Top 7 Action Films of 2024
Times are good for action movies. Between the growing calls for an Academy Award for Stunt Performers and increased acknowledgement from the mainstream media (Vulture has begun offering its own Stunt Awards), there seems to be growing cultural recognition that the action genre, while often derided for its emphasis on spectacle over story, nonetheless requires exceptional craft and artistry to provide audiences with explosive thrills and well-choreographed fistfights.
As with horror, action movies have always been caught in the middle of socio-political issues and concerns. Traditionally, they’ve leaned politically conservative, with white male heroes enacting righteous violence against external enemies, the audience encouraged to root for the annihilation of the Other (often foreigners) and the triumph of American individualism over threats to the established order. It’s not unusual for protagonists to be military veterans or law enforcement officers — I’m sure entire books and dissertations have been written about Hollywood’s role in producing “copaganda” that glorifies the use of violence to uphold “law and order” and manipulates public perception of American institutions.
Over the past decade, though, the narratives and concerns of mainstream action cinema seem to be changing. Superhero movies (arguably the most fascistic of action archetypes), which began to dominate multiplexes post-9/11 in conjunction with the War on Terror, seem to be gradually declining in popularity, while the American public has developed a growing distrust of government and institutional authority. Many of this year’s action movies feature protagonists who work outside the law as vigilantes or outright criminals, and those focused on police or military officers often highlight institutional corruption or critique the way these characters use violence to achieve their goals. Hollywood, it seems, is wrestling with the same concerns we are. In a world that seems increasingly violent and lawless, movies are supposed to provide an escape. What to do with the fact that fictional violence and lawlessness can be such an enjoyable catharsis?
What follows are some brief thoughts on the best action movies I saw last year. As always, JustWatch will let you know where they’re available to stream. But I earn a small commission if you use the customized links below to rent / purchase them through Amazon, so I’d appreciate it if you use that option.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
While I found the narrative of 100 Yards — a Chinese period piece about the rivalry between a martial arts master’s apprentice and son — underwhelming, there’s no denying its impressive action. It differs from many martial arts films in that, instead of long, elaborate brawls, the fights tend to be lightning-fast sequences of moves, in which one combatant is bested in a matter of seconds. The only question is how much mercy one will show, or to what degree one’s honor has been undermined. One-Percent Warrior, which boasts choreography from famed Japanese stunt director Kensuke Sonomura, is also a fantastic ode to the variety of the art form, in which our hero changes tactics and fighting style depending on the context. The final fight between Tak Sakaguchi and Togo Ishii is phenomenal, striking just the right balance between brutality and grace, reminding us that while martial arts isn't dance, it isn't entirely not dance, either.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die was one of the best times I had in the theater all year, and it proves that directing duo Adil El Arbiand Bilall Fallah really are the perfect choice to take over the reins from Michael Bay (just without Bay’s overindulgence and occasional mean streak). The color palette nods to the neon-noir of Michael Mann, the camera swirls around the actors on cranes and drones, and some of the violence flirts on the edge of good taste. Also: It's genuinely funny! This is the type of movie that seems concerned first and foremost with whether it’s making people feel good, and it’s a perfect demonstration of how charismatic actors and a playful attitude can make a rote plot feel way less generic. I'll happily watch more of these if they want to keep making them.
On to the list!
The beekeeper
This is the type of movie that should be released every January: a turn-your-brain-off actioner about a one-man wrecking ball. Jason Statham stars as Adam Clay, an elite assassin who belongs to a top-secret black ops organization (the titular Beekeepers) in charge of “protecting the hive” (read: society) from those who disrupt it. Adam is also an actual beekeeper, though, and he spends his days collecting honey and helping out his retired schoolteacher friend Eloise (Phylicia Rashad). After Eloise loses her life savings in an online phishing scam, Adam goes on a hunt for the people responsible, destroying everything (and everyone) who gets in his way. Part of what makes The Beekeeper so much fun is that it calls out the people we all recognize as villains — corporate opportunists and corrupt politicians, sometimes one and the same — without feeling overtly partisan. Who doesn’t enjoy watching Josh Hutcherson as a Hunter Biden-esque cokehead get punched in the face? At one point, a character quotes Hamlet by saying, “To bee or not to bee.” If the results are this much fun, there’s only one answer: to bee!
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
Mad Mad: Fury Road is widely considered to be the definitive action film of the 21st century so far, so there was little chance a prequel could match its ambition and filmmaking craft. Lucky for us, Furiosa comes pretty close as it takes viewers through an epic, five-chapter story of how the titular character (played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road and Anya Taylor-Joy here) finds herself caught between competing warlords in her attempt to find her way home through a post-apocalyptic landscape. This fifth installment of the Mad Max series is slower and more sprawling affair than its predecessor, far more interested in the larger world of the Wasteland than stripped-down, high-octane action. But it still boasts some of the most spectacular action set pieces ever filmed, most notably a chase scene midway through that’s one of the most jaw-droppingly creative sequences of the past decade. And it all builds to what may be director George Miller’s most provocative ending, a narrative move that tackles the myth of righteous violence in a way that shook and moved me. Sometimes society feels like a Wasteland — Furiosa posits that we might even be able to work with our enemies to find redemption and build something new atop the dust.
