The dawn of computer-generated effects spelled bad news for action cinema at the turn of the 21st century. James Bond surfed on a CG tidal wave inDie Another Day, while John McClane jumped a CG police car into a CG helicopter to create a CG explosion inLive Free or Die Hard. But the action movies of the last two decades haven’t been all bad.
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In fact, in the past few years, action fans have been treated to some of the genre’s all-time greatest entries. Directors like George Miller and Gareth Evans have pioneered a new kind of action movie that’s basically a feature-length action sequence.
10Taken (2008)
When Liam Neeson shotTaken,he expected it to go straight to DVD. He only took the job for a vacation in Paris. But Pierre Morel’s thriller ended up reinventing Neeson’s whole career, turning him from a respected dramatic actor to the first star of the “geriaction” movement.
There’s something universally relatable about a father’s desperate search for his kidnapped daughter, while Neeson’s particularly skilled ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills is a compelling lead.
9Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
After scaling the facade of the Burj Khalifa inGhost Protocoland hanging off the side of a plane mid-takeoff inRogue Nation, Tom Cruisewent all-out for the sixthMission: Impossiblemovie,Fallout, by doing one of those insane stunts in pretty much every scene.
Returning director Christopher McQuarrie brought some of the most explosive, dazzling set pieces in recent memory to life acrossFallout’s densely packed runtime.
8Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017)
S. Craig Zahler’s sophomore directorial effort, ultraviolent neo-noirBrawl in Cell Block 99, tells a deceptively simple story that keeps raising the stakes. Vince Vaughn stars as an ex-convict, Bradley Thomas, who’s struggling to hold down a job outside of prison and returns to a life of crime.
When Bradley gets caught, he’s sent to prison, where a crime boss threatens to kill his wife and unborn child if he doesn’t get himself transferred to another prison and kill a bunch of his gangland rivals. It’s a nail-biter full of brutal violence.
7Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Quentin Tarantinoquickly made a name for himselfwith a string of crime movies in the ‘90s –Reservoir Dogs,Pulp Fiction, andJackie Brown– before trying his hand at an action movie withKill Bill, a blood-spattered two-parter that blends martial arts movies, spaghetti westerns, and blaxploitation films.
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The first part ofKill Billis easily the most action-packed. It opens with a visceral fight scene between the Bride and Vernita Green and culminates inthe iconic House of Blue Leaves massacre.
6The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
After Doug Liman got the franchise off to a promising start withThe Bourne Identityand Paul Greengrass defined its unique visual style with shaky camerawork and doc-style cross-cutting inThe Bourne Supremacy, Greengrass finally gave the franchise its greatest installment with the trilogy-closingThe Bourne Ultimatum.
It’s rare that a threequel satisfies as both a follow-up to the previous two movies and a conclusion to the trilogy, butThe Bourne Ultimatumblows the last two movies out of the waterand wraps up its story in a neat bow. Unfortunately, Universal couldn’t leave it alone and there have since been two additionalBournemovies.
5The Dark Knight (2008)
Christopher Nolan gave theCaped Crusadera serviceable origin story inBatman Begins, However, that was nothing compared to the sequel,The Dark Knight, one of the greatest movies ever made.
With breathtaking action sequences shot on IMAX cameras and a palpable reign of terror courtesy of Heath Ledger’s quintessential incarnation of the Joker (which won the late, great actor a posthumous Academy Award),The Dark Knightis one heck of a thrill-ride.
4Battle Royale (2000)
AlthoughThe Hunger Gamesuseda similar premiseand became more financially successful with it,Battle Royaleis still the definitive tale of teenagers pitted against each other in a fight to the death.
As both a satire of the coming-of-age experience and an action-packed thrill-ride,Battle Royaleis a true masterpiece filled with tension and melodrama. Certain moments can be difficult to watch, and that is the point.
3John Wick (2014)
Harking back to French crime movies, Hong Kong action thrillers, Italian spaghetti westerns, and American film noirs,John Wickis one of the most visually interesting action movies in recent memory. In addition todazzling fight choreographyand “gun fu,” the use of lighting and color is gorgeous and cinematic.
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Keanu Reeves made the title characterhis most iconic role by far,spawning a lucrative franchiseand revitalizing his career. He brought his all to the physicality of the role, breathing life into every action scene.
2The Raid (2011)
Following a tactical police squad’s infiltration of a gang-controlled high-rise, Gareth Evans’The Raidisan intense, action-packed ride from start to finish.
The movie stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, two of the world’s greatest martial artists, so they spearheaded the fight choreography for the movie themselves. Where most action films are clunkily cut around stunt doubles, inThe Raid, the actors are their own stunt doubles.
When George Miller finally got the fourthMad Maxmovie out of development hell, he cast Tom Hardy in Mel Gibson’s place in the title role. He also used astoryboard instead of a traditional screenplayto ensure that the story would be told as visually as possible.
Essentially a feature-length car chase across a post-apocalyptic wasteland,Fury Roadkeeps the thrills comingwith mind-boggling practical stunt work.
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