20 Action Movies From The 21st Century That Didn't Actually Suck
It's not all about sequels and spandex.
The appeal of movies full of bullets, punch-ups, car chases and explosions isn't exactly difficult to explain - action is action. But, for all that innate appeal, it would be fair to say that in 2015 the overall state of the genre isn't as great as it once was. Obviously there are a few notable exceptions, but for the most part projects that fall under the 'action' label these days tend to be low-budget movies, superhero stories or studio-approved CGI-fests, making the straight-up action flick an increasingly lost art.
While fans may be in constant debate about when the 'Golden Age' of the action movie was, very few will make a strong case for the first fifteen years of the 21st Century. Many point to the 1980's that saw Schwarzenegger and Stallone at their peak, along with the Indiana Jones trilogy, countless classic buddy movies and a little film called Die Hard. Others will argue the case for the 1990's that spawned the likes of Terminator 2, Hard Boiled, Speed, Air Force One and Face/Off amongst others.
The current crop of high-profile 'action movies' tend to be marketed on things other than the actual action, whether it be a recognisable property, the special effects, or the 'from the studio/director that brought you *insert movie here*' tag. However, there have been more than a few great action movies released since the turn of the 21st Century - here are twenty of the best.
20. The Expendables 2 (2012)
While the first Expendables took the genius concept of uniting the action genre's aging heroes together in the same team and ran with it, the movie suffered from taking itself far too seriously. Thankfully, the sequel added in even more star power and plenty of self-deprecating humour, with the result being the best entry in the franchise by far.
Jean-Claude Van Damme seems to be relishing the chance to appear in a movie that will actually be released in theaters for a change, dialing the camp up to eleven for his turn as the imaginatively-named Jean Vilain, while Chuck Norris shows up for no other reason than the fact that he's Chuck F**kin' Norris, and even drops a Chuck Norris fact about himself in the process! While the cast are hardly likely to trouble the Academy Awards, they seem to be having a blast making the movie.
Opening with a balls-to-the-wall hostage rescue, The Expendables 2 instantly establishes itself as a bigger, louder and badder beast than its predecessor. The plot may be nonsense and the dialogue often painful, but there's no denying that the movie is a hell of a lot of fun. What fan of the action genre didn't have a huge grin on their face during the third act when Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis stood side-by-side mowing down interchangeable henchmen?