Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone missing the magic

Arnie and Stallone in the wrong roles

Arnie and Sly, two personal heroes of mine, are struggling to make it big at the box office, and there's something missing from their recent comeback films.

'Bullet to the Head' was a box office disaster, 'Escape Plan' barely scratched the surface, and 'The Last Stand' stood quietly in the corner. Apart from 'The Expendables' movies, which features the entire array of 80s action heroes, Stallone and Arnie have yet to make a big on-screen victory.

So what's the problem? Well, some people believe they are no longer movie stars but the way I see it, they haven't got their groove back yet, and it comes down to the right movies.

Arnie and Stallone made their careers by playing iconic characters that were larger than life, and defied all odds. Terminator, Rocky, and Rambo were heroes to an entire generation of cinema fans.

That generation is getting older, and those characters now have a different meaning to them. Making further sequels to those films won't match the success of the previous outings, so we need something new that can reach out to a wider audience.

What might turn the status-quo around is a movie project, or a franchise that has a completely new set of characters, where these two actors can play heroes that people can identify with, particularly younger audiences. The success of 'The Avengers', 'Fast & Furious', 'The Amazing Spider-man', 'Iron-Man' and 'The Hunger Games' proves that people still love these role-models.

I think there's an identity crisis here, and these roles that Arnie and Stallone are playing are out of touch with the fan base and the new generation. So how do they stay relevant? They need a re-invention, and they've got the stamina, and charisma to do it. People might cast them aside for being too old but what really matters is the characters and how we can relate to them. Society is getting older and living longer, so why can't we have action heroes in their 60s? I'll still watch their movies, but I need to see a true comeback...