After a long, hard day at work or school, it’s nice to unwind by watching fictional people on a screen beat each other’s faces or shoot holes into one another. Inconsequential violence has always entertained, after all, which is whyaction moviesremain popular. They’re like the modern-day equivalent of ancient Roman slaves stabbing one another for others' amusement, but with less blood and less exploitation.
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Deadpool/Deadpool 2
Deadpoolsurprised the superhero genre with its 4th wall irreverence and unconventional titular anti-hero. There were many ways it could have failed but thanks to Ryan Reynolds' efforts and the filmmaker’s faithfulness to the source material,Deadpoolis now one of thebest superhero franchises in film.
In a nutshell, it’s about a mercenary who underwent a cancer treatment procedure that turned him into an immortal self-regenerating mutant. Now, he’s out for revenge against the people who wronged him. It sounds dark and serious but it’s actually more comedic than grim.
Terminator: Dark Fate
After the disaster that wasTerminator Genisys, the franchise went back to basics and brought the original cast back. The result was a nostalgic action film that gave a renewed interest forTerminatorfans and also cleansed their palate from the bad taste left behind byGenisys.
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Dark Fateis a callback to the original’s plot where two young protagonists suddenly find themselves facing the dangerous end of a gun wielded by android assassins from the future. These “terminators” were sent to kill the two women so their masters can manipulate the future. Thankfully, Sarah Connor returns once again to help the protagonists, and she brings help in the form of a rogue (and good) T-800 terminator otherwise regarded popularly as “Ahnold.”
The Matrix
With Keanu Reeves reprising his role asNeo inThe MatrixResurrections,it’s high time for people to brush up on theirMatrixlore knowledge before watching. There’s no better way to do that than re-watching the 1999 sci-fi cultural cornerstone,The Matrix.
It’s a cyberpunk epic involving Neo Anderson as he is yanked out of a simulated reality by a human resistance group. Turns out he was under a virtual reality-induced coma so that his machine overlords can use his bioelectricity as a power source. It’s by far one of the most outlandish yet wildest rides concocted byHollywood action films.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Ethan Hunt is America’s answer to James Bond and actor Tom Cruise’s own foray into the spy action scene.Mission Impossiblehas been around for decades now and it has had its ups and downs.Ghost Protocolsits at the more pleasant end of that cinematic spectrum. It’s also one of the best entries in the series.
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In this iteration ofMission Impossible,Ethan Hunt once again finds himself on the run after being blamed for a bombing attack on the Kremlin Palace in Russia. The major difference is that he’s more vulnerable this time as he’s getting little to no help from his mother faction.
Minority Report
From the brilliant mind of Steven Spielberg,Minority Reportis a fantastic sci-fi action film. The movie stars Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell in a futuristic police cat-and-mouse chase.
The action and tension revolve around the Pre-Crime system, an algorithm that determines which individuals will commit crimes in the future based on psychoanalysis. Enforcer John Anderton just so happens to find his worth luck ever after the Pre-Crime system ironically identified him as a future offender. What follows is an electrifying montage of a Tom Cruise character running away from authorities again.
The Nice Guys
The Nice Guysis like a cop duo movie except the cops aren’t law enforcement bodies, more like mercenaries and borderline criminals. Ryan Gosling assumes the role of an unlucky private investigator and partners up with Russell Crow’s rough and callous enforcer.
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The two of them must then locate and protect a missing girl who managed to shake up a nasty hornet’s nest and is now being chased by men more intimidating than the two aforementioned freebooters. This unlikelyblend of actionand comedy is sure to surprise some viewers especially considering Gosling and Crow’s chemistry.
Unleashed
Jet Li as a killer who is getting rehabilitated by a blind Morgan Freeman was probably the pitch for this film. If it wasn’t, then that’s a pretty good summary of the premise and is worth the price of admission alone. Well, anything with Morgan Freeman in it should be good.
But this is Jet Li’s Hollywood film where all his martial arts prowess gets portrayed in full splendor. His character here was raised like a dog, trained to kill and fight for a master. Too bad his master got murdered by business enemies and he was discarded like a stray. As with most action films, Jet Li’s character is out for revenge but not before he discovers the basics of human decency and morality.
Rush Hour
One can’t come up with a list ofgreat action filmswithout including a Jackie Chan title in the selection. Fortunately, one of his most unique Hollywood outings is available now on Hulu.Rush Hourwas quite the knockout in comedy back in its heyday. It’s a cop duo film except the cultural barrier is immense between the two: a Hong Kong detective (Jackie Chan) and an LAPD detective (Chris Tucker).
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The two then try to navigate through the mean streets of America as they solve a nasty kidnapping case involving a rich diplomat’s daughter. Jackie Chan takes care ofmost of the actionwhile Chris Tucker’s comedic contribution is undeniable.
Dredd
Not many people heard ofDreddback in 2012 but it’s an underrated sci-fi and cyberpunk film that also adapts an underappreciated comic book franchise.Dreddis set in the dark and grim fictional post-apocalyptic future where humans are all crammed in megacities. To control the chaotic crime rates, special cops were invented and they also doubled as judges and executioners, resulting in daily bloodbaths.
Dreddthus explores one of these bloodbaths through the eyes of a rookie “judge” as she is partnered with the feared and seasoned Judge Dredd. Only, their usual drug bust didn’t go as planned as they accidentally stepped into a crime fortress masquerading as an apartment complex.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2
Considered by many as one of Quentin Tarantino’s best films, theKill Billseries is anaction masterpieceand trendsetter. It’s about a trained assassin woman named Beatrix Kiddo whose wedding was massacred by her old peers. Too bad they didn’t manage to kill her.
So after waking up from a coma due to the massacre, the Bride immediately set out on a revenge quest, hunting down her assassin colleagues one by one. Along the way, she treats the viewers with fountains of blood and ridiculous and overblown action choreography as well as Tarantino’s typical cinematography signatures.
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