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Image by Federico Napoli
At its best, action cinema is one of the most captivating and entrancing genres film has to offer. It’s pulsating intensity and its gripping, high-stakes stories have a way of immersing audiences into a world of ceaseless excitement and fantastic spectacle. While many of the defining hits of the genre are either 80s icons like Die Hard or blockbusters of the 2010s like Mad Max: Fury Road, the years since the onset of the pandemic have still been rather fruitful for action movies.
Covering much of the 2020s thus far, the biggest films of the decade have had to navigate everything from lockdowns to ongoing strikes throughout their productions to finally be released. Ranging from standalone sensations to defining highlights of some of the biggest franchises of the modern day, these 10 movies are among the finest action films and offer ample proof that action cinema is still very much alive.
10 'John Wick: Chapter 4' (2023)
Directed by Chad Stahelski
Image via Lionsgate
The fourth installment of the John Wick franchise, and quite possibly the final one Keanu Reeves will star in, John Wick: Chapter 4 is yet another brilliantly stylized entry in the phenomenal action saga. The eponymous master assassin finds the price on his head growing ever-higher. Taking the fight to those who want him killed, Wick (Reeves) embarks on a globe-trotting war path to bring down The High Table.
Eager to pile on more of everything that the saga has become renowned for, John Wick: Chapter 4 is a wonderful and engrossing testament to the allure of excess in action cinema. The combat sequences feature both a balletic gracefulness and a striking brutality, while Reeves is again at his best as the fine-suited one-man-army, and the assembly of antagonists is as good as it has ever been in the expanding John Wick franchise.
Release Date March 24, 2023
Runtime 169 minutes
9 'The Northman' (2022)
Directed by Robert Eggers
Image via Universal Pictures
A historical action movie armed with the arresting sensitivities of Robert Eggers, The Northman is one of the most enrapturing revenge action pictures ever made. As a child, a young Viking prince must flee his homeland when his uncle kills his father and holds his mother captive. Years later, Amleth’s (Alexander Skarsgård) unrelenting quest for revenge sees him journey to a remote farm in Iceland where he brings carnage down upon the treacherous Fjölnir (Claes Bang) and his men.
While the story confidently and intelligently throws some twists into the mix, The Northman truly thrives off the back of its visual might. Eggers’ unwavering dedication to historical accuracy imbues the picture with a grandeur that makes itself felt in every single sequence, while the battle scenes are realized with extraordinary craftsmanship, ensnaring brutality, and plenty of bloodshed.
Release Date April 22, 2022
Runtime 136 minutes
8 'No Time to Die' (2021)
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Image via Universal Pictures
The final entry of Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond, and one of the first major releases following the initial wave of lockdowns, No Time to Die is something of a landmark movie of the modern day. It sees a peacefully retired Bond lured back into service when he becomes immersed in a treacherous web of deceit that ties to his own past as well as the childhood of his former lover, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux).
While the film is a touch overlong and underwhelms with its cartoonish villain, No Time to Die still excels with its action spectacle, its effortless sense of style, and the way it concludes Craig’s era with both emotional impact and searing grandiosity. Awe-inspiring, exciting, and even desperately intense when it wants to be, it is among the best movies in the Bond franchise and represents a defining moment in action cinema in recent years.
No Time to Die
Release Date October 8, 2021
Runtime 163 Minutes
7 'Sisu' (2022)
Directed by Jalmari Helander
Image via Lionsgate
A simple yet effective story of revenge, retribution, and glorious carnage, Sisu is as pure and joyously excessive an action picture that cinema has seen in some time. The Finnish film takes place in the closing days of WWII, following a lone prospector whose stash of gold is stolen by a group of Nazis led by a ruthless SS officer. The miner embarks on a frenzied, blood-soaked conquest to get back his riches, killing every Nazi who stands in his way in the most brutal and violent of fashions.
An extravaganza made for those who love their action spectacle as bombastic and bloody as possible, Sisu understandably resonated with millions around the world for its nonsensical divinity and its shocking visual splendor. Granted, it has its deeper thematic moments as well, but Sisu will long be remembered for its accessibility as an adrenaline-pumping masterpiece of pyrotechnics and chaos.
Sisu
Release Date April 28, 2023
Cast Jorma Tommila , Aksel Hennie , Jack Doolan , Mimosa Willamo , Onni Tommila
Runtime 91 Minutes
6 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' (2024)
Directed by George Miller
Image via Warner Bros
The Mad Max franchise has been a gloriously gritty and grungy title in action cinema since its beginning in the late 1970s. The release of Mad Max: Fury Road saw the saga not only jettison into the 21st century in spectacular fashion, but brought about one of the greatest action movies cinema has ever seen. While it didn’t get quite the same initial fanfare, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a worthy successor to such a film.
