10 Best Action Movies Of The Last Decade

Who could want more than brutal martial arts skills, weapon-wielding killers and wild explosions?

John Wick
Summit Entertainment

The last decade of action movies has been an exceptionally fruitful one, with an abundance of really great films coming from the popular genre. Usually seen as being just dumb fun, the 2010s proved that you can successfully combine a quality, interesting story with some gun-toting ninjas or savage martial artists.

That's why we've gone through the best the genre has given us during the last ten years and ranked them on all the qualities that make them so great. Although there's been a lot of terrible action flicks have been released - we're looking at you Michael Bay - we've managed to narrow it down to eight exceptional releases.

From already successful franchises that were revitalised under a new director to completely new properties that captured the imagination of moviegoers around the world, these were the action flicks that had the most impact on the genre during this time period. So get your popcorn ready, have your favourite beverage on hand and we'll start this list with the bang required.

Let's begin...

10. Dredd

John Wick
Entertainment Film Distributors

It's understandable if fans of Judge Dredd still felt some anger towards Sylvester Stallone for his part in 1995 version of the much loved 2000 AD protagonist. The Danny Cannon helmed movie was an absolute disaster in every sense of the word and rightfully made a lot of fans believe that the character would never get the justice he deserves.

So when it was announced that a new film called Dredd was going to be released, there was some trepidation. However, those fears were allayed when the film's director, Pete Travis, gave us the high octane and ultra violent version of the character fans had always wanted. Along with the extremely talented Alex Garland writing the script, Travis managed to successfully bring Dredd to the big screen and it was awesome.

Not only were the script and direction amazing, the casting of Karl Urban was a masterstroke. Urban has proven plenty of times that he's really good when it comes to action roles and Dredd is probably his finest performance in one todate. He really captures the sheer brutality that Dredd brings when he's taking out numerous targets in the most vicious way possible.

Dredd might not have turned the sort of profit that the studio hoped, but that shouldn't take away from what was an extremely fun action flick.

Contributor
Contributor

Co-host of The Ill-Informed Podcast, jiu-jitsu fiend, MMA lover, movie fan, anime nerd, music snob.