Theactiongenre embraced many disruptive technologies and generational shifts in the2010s, benefiting from a nostalgic appeal that throws back to the genre’s most traditional conventions while also searching for a new original voice. Talented filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Chad Stahelski, and Christopher McQuarrie reached the peak of their careers with unforgettable action masterpieces, working at ease in their comfort zone.
The action genre had gone stale in the 2000s, relying too much on overdone tropes and not offering too much new beyond the exciting martial arts stuff coming out from Asia. In the 2010s, the genre faced a process of revitalization with lots of money coming in, leading up to some of the best original blockbusters in recent memory, packed withunforgettable action sequences.
2010: Inception
After the success of Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight, people were eager to see what the filmmaker would pull off next. No one could be ready for the creativity ofInception, an action-packed movie about dreams and broken promises. In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio plays an expert in infiltrating the minds of his targets, tasked to execute the opposite of what he’s used to doing: implanting an idea into a target’s subconscious, delving deep into layers and layers of dreams.
The possibilities that a person’s subconscious offers to the action genre are infinite, andInceptiondoes a good job of exploring a place where everything is possible, delivering anti-gravitational fights, entire cities folding into themselves, and one of themost debated endingsof all time.
2011: The Raid
The Raidis an Indonesian movie that entered the mainstream and inspired a whole franchise due to its original, anxiety-inducing take on the action genre. In the film, an elite S.W.A.T. team is assigned the impossible task of raiding a run-down apartment block in search of a drug lord, coming face to face with dozens of merciless thugs and skilled gangsters.
The Raidtakes a seemingly simple premise and stretches it to unbelievable extremes, elaborating an effective background story to the main characters and delivering action sequences with unique choreography and thrilling hand-to-hand combats.
2012: 21 Jump Street
21 Jump Streetcomes from a long tradition of action comedies that rely on a quirky cop duo, but the onscreen chemistry that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum achieve is difficult to find, to the point most of the film’s comical appeal comes from the interactions between the two characters.
The movie follows two incompetent cops who once were the opposite of one another in high school; Jenko the popular athlete and Schmidt the awkward nerd. Years later, they have become friends and are now bonded by a common goal: go undercover as high school students and take down a dangerous drug ring.
2013: Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Sion Sono is known for straight-up mean movies such asSuicide ClubandNoriko’s Dinner Table, and anyone who watched these movies wouldn’t imagineWhy Don’t You Play in Hell?could be so fun. Mixing action and comedy, the film follows a deranged film crew that gets in trouble with a yakuza gang, taking advantage of the opportunity to record a hit movie.
Not satisfied with delivering one of the best movies of the last decade,Love Exposure, which had already shown Sono’s talent for thrilling fight scenes, the director dives deep into the genre withWhy Don’t You Play in Hell?, delivering an over-the-top story with a narrative that is impossible to predict.
2014: Edge of Tomorrow
The time loop trope has been a recurring trope in a variety of movie genres ever since the success ofGroundhog Day, inspiring other comedies such asPalm Springs, sci-fi thrillers such asSource Code, and even horror movies likeTriangle. The idea of an action movie that features time loops doesn’t sound exciting on the paper — how do you create tension when the same battles repeat over and over again, with the same enemies dying or killing in the same way?
Tom Cruise is a soldier fighting an alien invasion who gets to relive the same day repeatedly. What starts off as a curse becomes humanity’s final hope for survival.Edge of Tomorrowis the perfect example of exploring every possibility of a time loop in a film where the action doesn’t stop for a single minute, using a limited timespan to effectively develop the main characters and elevate the tension of each sequence that follows.
Related:Best Caught in a Time Loop Movies
BeforeMad Max: Fury Road, one would argue that theMad Maxfranchise already explored everything its post-apocalyptical universe had to offer, even going to weird fantastical extremes in the third movie,Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. However, no one can know the boundaries of a work of art more than its creator, and George Miller took the reins of the project once more to deliver the most intense action experience of the decade.
FilmingMad Max: Fury Roadwasno easy thing to do, bringing a whole crew to the Namib desert and crafting a two-hour-long movie that feels like a single exhaustive chase. The legacy sequel introduces Tom Hardy as the new Max Rockatansky, a fugitive who stumbles upon an unexpected ally as they engage in a deadly escape on wheels.
2016: Shin Godzilla
Movies featuring the epic monsterGodzillacome out every decade, although only a few of them manage to be faithful to the creature’s lore and actually doing something audiences haven’t seen before. Godzilla first appeared in a 1954 Japanese movie, and the metaphor for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki couldn’t be clearer.
Ever since the original movie, many lifeless sequels were released and the epic monster was evencowardly whitewashed by the U.S., going against everythingGodzillastands for. In 2016,Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Hideaki Anno finally did justice to the original movie withShin Godzilla, delivering incredible action sequences centered around the monster, offering a nostalgic creature design, and most importantly, understanding that Godzilla isn’t just a monster but an unstoppable force of nature.
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2017: Brawl in Cell Block 99
Brawl in Cell Block 99isn’t like any other action movie of the 2010s because S. Craig Zahler’s timing for action is straight-up cold and unforgiving. Instead of relying on typical genre conventions — intense build-ups, a clear antagonist, explosive fights — the movie is limited to a maximum security prison’s grounds, which quickly turns into a battleground.
The movie revolves around Bradley Thomas,portrayed by Vince Vaughnin a killer performance, a former boxer who finds himself vulnerable to his enemies after a dangerous deal goes wrong. Unlike traditional action movies, viewers can expect some truly gnarly depictions of graphic violence once Thomas finally snaps.
2018: Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Ever sinceMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the franchise grew increasingly self-aware about its place in the action genre, continually innovating the eccentric espionage elements introduced by Brian De Palma in the first movie and blending them into breathtaking action stunts.
And then there’sMission: Impossible - Fallout, the franchise’s ultimate achievement; an action-packed masterpiece that utilizes everything theMission: Impossiblemovies have worked on so far to deliver Ethan Hunt’s most challenging assignment yet. The film benefits from working both as a standalone movie for newcomers and a direct sequel to Rogue Nation, introducing both new and old characters. Additionally, it proves that the collaboration betweenChristopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruiseis the best thing that has happened to the franchise yet.
2019: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
TheJohn Wickfranchise gradually improves in quality with each movie. In the first film, the story unravels in a safe direction, although it’s easy to get invested in Wick’s oppressive presence. The sequel brings the anti-hero to thrilling extremes as the action sequences become more ambitious. And finally, inJohn Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, the unbelievable amount of enemies that John Wick made along the way finally pays off, elevating the tension and showing the character’s true army-of-one potential.
Fans might argue thatJohn Wick: Chapter 4is even better, butParabellumwas the first one that truly showed audiences the franchise was up to something different, bringing the 2010s to a perfect end.