KILL
One of the most violent movies ever produced in India, director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Kill is 105 minutes of murder and mayhem. Taking place entirely in one location, the plot follows a police commando (Lakshya) who comes into conflict with a group of bandits after they raid a passenger train and threaten his girlfriend. It takes a lot of creativity for action to be this non-stop for so long and not get boring, but Bhat pulls it off, and by the end, it feels like a dark lampoon of grandly romantic, righteous vengeance narratives. The villains weep for each other. The body count is heavily one-sided. And the final scene is so quietly perverse that I have to believe the filmmakers are in on the joke.
LIFE AFTER FIGHTING
This year hopefully marks a turning point for Australian actor and martial artist Bren Foster. While television viewers might know him as part of the cast of The Days of Our Lives or TNT’s The Last Ship, his movie career has been mostly limited to supporting roles and direct-to-streaming fare. Until now. Foster, now in his late forties, is the writer, director, producer, and star of Life After Fighting, a labor of love that will hopefully propel him to bigger things.
The premise is simple: A martial arts teacher at a local dojo finds himself on the wrong side of a child trafficking ring after two of his students get kidnapped. The plot is mainly an excuse for Foster to showcase his skills as a fight choreographer and stunt performer. And on that level, it’s an unbridled success. Life After Fighting is something special, the kind of film destined to find a cult following among martial arts fans. It’s a slow burn for much of its runtime; Foster takes the time to ground the violence in meaningful pathos before bringing it to the forefront. But come to the forefront it does: the last 40 minutes are a non-stop beat-em-up that shifts from elaborately staged jumps and kicks to more raw and brutal jabs and grapples. It’s a stunningly ambitious climax to a film that already contained fantastic sparring matches, and it will hopefully inspire a studio to bankroll whatever Foster wants to do next. He’s earned it.
ONE MORE SHOT
Scott Adkins, the king of DTV action, teamed up with director James Nunn to make a sequel to their 2021 thriller One Shot. Like its predecessor, One More Shot uses its title as a double entendre: it’s edited to appear as though it was all filmed in one continuous take. It’s a compelling gimmick made all the more impressive by the fact that both films are compelling conspiracy thrillers. This one finds Adkins’s Navy SEAL protagonist escorting a suspected terrorist (Waleed Elgadi) to Washington, D.C. only for their plane to be diverted to a civilian airport which is then overrun by mercenaries. Unlike the shoot-out heavy outdoor locations of the first film, this one finds Adkins using Splinter Cell-like stealth to creep through darkened corridors and take enemies by surprise. One particularly enjoyable sequence treats him like a slasher movie killer, taking out foes in the background or just out of frame. The real standout, however, is Elgadi, who provides an emotional core to what could easily be a pretty redundant shoot-’em-up. Did I mention Adkins also gets to go mano-a-mano against Michael Jai White? Bring on One Last Shot!
REBEL RIDGE
Given director Jeremy Saulnier’s previous movies (the fantastic Blue Ruin and Green Room among them) emphasize brutal violence and graphic gore, I was surprised that he takes a more restrained approach to action in Rebel Ridge. It fits the material, though: this is the rare action film in which the protagonist seeks to de-escalate the situation rather than increase the body count. Aaron Pierre (in a breakthrough performance) stars as Terry Richmond, a Marine who is cycling to a small Louisiana town to post bail for his cousin when police ram his bike and seize his funds. Terry seeks to get his money back by legal means, only to find himself caught in a coverup that sets him on a collision course with chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson, master at playing shady cops) and the local police force. Saulnier isn’t heavy-handed with the political themes, but the racial politics of the town (and Louisiana’s history) hang over each scene; as a Black man, Terry knows that to use his experience as a military instructor to harm a white officer would be a death sentence. How can a single man challenge a system that’s designed to deny him justice at every turn? Rebel Ridge is a slow burn that takes its time, gradually building the tension until the inevitable cathartic release.
Subscribe to Netflix to watch Rebel Ridge.
TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN
Kowloon Walled City was the most densely populated place in the world in the mid-1980s. The Hong Kong military-fort-turned-city was an architectural eyesore, a labyrinth of narrow passages and alleys home to a variety of criminals and degenerates. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In uses the Walled City as its primary location, as a young refugee from mainland China finds himself caught in the middle of a gang war between the region’s rival triads. The cast features a handful of legendary Hong Kong action stars (including Louis Koo and Sammo Hung, the latter of whom still impresses in his seventies), the camera is kinetic, and the martial arts choreography is the best of the year, giving each character his own distinct fighting style. The action climaxes with a 15-minute sequence that interweaves the gritty realism of the environment with elements of fantasy, as multiple heroes take on a villain who seems supernaturally near-indestructible. Given that it became the second highest-grossing film of all time in Hong Kong, it’s no surprise that a prequel and sequel have already been announced. Bring it on!