When people crave action movies it’s easy to head for the James Bond films or the Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible or Die Hard franchises. Or any John Woo film. But there are a few kick-ass, action-packed, cinematic excesses that I really love- movies that seem drunk on their power to dazzle with stylistic fury, but also with a sardonic chuckle underlying the graphic mayhem. If you hunt down any of these 22 deadly treats, you are bound to be left shaken and a little stirred.
The Night Comes for Us (2018) A relentless, non-stop action epic about Ito (Joe Taslim), a Triad-enforcer, who breaks rank with his team when he refuses to kill a young girl- Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez)- while they are wiping out an entire village. He goes on the run with Reina, gets together with old criminal cronies and tries to keep the young girl alive. Directed by Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto, the splatter-heavy fight sequences are intense, outrageous and impeccably choreographed, but prepare to be completely exhausted by the end.
Shoot ‘Em Up (2007) There’s truth in advertising in this gun-blazing, ludicrously entertaining action film starring Clive Owen as Smith, minding his own business chewing on a carrot at a bus stop when he reluctantly comes to the aid of a pregnant woman being pursued by gunmen. He puts the carrot to good use, dispatching killers, and helps deliver the baby. Smith then goes on the run with the toddler, chased by a gang controlled by a scowling loon named Hertz (Paul Giamatti), who is often interrupted during gun battle by his aggravated wife on the phone. Monica Bellucci plays a prostitute who Smith turns to for help. As outlandish and over-the-top as it gets, director Michael Davis keeps everything hurtling along at a furious pace.
Running Scared (2006) This wildly stylistic action film stars Paul Walker as Joey, a seemingly normal family man, but actually part of a ruthless gang, who hides a gun in his basement that was responsible for the death of police officer at a drug-raid-gone-wrong. His young son’s best friend Oleg (Cameron Bright), a Russian kid who lives next door in an abusive home, secretly takes the gun and it starts a loony cross-city chase after the kid for this incriminating weapon. Vera Farmiga is terrific as Joey’s devoted, sexy wife. The scene where poor little Oleg is kidnapped by a couple of child-killing pornographers has to be seen to be believed. Directed by Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), I’ve always thought this was incredibly underrated at the time and a lot of fun.
Original Gangstas. (1996) I’m sorry, I got a bit misty-eyed seeing all these Blaxploitation greats together again playing former gang-members who return to their hometown of Gary, Indiana to teach the new, more violent gangs a lesson and reclaim the streets. Directed by Larry Cohen (It’s Alive), who was called in by Fred Williamson to help direct the movie after working with Cohen in Black Caesar and Hell Up In Harlem. The plot is pretty hackneyed, but seeing these iconic screen greats together- Pam Grier (Coffy); Jim Brown (Slaughter); Ron O’Neal (Superfly); Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Paul Winfield (Sounder)- was heaven. Other genre-film lumiaries like Wings Hauser and Robert Forster round up the cast in this underappreciated action flick.
Wanted (2008). It’s hard to imagine anything more sinfully enjoyable than this high-voltage, bullet ballet directed by Timur Bekmambetov (who made the visionary Russian sci-fi epics Night Watch and Day Watch). Scottish dreamboat James McAvoy plays the put-upon accountant named Wesley who endures abuse from his coworkers and swallows anxiety pills by the handfuls. One night in a pharmacy he comes under attack by a sinister gun-toting man (Thomas Kretschmann) and is rescued by a mysterious agile triggerwoman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) who whisks Wesley to a remote castle-like fortress set up and introduced to a secret society of assassins which he is recruited into. Why? because the father he never knew was one, and was targeted by the killer in the pharmacy, and now it’s Wesley’s turn to step up to the plate. Wesley’s training is incredibly brutal and what follows is so loony and outrageous, one is kind of bitch-slapped in your seat as the movie catapults along from one bullet-spraying adagio to the next. Jolie is a perfect glove-like fit in the role, as she slyly smiles as Wesley bristles at his new role in life. Scenes where she is hanging through a windshield of a car and shooting upside down at her nemesis she is a sleek, gorgeous, tattooed, avenging angel. She seems impossible beautiful, preposterous and fabulous at the same time- which is a lot like this movie
The Villainess (2017). A kinetic, blood-spattered, frenzied, opening showing a young woman Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin) single-handedly killing everyone in her path in a warehouse/meth lab has a Hardcore Henry-like POV that makes it even wilder. Sook-hee is captured by a shadowy government agency, given facial reconstruction, and trained to create a new identity to mask being a hit woman for them. A handsome widowed neighbor befriends Sook-hee and her daughter (as she settles into her manufactured new life as an actress), but he also works for the government agency and is sent to keep eyes on her. And then her past comes crashing back to blow everything to shreds. There are action sequences- like killers on motorcycles fighting with swords while racing recklessly down the highway- that will fry your brain. But the director also makes you feel and empathize his assassin’s wounded core. Brutal but wildly exhilarating.
Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001). Spectacular French fantasy/action epic beautifully directed by Christophe Gans (with stunning cinematography by Dan Lausten), which successfully mixes martial arts and mythic monsters. Set in 18th-Century France, the film follows the trail of a fearsome beast that is killing off women and children in the countryside, the King sends in a botanist (handsome Samuel Le Bihan) and his faithful Mohawk companion (renowned martial arts champ Mark Dacascos), who uncover the secret society that unleashed this bloodthirsty creature. Fabulous action sequences- the movie may look like Dangerous Liaisons but it feels more like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Wolf. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop created an unforgettable monster and gorgeous Monica Bellucci stands out as a mysterious courtesan with a particularly lethal fan.
Crows: Zero (2007). “You fight and fight, and then you graduate.” is the motto in Takashi Miike’s glorious, gratuitously violent, teen gang film. Genji (Shun Oguri) Is the new kid at Suzuran High- son of a Yakuza boss, who plans to make his mark by fighting his way through the different levels of school gangs to eventually come head to head with the kingpin at school- Serizawa (Takayuki Tamaka) Along the way he meets a colorful, goofy, low-level Yakuza (Kyosuke Yabe) who gives him tips on the pecking order of school and how to make alliances until he amasses a small army of fighters. The finale, set during a torrential rain storm, has scores of psyched-up kids holding black umbrellas heading to school for the big showdown. The kids are all appealing and there’s a punk-rock energy to this live-action Manga.
Free Fire (2016). An illicit sale of firearms at a deserted warehouse on the docks of Boston in 1978 goes horrifically wrong in director Ben Wheatley’s (Kill List) high-octane, ammunition adagio. Cillian Murphy plays an Irishman paying for the firearms and Armie Hammer plays a dapper negotiator. But a beef between two thugs causes a shootout that escalates wildly. Then two strangers show up and start firing at everyone. Like a Warner Brothers cartoon but with blood. Eventually everyone is riddled with bullets and continues blasting. “What side am I on?” someone questions when the gunplay stops momentarily. The whole cast is just sensational, including Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley and Brie Larson. Keeping something like this roaring along in such a confined space for an hour and a half is not an easy feat and Wheatley succeeds spectacularly and adds his own sardonic dark humor to the mix.
Dead or Alive (1999). Takashi Miike’s loony, ultra-violent, Yakuza crime drama (and part of a trilogy) doesn’t just begin- it explodes in your face. And this cop vs. gangster saga also happens to have what is probably the most apocalyptic ending in movie history. It’s like an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon as a live action film. The director, in an interview, instructs his viewers not to skip forward, because if you don’t, “Then the ending hits you like a truck.”
Kung Fu Hustle (2004). A hilarious Asian action movie directed with great gusto by Stephen Chow and set in a Shanghai slum called Pig Sty Alley. The place is ruled by a fearsome landlady with her hair in rollers, slippers and a cigarette dangling from her lips at all times. The films’ director plays Sing, who pretends to be a member of the fearsome “Axe Gang,” in order to run a shakedown racket out of Pig Sty Alley. When the real “Axes” show up (wearing top hats and all black, wielding axes) he ends up an enemy of everyone. Eventually he is forced into battle with the “Beast.” (The only kung-fu Sing knows he got from a dumb pamphlet he read as a child). The fight scenes are high-flying and just spectacular. Like a live-action Warner Brothers cartoon, the film is funny and deliriously demented.
