Chuck Norris has been more of a well-intentioned punchline than anything else in recent years; after he became a popular internet meme, it was all downhill from there. But he’s chosen perhaps the best vehicle for a return to the big screen–a big-budget, explosive-heavy action film featuring pretty much every action star on the face of the planet–and he’s being applauded for it.

Norris, like most of his co-stars, understands his place in Americana. These men have been around since the late ’70s/early ’80s and have almost become caricatures of themselves: hugely muscled, vaguely unintelligible heroes with big hearts and more training than book-smarts. It’s a character they’ve all played time and time again, yet we never get sick of it, perhaps because they give us exactly what we want each time with no frills. They are what they are, and that’s just fine.

Although Norris hasn’t been in the spotlight in recent years as often as his onscreen cohorts, he is being welcomed back with open arms by those who have seen the film as the one man in the group who can pull off poking fun at himself without seeming cheesy. He’s in on the joke, just like everyone else, but he manages to find the comedy in it a tad better than, say, Schwarzenegger, who’s done that “I’ll be back” bit a few too many times.

Until Mr. Norris shows up, the script’s efforts at sly comedy don’t work all that well, relying on obvious inside jokes and references to the various stars’ previous work. Mr. Norris’s character, Booker (also the name of his character in the 1978 film “Good Guys Wear Black”), works those same angles but is somehow much funnier, writes one reviewer.

This could be the beginning of a big comeback for Norris, although that might dampen all those memes surrounding him; the legend has become almost bigger than the actor.