15 Mindless Action Films You Must See Before You Die

Guilty pleasure filmmaking at its zenith: a full-fat, high caffeine throwback to agreeably moronic 80s action pictures that, backed by World Wrestling Entertainment, exists for no other reason than to make an action hero out of wrestler/rapper John Cena, the drinking man’s Matt Damon.

Abruptly discharged from the marines because he “disobeyed a direct order”, Cena makes the mistake of pulling into the same gas station as Robert Patrick and his crew, who’ve just heisted some diamonds. When Patrick’s comic relief henchman wastes a cop, they kidnap Cena’s wife and turn the station into a fireball with him inside, but of course he survives, steals a car and heads off in pursuit.

With this material there’s no point claiming the narrative is thin and far-fetched, that its leading man, while required to show superhuman grace onscreen, may have some limitations as a thespian or that we’ve been here often enough to guess every plot point ahead of time. It’s fast and funny (if Terminator and Deliverance gags are your thing) and stuff blows up real good. What more do you want?