Few will be surprised that this latest Hollywood remake will definitely get 6’4″ Hawaiian hottie Jason Momoa more attention. Internet searches for his name were already up 215 percent in the week leading up to the movie’s release, with the “Conan The Barbarian” trailer alone receiving over 5.5 million views on YouTube. In many respects, Momoa’s appearance is more akin to to Robert E. Howard’s original “black haired” and “sullen-eyed” Cimmerian than Schwarzenegger’s Austrian heritage could ever allow. Yet for many, after Arnie could there ever be another Conan?
For starters, when casting a barbarian it’s hard to go wrong if you have already chosen the greatest body builder who ever lived as your lead. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a former Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia at the time. It also didn’t hurt that it was written and directed by John Milius, a writer who sometimes goes by the moniker “Viking Man” and who was also responsible for penning the “Apocalypse Now” screenplay.
If Milius had any reservations about Schwarzenegger’s acting ability it certainly didn’t prevent him from adding a stellar supporting cast. Award winners Max Von Sydow and James Earl Jones tend to add a certain legitimacy to a project. Yet back in 1982, there was literally no one else who could “fit” the heroic role better than Arnold. That, and he was relatively an unknown to TV, the big screen, and thus the American movie going public.
Things have certainly changed. In the digital age, anonymity can no longer exist with the dominance of the search engine.
Granted Momoa wasn’t a household name before, but he was by no means plucked from obscurity either. He originally started out in “Baywatch Hawaii” and strutting down catwalks for designers Takeo and Louis Vuitton. To fan boys everywhere he had already been a series regular on cult sci-fi fantasy shows “Stargate: Atlantis” and “Game of Thrones.” In a sense, this might be why it’s difficult to completely accept him in this latest incarnation of “thief, warrior, gladiator and king.”
Also nowadays, there are a plethora of Amazonian like athletes and action stars to chose from – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a monopoly on this very premise. Momoa definitely has all the physical attributes needed for a barbarian (and the striking good looks desired by studios), but behind it all there’s something too familiar and safe about him. Besides the scowl and growled dialogue, his exotic good looks make him more a purveyor of lust than vengeance.
Although it’s unfair to expect Momoa (or anyone else) to ever replace Schwarzenegger, if Hollywood continues this remake trend it should follow in the footsteps of another of Arnie’s star-making turns. In the very successful franchise that is “The Terminator,” so immortalized was his character in the public’s psyche they realized he should never be replaced — whether he’s the good terminator or the bad terminator, a liquid-like model of himself, a female version, or Sam Worthington. When Arnie says “I’ll be back” you know for certain “he” will – even if takes a decade and the use of CGI to accomplish it . Now if only they had figured that out in time for Conan too.