Action conventions

The largest convention seen and used in action films is as the genre suggests, is action. These films rely on fast paced, violent scenes as the plot line and characters (which critics call "2d": no depth to the characters) are usually weak and panned by critics. However, action films are a big hit in the box office, in the several sub-genre's it splits into.
The target audience for the action films is generally males between the age of 15 and 35, as they are drawn to the action and explosions and can withstand a weaker storyline. Also, they can relate to the main character a lot easier as they are usually male and the females are usually left to be more of the minor characters who become the main characters "fancy" or usually saving the woman. With this the vulnerability of the female characters act as a foil to the male ones, the male seems more empowered and has a higher state of importance than the female, a prime example of this is in the movie Spiderman (2002), with the character of Mary Jane. We see her to be a vulnerable and predictable character which shows the strengths in the main character, Peter Parker.

However in more recent films they have tried to fix these errors, by making a more sustainable and plausible storyline e.g The Dark Knight or Ironman, and also use alot of more females as the main main role for example Lara Croft or Elektra.
The modern day action film has been developed from the biggest name in the genre, James Bond. The fast cuts, car chases, gadgets, gunfights and explosions have been the starting point for the whole genre.
This also moulded the generic hero, a womaniser who could get what he wanted, escape crazy situations and out smart the villain, with his whit and charm.
Another popular action hero is the renegade cop, who doesn't abide by the rules yet always takes out the bad guy and is popular with everyone.
Since films like Die hard and Dirty Harry, there has been a large rise in the amount of 'Anti-heroes', who do not play by the rules, but try and save the day regardless. Such films include Iron Man, Watch men, and Punisher.
The Iconography in action films tend to be a time limit, and it counting down, explosions, gunfire, tattered clothes, witty lines, being able to escape impossible situations, and foreign villains who seek revenge.

Certain Iconography for Action films include:
Cars - James bond, Transporter, Bad boys, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight
Weaponry - James bond, Bad boys, Terminator, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings
Helicopters - Die hard, Bad boys
Headquarters - Buildings for villains, or Heroes - James bond, Dark Knight, Ironman
Police badges - Bad boys
Explosives - Rambo, Terminator, Transporter, Indiana Jones
Priceless artifacts - Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings
Suits - James bond, transporter, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction
Gadgets - James Bond, Iron man, Matrix, Gamer, Spiderman, The Dark Knight
Sunglasses - James bond, Bad boys, Rush hour
Rock music - Matrix, Gamer, Transformers, Iron man