Last year featured some quality action films, but the shortage of great ones meant our list of the year’s fourteen best actually featured two trailers for 2015 releases. (I make no apologies for that decision.) This year wasn’t much better overall, but I did at least manage to find fifteen action films that made the cut.
A quick note: while American films that have only played festivals don’t count towards the list — sorry Green Room, next year — I am including foreign titles that as of yet have no U.S. release.
15. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Guy Ritchie‘s attempt to do for ’60s spy shows what his Sherlock Holmes did for 19th century literary detectives failed to catch on with audiences, but the action — a mix of physical stunts and blatant CG assists — is lively, energetic, and frequently fun. [Available on Blu-ray/DVD]
14. A Hard Day
There isn’t a lot of action in Kim Seong-hoon‘s smartly-crafted and darkly comic thriller, but what is here works beautifully to raise the suspense alongside viewers’ heart rates as the story careens through numerous twists and turns. [Available on Blu-ray/DVD] [My review]
13. Spectre
Director Sam Mendes takes a cue from his previous Bond outing (Skyfall) and packs his latest with plenty of big action beats uninterested in logic, and while their size and scope make are appealing the film’s best sequence is a stripped down brawl between Daniel Craig and Dave Bautista. [Available on Blu-ray/DVD] [My review]
12. Kung Fu Jungle
Donnie Yen isn’t the lead action star here — that honor belongs to Wang Bauqiang as the villain who takes part in multiple battles, each with a different focus, on his way to an end brawl with the film’s star — but the 51 year-old Yen proves himself to still be a scrappy and wickedly fast fighter. [Available on Blu-ray/DVD] [My review]
11. Furious 7
The seventh entry in the blockbuster Fast & Furious franchise is a step down from parts 5 and 6 — you know it’s true — but while some of the big set-pieces underwhelm the movie manages some stellar fight scenes featuring Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, and others. [Available on Blu-ray/DVD]
10. Nowhere Girl
Mamoru Oshii‘s film is an artsy slow-burn for much of its short run-time, but the third act reveals Nana Seino as the next great female ass-kicker with an extended action sequence that sees her fighting, shooting, and slicing her way through a couple dozen armed soldiers — it’s a beautifully choreographed assault that reminds favorably of the South Korean gem, The Man from Nowhere. [Currently unavailable in the U.S.]
9. Assassination Classroom
The movie’s nuts in the best possible ways, but as ridiculous as it gets — it is a Japanese film about a tentacled alien whose dedication to teaching takes precedence over his students attempts to kill him each morning — it commits to the story and characters and floods the screen with energetic alien antics and gun-play. [Currently unavailable in the U.S.] [My review]
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