Ninja Assassin (2009). Criminally cute South Korean pop star Rain stars as Raizo, raised as a child to be part of a shadowy secret army of ninja assassins. But when his girlfriend is murdered by his sadistic master, Riazo goes rogue and a battalion of killers come after him. Naomie Harris plays an Interpol agent investigating these ruthless murderers. This blood-soaked, violent action thriller was produced by the Wachowksis (The Matrix) and directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta). I was surprised it wasn’t a bigger hit than it was and find myself re-watching it a lot more often than I ever expected to.
13 Assassins (2010). Prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike plays it straight for a change and delivers a magnificent, mythic, madly enjoyable epic in which a band of samurai fighters join forces to bring the sadistic Shogun’s son, Lord Naritsugo (Goro Inagaki– one of cinema’s most outrageous villains) down for good. They plan to lure Naritsugo,, who has been cutting a bloody path across Japan, to a small, carefully booby-trapped town, but when he shows up with almost 200 warriors, it’s up to those valiant few to fight them all. The film is slow to set the stage for the wild showdown, but it’s well worth the wait.
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991). Outrageous, gory, wild live action version of a Japanese Manga comic has to be seen to be believed. Musclebound hunk Ricky (Fan Siu-wong) is the new fish in a corrupt futuristic prison. He battles the corrupt assistant warden (who eats mints contained in his glass eye), and the violent cell block leaders (The Gang Of Four). Over-the-top on every level (one fighter even pulls out his own intestines to strangle Ricky), it’s hilariously excessive.
The Raid 2: Berandal (2014). The Raid (in which a bunch of cops fight their way up through a formidable building filled with gangsters), was one of the truly great action films. In this Indonesian martial arts movie from director Gareth Evans, police officer Rama (Iko Uwais) goes undercover at a prison and befriends a gangster’s son Uco (Arifin Putra) in order to infiltrate the organization and ferret out corrupt cops. Scene after scene includes outrageous choreographed fight sequences- in the prison yard, restaurants, a nightclub and the subway- that assault your senses. It’s also peppered with great villains (Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man are two of my favorites). Trust me, you have never experienced an action film more intense, over-the-top or relentlessly enjoyable as this.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). This fabulous action thriller written, directed, edited and scored by John Carpenter is about the last night of a closing police station. Aside for some criminals temporarily in the holding tank, there is a bare bones staff, including a newly promoted Lieutenant (Austin Stoker). A grief-stricken dad, suffering from shock, comes bursting in the station and suddenly the place comes under siege from a violent South Central gang. Like a Howards Hawks western, the skeleton crew holds down the fort, including a tough-cookie secretary (Laurie Zimmer), and a no-nonsense prisoner named Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston). It almost plays like a horror film, with faceless monsters breaking through windows and the barrage of bullets tearing through the precinct. This was re-released after the success of Carpenter’s Halloween and I remember seeing it in a theater where the audience went happily insane, applauding the screen when it was over. You will too.
John Wick 3: Parabellum (2019). God, I love these films. Keanu Reeves is just perfection as the lean, mean, fighting machine John Wick. But if you missed the third one in the series it’s one of the best. In this exhaustingly action-packed entry John Wick is “excommunicado” and there is a price on his head (for flaunting the rules of his hit-man organization). Every killer on earth comes after him. Scene after scene boggles the mind. The library fight, the snarling dog fight, etc. Wick finds respite with an old mentor (Anjelica Huston) and a reluctant friend from the past (Halle Berry). Director Chad Stahelski barely lets the audience catch a breath in this deranged bullet ballet.
