The first movies I watched, when I thought of myself as a young, teenage movie buff, were action movies.

Die Hard, Hard Boiled, Speed, Predator are all great movies with strong heroes, a sense of humor to some degree, and amazing set pieces.

But action movies have been supplanted by superhero movies. While the best of these movies rank among the best blockbusters of all time - Nolan's Batman movies, Iron Man, Captain America: Winter Warrior and Civil War, The Avengers, Wonder Woman - for the most part the structure of these movies fall flat to me because the superheros are indestructible and so the stakes are lowered for every battle.

Some of the reason might be the change of the moviegoing population - younger - and also the change in the culture away from traditional definitions of masculinity or even a lack of American born actors who can carry a movie, perform the stunts and have charisma. Studios also are reluctant to push movies that aren't existing properties, which certainly plays a factor.

I would think that some director can breathe life back into the genre, like McTiernan with Die Hard or Woo with The Killer.

Is the problem an audience problem or a studio problem?