Capitalizing on the immense popularity of Charlize Theron’s heroine from Fury Road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga serves as a prequel exploring Furiosa’s (now played by Anya Taylor-Joy) past as she finds herself embroiled in a ferocious feud between two rival warlords. Whatever it lacks in the propulsive magnetism of its predecessor, it more than makes up for with its added emotional heft, making for a surprisingly unique Mad Max film that is still enriched with all of George Miller’s distinguishing flourishes.
Release Date May 24, 2024
Runtime 148 Minutes
5 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' (2023)
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Image via Paramount Pictures
The Mission: Impossible franchise has evolved to be one of the most relentlessly exciting and heart-stopping action sagas cinema has ever seen. While there are few action films that can rival the sheer magnificence of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the series’ seventh and penultimate installment—Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One—still provides a breathtaking spectacle of pulsating action storytelling and death-defying stunts.
It follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF as they try to track down a devastating A.I. device known as the Entity before it falls into the wrong hands. The pursuit sees the group pushed to their limits as Hunt comes face-to-face with an old enemy. With its enormous stakes and its sheer conviction in its execution, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One can only be viewed as a glistening example of Hollywood action film-making at its most daring and divine.
Release Date July 12, 2023
Runtime 164 minutes
4 'RRR' (2022)
Directed by S. S. Rajamouli
Image via DVV Entertainment
One of the hit sensations of 2022, RRR saw interest in Bollywood action cinema ignite the world over as a triumphant historical action movie defined by its rousing heroics. Set in the pre-independent India of the 1920s, it follows two famed revolutionaries as they join forces to launch a stance against the British colonialists and charter a path to freedom and prosperity for their country.
Despite its bombastic vibrancy, RRR is truly a masterpiece of tonal balance and pacing, with the monumental 182-minute runtime never overstaying its welcome to become dull, but never over-stimulating the audience to the point of exhaustion. The end result is a brilliant display of bromance and bravado, a defiant and inviting spectacle of patriotic celebration that reverberated around the world thanks to the breathtaking grandeur and sheer delight of the viewing experience.
RRR
Release Date March 24, 2022
Runtime 185 Minutes
3 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' (2022)
Directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Image via A24
Mixing absurdist comedy with dashing action sequences and poignant and insightful drama, Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most audacious major releases in recent years. Fortunately, it also stands as one of the most successful, with its impressive box office return being accentuated by its enduring popularity and, of course, its seven Academy Award wins—including Best Picture—from 11 nominations.
It focuses on a family of Chinese immigrants whose monotonous existence of laundromat management and interpersonal conflict suddenly explodes when they become entangled in a reality-warping adventure and a desperate effort to save the multiverse. There is a certain air of mad genius about the film, one that is undeniably derived from its ambitious and sporadic yet flawless genre-meshing antics. Powered by sublime performances from all involved, Everything Everywhere All at Once can be enjoyed for its hysterics and its heart, but it can be enjoyed for its action heroics as well.
Release Date March 25, 2022
Runtime 132 minutes
2 'Godzilla Minus One' (2023)
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Image via Toho
Another golden gem of international cinema that made inroads in mainstream pop-culture circles, Godzilla Minus One is quite possibly the best of the Godzilla movies since the 1954 original. Returning to the underlying thematic might of the franchise’s earlier installments while also conjuring up an astonishing display of visual effects that went on to win an Academy Award, the film is a highlight of modern-day action that also stands as a testament to the efforts of all involved, given the film’s relatively meager budget.
Set in the aftermath of WWII with Japan still reeling from the conflict, a gigantic monster, born from America’s nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, emerges from the sea and brings destruction upon the wounded nation. Thriving with its fantastic presentation, genuine and well-developed characters, and its handling of its delicate yet timeless focus on the long-term impacts of war, Godzilla Minus One is as pure and perfect a kaiju movie as has ever been made, and a testament to why the monster mayhem of the subgenre is such a beacon of brilliance in action cinema.
Release Date December 1, 2023
Cast Ryûnosuke Kamiki , Minami Hamabe , Yûki Yamada , Munetaka Aoki , Hidetaka Yoshioka , Sakura Andō , Kuranosuke Sasaki
Runtime 125 Minutes
1 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Image via Paramount Pictures
Not only the best action movie of the last five years, but one of the most rousing and exceptional films the genre has ever been treated to, Top Gun: Maverick is a divinely balanced spectacle of electric film-making, pure adrenaline, and against-the-odds heroics. A veteran working as a test pilot to avoid promotion, Maverick (Tom Cruise) is tasked with training a batch of young cadets ahead of a dangerous mission. Among his students is Rooster (Miles Teller), the belligerent son of his former co-pilot who holds a grudge against Maverick.
As a legacy sequel that honors its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick is incredible, but it is arguably even better as an outstanding callback to old-school action bravura imbued with all the technological advancements of the modern day. A pulsating masterpiece of immense action awe, and also a release of vital importance for the return to cinemas following the pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick is arguably the best film of any genre released in recent years.
Release Date May 27, 2022
Runtime 130 Minutes
English (US) ·