This may come as a huge shock to you. But Rambo III does not start a lot of water cooler discussion in the US, nor does T3, Predator 2, Batman and Robin, Charlies Angels, or AVP. However Alien/Aliens, Terminator 1 and 2, Rocky I, Batman Begins, Predator 1 and Spider-Man do. Why, what do all these films have in common. They are more character driven. When you watch a movie one of two things happen. You either walk out and think wow that was cool/sucks and forget about it. Or you think wow and it sticks with you for a long long time. Good action movies are a dime a dozen. Most (even entertaining ones) are about as memorable as car commercials.
To make a good action film that you watch 100s of times over (like BB, T2, Predator 1) you have to create characters who the audience are emotionally attached to. This in turn helps the action because it creates suspense. In the case of X3 (for me) yeah the action rocked, but I kinda shrugged when I saw someone die or win a fight. I did not care who won, because I was not emotionally attached. Same with AVP, T3 and Charlie's Angels (my girlfriend wanted to see it
). In X2 when Jean died I almost shed a tear right then and there, and years later it still gets me choked up. Batman Begins I actually get tense thinking will Bruce Wayne make it in time to save Gotham
. Why, because I actually have a vested interest in him winning.
X3 will by and large fall into that forgettable category, because while it has it's fanbase even they don't say they had a huge emotional attachment or even rave about the characterization.
So no, if you want a good film character development, story and dialogue come first, then you add the action.
