The 2020s have been a great decade for the action genre so far, with a few new classics coming out in recent years. Within the last five years, some of the biggest action franchises have created their best movies ever, includingMission: ImpossibleandJohn Wick.
There has also been room for some original voices to emerge in the action genre. A lot of eyes will be on Dev Patel and the Daniels after their recent successes, and there have also been international movies making an impact, likeGodzilla Minus OneandRRR.This all means that the action genre is in good health.
Monkey Manis Dev Patel’s directorial debut, andit could also prove to be the first step in a new phase of his career as an action star. Patel’s impressive martial arts skills are accentuated by his punchy style of direction, as his camera becomes an active participant in each of the fight scenes.
Patel’s impressive martial arts skills are accentuated by his punchy style of direction.
Monkey Manhas been dismissed by some people as just anotherJohn Wickclone. While it does share some aesthetic similarities withJohn Wick,and it also has a focus on revenge, it’s also filled with interesting political commentary and a more emotional character arc. Its fight scenes also stand out from a sea of bland imitators, as there are plenty of original touches.
Top Gunis one ofTom Cruise’s best movies, and it helped propel him to stardom in the early years of his career. However, it didn’t get a sequel back in the 1980s, and the franchise seemed dead. Not many people expected it to get a legacy sequel almost 40 years later, and it was even harder to predict thatTop Gun: Maverickwould surpass it in practically every way.
10 Incredible Action Movies Everyone Should Watch At Least Once
Everyone needs to watch these action movies at least once, if nothing else for context on their influence and place in the cultural zeitgeist.
Top Gun: Maverickbuilds on everything that made the original so popular.The aerial scenes are even more astonishing, the tension is even more exciting and the relationships between the characters are even more relatable.Maverickalso has a more interesting story in between its flight scenes, with a cast of young talent adding a different dimension. As always, Cruise remains the star.
It seems as if every time a newMission: Impossiblemovie comes out, the cast and crew advertise it as their biggest and best one yet. Invariably, this has proven to be true, asMission: Impossiblegoes from strength to strength while other long-running franchises falter and fail. Who’s to say the upcomingMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoningwon’t also be the best one yet?
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoningraises the stakes once again, as a rogue artifical intelligence threatens the entire world. Ethan Hunt and his team fight against old and new enemies, with bigger stunts and more exciting action scenes than ever before.Dead Reckoningends on an excruciating cliffhanger, and it’s been a long two years waiting for the continuation.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versewas like a shot of adrenaline to the landscape of mainstream animation, proving that there was still an appetite for creative, groundbreaking visuals and new approaches.Across the Spider-Versecontinues in the same vein, but with even more inventive flourishes.
Across the Spider-Verseleaves Miles Morales' origin story behind, but he’s still very much a kid in some regards. He teams up with a group of eccentric variants from across the multiverse once again to face an even greater foe, with some remarkable action scenes that could only ever be achieved through animation.Spider-Man:Beyond the Spider-Versehas a tough act to follow.
Although it didn’t set the box office alight,Furiosaproves that the new era of theMad Maxfranchise could have legs. It took nine years for tthe exhilaratingFury Roadto finally get a follow-up, butFuriosais a prequel rather than a sequel, and Max Rockatansky barely features at all.
You Can Sprint Through These 10 Fun, Awesome Action Movies In 90 Minutes Or Less
Presenting easily digestible viewing for fans of the genre from all generations, these high-paced action flicks never fail to entertain.
DespiteFuriosa’s differences from the main series of theMad Maxfranchise, it still has just as much high-octane action. Anya Taylor-Joy steps into the role of Furiosa, butit’s Chris Hemsworth who often steals the showas the flamboyant villain Dementus. Hopefully, it won’t take another nine years for the franchise to come back to life.
Netflix’s reputation for original films has taken a few hits recently, but the streaming platform is certainly capable of producing a few gems.Extraction 2is one obvious example, as the action sequel surpasses the 2020 original handily. Chris Hemsworth plays a mercenary who embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue a kidnapped family.
Extraction 2has a more compelling story than the first movie, as Tyler Rake’s arc is more pointed and more emotional. However, the story isn’t the main draw ofExtraction 2or its predecessor.Both movies stand out for their immersive, breathtaking style of action, and a winning combination of hard-hitting practical effects and imperceptible VFX that expands the scope of the action.
It’s rare for an Indian film to have the kind of global impact thatRRRhas had, but the action-adventure movie arrived with much fanfare after becoming the most expensive movie India ever produced. Comparisons to American action blockbusters can only go so far with a movie as independent and uninhibited asRRR.
RRRis a dizzying mashup of different genres and themes, each competing for oxygen within its mammoth three-hour runtime. Somehow, against the odds,RRRsucceeds as a historical epic, a politically conscious drama, a spectacular action thriller, a joyous musical and a sympathetic bromance movie all at once. It’s an assault on the senses; constantly busy but never incomprehensible and, more importantly, never boring.
Thehistory of theGodzillafranchisehas gradually taken the character further and further from its origins as a metaphor for the devastation of nuclear attacks on Japan in the Second World War. This has yielded mixed results as the character has come to mean different things and been involved in many different storylines, butGodzilla Minus Onetakes things back to basics.
Our Expectations Were Massively Exceeded By These 10 Action Movies
While the genre can get oversaturated with the same kind of film, there have been great action movies that shockingly far exceeded our expectations.
Godzilla Minus Onereturns to the post-war setting that created the monster. It’s an intelligent, tender story about a nation struggling to rebuild and reclaim itself after the violence of war, tempered with personal stories of how different individuals are stuck searching for meaning in a senseless world. Amidst this gut-wrenching drama, there aresome of the most spectacular scenes of Godzilla’s destructive powers ever filmed.
It’s relatively rare for an action movie to win Best Picture, but it’s also rare for comedies and sci-fi movies to win.Everything Everywhere All at Onceis all three and much more, with the Daniels letting their imaginations run wild to createa multiverse epic that’s suitably fast-paced, messy and visually dazzling.
The realmeaning ofEverything Everywhere All at Oncelies in its cosmic absurdity. This is one of the tools it uses to extract the kernels of truth from an untidy and constantly perplexing existence. The fact that it punctuates this philosophical exploration with some original and surprisingly funny fight scenes is a huge bonus.
TheJohn Wickfranchise has changed a lotsince it rocked the action genre in 2014, so much so thatChapter 4is scarcely recognizable when compared to that first pared-back outing. While everyone will have their own personal tastes,Chapter 4represents the pinnacle of the franchise’s evolution toward eccentric, explosive action.
The Osaka Continental battle, the slugfest up the stairs of Montmartre and the nightclub brawl in Berlin are all exquisite in their own way.
Chapter 4sees John fighting for his life once more as he tries to topple the High Table. This means that there are plenty more fascinating details about the franchise’s world to explore, but there are also some glorious action set pieces in John’s globe-trotting odyssey. The Osaka Continental battle, the slugfest up the stairs of Montmartre and the nightclub brawl in Berlin are all exquisite in their own way. If Reeves does step away from the franchise after the newJohn Wickspinoff,Ballerina,he will do so having revolutionized the action genre.
