It's Time To Recognize Gerard Butler As The Great Modern Action Star He Is

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It's Time To Recognize Gerard Butler As The Great Modern Action Star He Is

Early in his career, the cinematic artform known as Gerard Butler made a conscious effort to diversify his roles. Movies like "One More Kiss," "The Cherry Orchard," and "Dracula 2000" showed that he was capable of handling any genre, and they aren't the only titles in the Scottish actor's oeuvre that exemplify his range. That said, Butler found real success in Hollywood when he realized that he was born to play grizzled, trigger-happy, sword-wielding juggernauts.

Released in 2006, Zack Snyder's "300" catapulted Gerard Butler to global superstardom. The CGI-heavy adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel casts the Scottish actor as Leonidas, King of Sparta, and pits his small army of soldiers against swarms of Persian invaders. "300" sees a muscular Butler slay his way through enemies and scream about Sparta in his traditional accent, proving that historical accuracy has never been Hollywood's strongest quality. Still, the movie is a lot of fun.

While he dabbled in the odd romantic comedy afterward, Butler further established himself as a bona fide action star, and he's been content working in the genre ever since. In recent years, however, Butler has specialized in making the types of action movies we don't see enough of these days. While it's true that Butler is the king of so-bad-they're-good flicks, he deserves credit for being the great modern action star he is.