonging to a witch (Alice Krige). The trailer definitely seems to put this into the “folk horror” category, not far from Perkins’s previous I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.
Gunpowder Milkshake (TBA)
Certainly possessing the best action-heroine cast of 2020. Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, Lena Headey and Angela Bassett? Okay, you have my attention. Not much more is known about this one, beyond a bare synopsis: “A secret sisterhood comes to the rescue of a mother-daughter assassin team.” Yep, still interested: Headey and Gillan are the family slayers in question, and the non-female cast is led by Paul Giamatti. I did enjoy director Navot Papushado’s previous feature, Big Bad Wolves, so if this can deliver on the potential of its cast, I’ll be there.
Monster Hunter (4 Sep)
Alice may be done, but the Paul W.S. Anderson collaborations with his wife, Milla Jovovich, on video-game adaptations continue on. This was a carry-forward from last year’s preview, but now appears fully set for September. A teaser trailer leaked in June, including Jovovich and co-star Tony Jaa, but that has been about it. Based on the response to their Resident Evil films, I expect this to be decent mindless entertainment, while fans of the video-games howl in outrage at how it isn’t exactly the same as on their computers…
Mulan (27 Mar)
Disney’s strip-mining of its animation vaults continues apace. But who can be surprised when the results include the #2 (The Lion King), #8 (Aladdin) and #25 (Dumbo) films world-wide in 2019? If I’d to predict, I’d say this will come in between Aladdin and Dumbo. Hard to say if the controversy over cast members’ pro-Beijing stance will hurt it: could be just a few Twitteratti who care. I know I don’t. This looks suitably serious, and the apparent absence of any comic sidekick should help in that department.
Pixie (TBA)
Limited information about this, but the synopsis is: “To avenge her mother’s death, Pixie masterminds a heist but must flee across Ireland from gangsters, take on the patriarchy, and choose her own destiny.” The tone appears to be comedy-thriller, which does help to defer the eye-rolling experienced following the bit about taking on the patriarchy. Hopefully it’ll go easy on the wokeness. Olivia Cooke stars, in the title role.
Promising Young Woman (17 Apr)
Speaking of woke… Going by the trailer (in the playlist below), this one appears to be betting on an exacta of SJW talking points: college sexual assault and rape while drunk. “A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against men who cross her path.” Worth noting: “Promising young man” is what they called Brock Turner, student athlete and convicted rapist. I do sense the message here is considered more important than the medium, but a decent cast including Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham, might salvage it.
The Rhythm Section (31 Jan)
Pushed back a year from its original scheduled release date of Feb 2019, So let me copy-paste: This will star Blake Lively as Stephanie Patrick, “a woman who seeks to uncover the truth behind a plane crash that killed her family. Patrick was also meant to be on the flight. After she discovers that the crash was not accidental, she embarks on a mission to track down those responsible by assuming the identity of an assassin.” It’s based on the novel by Mark Burnell, which “is not a thriller about the hunt for a terrorist, although that is the path Stephanie takes, and it’s not a story about revenge, although justice for her family is her initial motivation. Rather, The Rhythm Section is the story of Stephanie’s attempt to reclaim herself.”
The Serpent (5 Jan)
Not to be confused with the upcoming TV miniseries of the same name, this gets the year started, being released this Sunday. It doesn’t exactly look big-budget, while the plot is generic spy story #4, and I quote: “given a special assignment but then set up by her own agency.” Yawn. However, the trailer has its moment – the heroine letting loose with two automatic weapons simultaneously stood out – and if there’s as much action as it seems, could be fun. Interestingly, the film appears to have been written and directed by its star, model Gia Skova.
Run Hide Fight (TBA)
“17-year-old Zoe Hull uses her wits, survival skills, and compassion to fight for her life, and those of her fellow classmates, against a group of live-streaming school shooters.” In the wake of recent events, this may potentially be skating on the thin ice of good taste, unless handled correctly. We’ll see. Thomas Jane and Radha Mitchell play Zoe’s parents, though it’ll be the feature debut of Isabel May as Zoe. Horror icon Barbara Crampton is also present.