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003). Tony Jaa gives Jackie Chan a run for his money in this wildly entertaining martial-arts film from Thailand. When the sacred Buddha head of Ong-Bak is stolen from a small village it’s up to Ting (Tony Jaa), schooled in fighting by a monk, to retrieve it from the mean streets of Bangkok. There are outlandish fighting scenes, including a chase sequence that’s so good- one where Tony Jaa leaps over cars and another in three-wheeled taxis down a freeway- the filmmaker (Prachya Pinkaew) replays the best parts in slow motion. There’s also a wheelchair-bound villain who barks murderous orders out of a voice box. He’s deliciously evil.
Time and Tide (2000). Nicholas Tse (Gen-X Cops) is just perfect as the streetwise Tyler in Tsui Hark’s dizzying action/comedy. Tse has the brooding Asian bad-boy pop star looks- the long hair hanging down in his face as he constantly fires up another cigarette with a palmed lighter. Tyler joins a motley crew of bodyguards, led by Ji (Anthony Wong of The Untold Story), in order to raise some quick cash, but a chance encounter with an ex-mercenary named Jack (Wu Bai) involves him in a life and death battle with a group of Brazilian killers that begins in and outside a tenement and escalates through an airport and into a crowded stadium. These dazzling action sequences (which take up last 40 minutes of the movie) are spectacularly choreographed and wildly over-the-top, including a birth of a baby in the midst of the gunfire. Directed by the legendary Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues/Once Upon a Time in China), the movie has style to burn, but also a giddy, good-natured humor that propels it bullet-like across the screen. One of the coolest of action films.
Crank 2: High Voltage (2009) I have to admit a fondness for the crackpot directing team of (Mark) Neveldine and (Brian) Taylor, responsible for the Crank franchise. They make action movies on crack. The original Crank starred walking hard-on Jason Statham as Chev Chelios, injected with a drug that made him have to accelerate his heart activity or die. It was Speed in a body, and it was cartoonish, vulgar, violent, hilarious and wildly enjoyable. But Chev fell from a plane to his death, so how could there be a sequel? The directors faced the same problem when approached for a screenplay, so they wrote a far-fetched script about Chelios (Statham) reanimated with a battery-powered artificial heart. who races around the city searching for his actual heart. Teamed up with his stripper girlfriend (Amy Smart) and facing off Chinese gangsters, Mexican killers and cops, he has to juice up his fake ticker often with jumper cables, live wires, etc. Bai Ling and the late David Carradine are hilarious in loony cameos. This is often garishly offensive, but it’s a live-wire treat. On the extras, the directors drink beer and laughingly describe how they imagine the “suits” at Lionsgate probably never read the script (thank God).
The Punisher (2004) Thomas Jane plays FBI agent Frank Castle, whose undercover sting caused the death of mob boss Howard Saint (John Travolta)’s son. So, Saint sends his main henchman (Will Patton), and a weaponized team, to wipe out Castle’s entire family at a huge reunion in Puerto Rico. Shot and left for dead, Castle is nursed back to health by an island hermit, who sends him off with, “May God be with you.” “God is going to sit this one out,” Castle replies with a throaty growl. Wearing a skull-faced black tee shirt (a gift from his late son), and moving into a ramshackle apartment building filled with misfits (Ben Foster, Rebecca Romijn, John Pinette), Castle sets into motion a byzantine plan of revenge in this ultra-violent action film directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. I’ve got to admit, I love looking at Thomas Jane, even covered in blood with a knife sticking out of his chest. This movie had the right dark, mythic fury, and was a bloody blast.
Punisher: War Zone (2008) Aggressively cartoonish, mega-violent sequel with a new Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson), living under the subways of New York, still dispensing justice in his own bloody way. Dominic West pays a criminal bigwig who gets thrown into a glass rendering machine and comes out with a stitched-up face and a worse attitude. He lets his deranged brother (Doug Hutchison) out of an asylum and they kidnap the widow and daughter of the FBI agent Castle accidentally killed. It all ends in a vacant building with bad guys from every nationality all waging war against the Punisher. The movie plays out like Dick Tracy on steroids, but it’s hard not to be amused by the excess. A priest says to Castle, “May God be with you,” and this time Castle answers, “Sometimes I’d like to get my hands on God.”