In his career as an actor, Jason Statham has quite frequently played unstoppable tough guys, and whether out of revenge, profit, or self-preservation, Staham characters have perpetrated violence against innumerable bad guys, good guys, and assorted anonymous henchmen.  In this Friday's Safe, written and directed by Boaz Yakin, Statham stars as a former NYPD cop and cage fighter who kicks ass in order to protect a helpless a young girl.

See, Catherine Chan plays a little girl who knows the numerical code to a safe containing an invaluable MacGuffin, meaning that Statham must safeguard her from corrupt cops, Triad gangsters, and the Russian mafia, all of whom would happily dispose of the child once they opened that safe.

The story of Safe had us thinking about the tried-and-true trope of serious cinematic tough guys whose primary goal is the protecting of otherwise helpless youths.  We're not talking about guys like Superman or Spider-Man, who rescue different kids on a daily basis.  Instead, this latest Rogue 10 lists, in no particular order, ten onscreen heroes who dedicate themselves to their youthful charges.

So apparently a sequel to Sin City is actually going into production this summer, after seven years of seemingly endless promises and well past the point at which it seemed it would never happen.  The official announcement for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was a week ago today, and with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller set to direct again, there are plenty of questions, including, "Really?  No, really?  This is happening?"  Another is, of course, just who will return from the 2005 film.

It's been seven years since Sin City set a new standard for fidelity in adapting a comic book, with co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller basically using Miller's influential hyper-noir comics as storyboards for the audacious, green-screen intensive production.  Talk of a sequel taking on more of Miller's work began almost immediately, the directors have been promising that it will happen almost ceaseless for the better part of a decade with nothing to show for it.  But it's actually going to go down now.  Really.

After taking cracks at three decidedly more British (okay, one Welsh) actors, the new Oldboy remake may have found an actor to play its villain on an entirely different continent.  The new take on the South Korean revenge classic is being directed by Spike Lee, and with its leading man and lady signed up and ready to go, the task has been finding the right guy to play the heavy.  It seems Sharlto Copley is the latest actor to be offered the role of the mysterious man messing with Josh Brolin.

Opening on March 30th is the new horror film from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) called Intruders. The movie stars an international cast of actors that includes Clive Owen (Sin City, Children of Men), Carice van Houten (Repo Men), Kerry Fox (Bright Star), and Ella Purnell (Never Let Me Go).

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to discuss his work on Intruders, as well as his upcoming reboot of Highlander. The talented director talked about Intruders, his unique visual style, the origin of fear, creating supernatural elements, casting Clive Owen, the current status of the Highlander reboot, his love for the original, whether or not it will be his next film, working on the script, conformation that it will be a reboot and NOT a remake, and possibly casting Owen as an immortal in the upcoming film. 

More than a month ago, we ran a story with the headline, "Will Colin Firth Play the Villain in Spike Lee's Oldboy?"  The answer to that question is an emphatic "No."  The Oscar-winning British thespian was offered the antagonistic role in the American remake of the incredible 2003 South Korean film, but he recently passed on the part, which would pit him against Josh Brolin, who is set to play the lead.  Well, if an American Oldboy has to happen, at least it involves some fascinating talent.  The latest potential addition is Clive Owen, who has reportedly been offered the role that Firth declined.

In 2005, Sin City brought the hyper-noir comic books written and illustrated by Frank Miller, whose artistic contribution to the medium has been incalculable, to the screen as easily the most faithful comic book movie made before or since.  As co-directed by Miller and El Mariachi helmer Robert Rodriguez, the black-and-white world of Basin City came to screamingly ludicrous life, complete with over-the-top violence, hard-boiled dialogue, and dangerous, dizzy dames aplenty. 

Two such dames were played by Jaime King, the lovely and talented model-turned actress who stars alongside Rachel Bilson in the upcoming television series Heart of Dixie.  In Sin City, she played the doomed Goldie, as well as her determined twin sister Wendy.  IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick had the chance to chat with King last night at a party in Hollywood celebrating X-Men: First Class, which was released on Blu-ray and DVD today. The talented actress provided an update on the perpetually-in-development sequel Sin City 2 and confirmed that she'll have a role in the next installment, if and when it actually becomes a reality.

In the six years since Sin City first cartoonishly brought the black and white ultraviolence and hyper-noir tough guys of Frank Miller's comics to cinemas everywhere, the hope for a sequel has persisted.  Every few months, either Miller of co-director Robert Rodriguez will provide a usually positive update indicating that Sin City 2 could very well be right around the corner, but for six years, the project hasn't come together.  Following another round of hopeful talk from Rodriguez in July, Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan has come aboard Sin City 2 to polish the script.

With a clean efficiency and no-frill literalism, the title Killer Elite lets audiences know that the film in question will not be a staid costume drama, but a balls-out actioner in which people who excel at killing others pummel each other ceaselessly and fire many a gun.  Even sporting a title like that, though, the second trailer does not mince around, but gets right to the point as Jason Statham lines up his knuckles as an unparalleled ass-kicker and ex-special ops soldier who must come out of retirement to rescue his mentor, played by Robert DeNiro, from a evilly mustachioed Clive Owen.  Like the first trailer, this one is set to The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane," which clarifies any confusion as to whether or not Statham will rock you like a hurricane. 

Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo orchestrated large-scale horror mayhem for the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, but his follow-up Intruders brings the fear to a more personal place.  Instead of zombie hordes being decapitated by whirling helicopter rotors or swaths of London being incinerated, the new film focuses one family and the mysterious ghoulish monsters causing them no end of trouble. 

A new British trailer for the film shows that, not only will the baddies be plentifully threatening, but the film will skip the whole "child sees creatures and adults don't believe until its too late" structure, as Clive Owen is all about cracking some intruder skulls.