Tribal Get Out Alive (9 Apr – UK)
Hmm, perhaps Birds of Prey has some contest as the most clunky title of 2020? But what interests me most is star Zara Phythian (right), someone we’ve been keeping an eye on since 2016. Here’s a synopsis: “Elite military personnel Caitlin Ross retires from service after suffering from PTSD. Along with former team member and close friend Brad Johnson, they are hired by young, troublesome millionaire Richard Kenning to clear and secure the land and property he has recently inherited. It soon becomes apparent they are being hunted and the race is on to get out alive.”
Two of Us (28 Jan)
Originally known (in the trailer, for example) as Dead Earth, it’s the story of two young Thai women who try to survive after the zombie apocalypse. Zombies, unsurprisingly, ensue, if the trailer is anything by which we should judge it. According to the IMDb, it was shot in 9 days at an abandoned resort in Thailand. And a very long time ago, back when director Wych Kaosayananda was known as Kaos, he gave us Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, still the worst-reviewed film in the history of RottenTomatoes.com, with 118 reviews, none positive. Hey, the only way is up!
Underwater (10 Jan)
There was a spell at the end of the eighties when this kind of oceanic action films were popular e.g. The Abyss, Leviathan, Deepstar Six. But it seems like a while, so are we ripe for a resurgence? Kristen Stewart is the big name in a cast that also includes T.J. Miller and Vincent Cassel. The film follows a crew of underwater researchers who must scramble to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory. But going by the trailer, the earthquake appears not to be the last of their problems… Cthulhu. I hope it’s Cthulhu…
Wonder Woman 1984 (5 Jun)
If I was a betting man, I’d wager this one will take most money of these. It does appear a little less emotionally-intense than the first film, which focused on the hell which was World War I. This might be a more conventional comic-book approach, though I’ll admit to having been super-stoked by the trailer. In particular for its extremely cool use of an orchestral version of New Order’s Blue Monday, which managed to be retro-nostalgic and cutting edge at the same time.
Zombinatrix (TBA)
From the potentially sublime to the utterly ridiculous (hopefully, deliberately). The synopsis, as submitted to the IMDB by lead actress and co-writer Bianca Allaine: “A Dominatrix is brutally murdered by thugs. Returning from the grave as Zombinatrix, she takes great pleasure in incorporating her sadistic S&M kinks into killing anyone crossing her path. After all, she is into whips and BRAINS.” If it isn’t getting Oscar consideration this time next year, I say we storm Hollywood. :)
Indeed, their femininity is often virtually irrelevant. Gender-wise, you could swap many of them out with young men or boys, and little would need to be changed. I’d argue it’s the most effective kind of feminism: the sort which doesn’t need to shout about it, but simply gets on with doing and being, and leads by example rather than the creation of loud noises. Yet, as we’ll see, it’s a philosophy which cuts both ways. Being female does not necessarily make you a good person: they can be every bit as egotistical, prejudiced, cruel and willing to bring down hellfire and destruction, as any man. That’s true equality in cinematic action.
After the enormous critical, if not commercial, success of Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, Miyazaki was commissioned to create a manga series for Animage magazine, with a potential film adaptation attached. Publication began in early 1982, but it would take a dozen years, albeit of intermittent publication, before that story was complete. When the series’s popularity among Animage readers was established, work began on the film adaptation, covering the early portion of the manga. Since this was before Miyazaki’s own Studio Ghibli was founded, an external company, Topcraft, were commissioned to create the animation. The budget was only $1 million, with a mere nine-month production schedule leading up to its release in March 1984.
Miyazaki’s father ran an airplane parts company in World War II, and even his film company, Studio Ghibli, was named after an Italian plane. Almost every one of his movies 
To some extent, this was the film which “broke” Miyazaki in the West, being his first feature to receive an unedited theatrical release in America. It wasn’t a huge commercial success, taking only about $2.4 million in North America. But it was very well-received, Roger Ebert listing it among his top ten films of 1999. It likely opened the door for the success of Spirited Away, which would win Miyazaki the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. But if I’m being honest, I don’t like it as much as many of his movies. While there’s no denying the imagination and enormous technical skill here, it doesn’t resonate emotionally with me in the same way. I think it’s probably the central character, who is relatively bland and uninteresting, even compared to other characters in the movie.
The notion of a warrior woman, who leads the fight against occupying forces is something which quite a common trope of legend and lore worldwide. The family tree includes the likes of 
In June 1857, rebel soldiers seized the fort at Jhansi and massacred, not only the officers garrisoned there, but their families. After the rebels left, Lakshmibai took over, running Jhansi on behalf of the British until they could send a superintendent. That’s not exactly Joan of Arc-like… Instead, she fought off efforts by the rebels to claim the Jhansi throne for her husband’s nephew, as well as an attempted invasion by neighbouring states. It’s possible the latter enemy’s alliance with the British helped sour relations between them and Lakshmibai, though she still seems to have intended to act as a caretaker to this point.
Her post-rebellion legacy was a complex one. Some English writers maligned Lakshmibai, blaming her for the massacre by the rebels at Jhansi – in particular army doctor, Thomas Lowe, who called the queen the “Jezebel of India.” However, Sir Hugh Rose, commander of the British forces who took Jhansi spoke of her in much kinder terms, calling her “Personable, clever and beautiful,” “The most dangerous of all Indian leaders,” and “The bravest and best military leader of the rebels”.
More than five years ago, in March 2014, we wrote about the 
Villanelle
Eve Polastri
Eve vs. Villanelle
Atone (February 26)
Fighting With My Family (February 14)
There have been two (or perhaps three) subsequent comic-book incarnations. First was Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, originally published from 2001-14 in Japan. Then came Battle Angel Alita: Holy Night and Other Stories, though this was a collection of four side-stories – hence the “perhaps three”! Most recently, we had Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle (2015-17). Two of the volumes from the first incarnation were adapted into a pair of 30-minute OVAs (Original Video Animation), released in June 1993. Rumblings of a live-action version have been around almost as long, with James Cameron securing the rights to the comic in 1999, having been introduced to the property by Guillermo Del Toro. By the mid-2000’s, a script had been created, but after developing the project in parallel with Avatar, Cameron decided to devote his efforts to that instead, and Alita went on the back-burner.
wever, there’s still an amazing amount going on in terms of story-line and universe-building. You can easily see how the feature film will only be able to cover perhaps one-quarter of the series. I presume it will begin with the origin story, in which Ido finds the head of Alita in the scrapyard beneath the floating city of Tiphares, and gives it a cybernetic body. He’s a part-time bounty hunter, only to find out quickly, the combat abilities of his new charge far surpass his own. Unfortunately, she has little or no memory of her prior life; where she got these skills and how she ended up in the scrapyard is only revealed well into the series.
Watching this after having read the manga version, it feels like the anime version can do little more than scratch the surface of the world of Tiphares, in the barely fifty minutes it has to work with across its two OVA (Original Video Animation) volumes. The stories here, originally released in 1993, cover the first two section of the manga, and it looks like much of what we see here will also be included in the live-action film next February. Slightly confusing matters, is the way this uses the original Japanese names. So Tiphares becomes Zalem here, and Hugo is Yugo. Most oddly, the heroine is not called Alita – hence the absence of her name from the title – but Gally. To avoid further confusion, I’m going to be consistent with our other articles on the topic, and stick to the translated ones for what follows.
There’s something satisfyingly circular about the story of Cattle Annie and Little Britches. Two teenage girls, inspired by the questionably accurate literary exploits of Western outlaw derring-do, leave their homes and families to join those outlaws. They end up becoming the stuff of these same legends themselves, with their story being turned into a Hollywood movie (see below). Art imitating life imitating art. Given this, discovering the truth behind the myth is almost impossible, with sources telling different versions, and often contradicting each other. As such, take what follows as a best guess…
For example, rather than being born and brought up in Oklahoma, the duo are portrayed as making their way out to California to seek their fortune, when they’re forcibly detoured to Guthrie, OK, There, they encounter Bill Doolin (Lancaster) when he and his gang visit the town. Annie falls for gang member Bittercreek Newcomb (John Savage) and they end up being taken by him to the gang’s hideout. Their knowledge of the Doolin Gang is entirely based on the embellished stories they’ve heard about them, and they’re disappointing to find reality comes up short.