10: Director Antonie Fuqua and Denzel Washington reunite in this gritty action film that recalls the gory character driven days of the 1970's. While not nearly as subtle and bad ass as those films of decades past, The Equalizer is a solid entry in what is supposed to be a new action franchise for Washington. Even though the film is low on action, it kicks enough butt in a few parts to earn action fans' attention. While I don't love this entry especially, I highly anticipate a sequel that reveal more of the character's background.
9: Alot of people lost their balls over this one but I simply didn't. Don't get me wrong, this is still a well made film with relevant themes, solid action, good performances, and homages to the political thrillers of the 60's and 70's. However, the over abundant plot holes and over bloated finale held this film back from being the amazing sequel that I hoped it to be. Evans once again makes for an amazing Captain America. The film lands a spot on the list simply for its amazing opening action scene on a battleship in which Captain America does in a half hour what took Casey Ryback an entire film in Under Siege.
8: Ayer's Fury was a solid WWII film that featured gory R rated action and intense tank combat. I wish the film was filled with more tank combat because the one tank on tank fight in the film was something I had never seen before in a war film before. The final battle in the film is also pretty great. There is nothing mind blowing here, but definitely worth checking out over Clint Eastwood's American Sniper as far as war films come.
7: Non-Stop is a solid throwback to the action films of the 90's when action films took place entirely on planes and were produced by Joel Silver. Even though the film features very little action, it still features Neeson in prime ass kicking form with a great character for him to play as well. Great thrills and a fun plot make this one of my favorites of the year.
6: While The Expendables 3 let me down horribly, Edge of Tomorrow came out of nowhere and truly surprised me. Cruise plays a timid officer who is forced into an action hero type situation where he must repeat the same day again and again until he can stop a force of alien invaders. The film features plenty of anime-inspired mech suit action and pulls from the likes of The Matrix, Aliens, and Saving Private Ryan for its plot. Thanks to some great editing and also a great performance by Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow (NOT Live.Die.Repeat) makes for some awesome sci-fi action.
5: Bong Joon Ho's post-apocalyptic actioner is truly a cinematic masterpiece. In all honesty, this was my favorite all around film of last year. The characters, tension, drama, action scenes, and world building is off the charts. However, this is an action list and the best action is what always tops the list. Chris Evans makes for a serious contender for action star of the year with both this film and Cap 2 under his belt. I highly recommend this bloody and moving film to anyone who considers themselves a movie fan. It's that great!
4: While not exactly an action film, this sequel to the new apes series is one of the most emotionally powerful science fiction films I have ever seen. There's lots of ape vs human madness towards the end of the film to classify it as action though. Koba is one of the best villains in cinematic history, no joke. Great stuff, truly a great year for post-apocalyptic fans like myself.
3: John Wick was the action fan's dream come true. Keanu Reeves stars in this gun-fu heavy film in which he racks up a massive kill count well over 70 baddies. The film features a fantastic world in which assassins and gangsters stay in a hotel where they cannot kill one another. I also love the film's simplistic plot and no nonsense attitude about what audiences want to see in their action films: action for goodness sakes! Truly a great new action film and destined to be an action classic.
2: Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett's follow up to their meta-slasher You're Next is one of the coolest and most fun homages to everything 80's that I have ever seen. One part slasher horror and one part military-esque action flick, The Guest is destined to become an action classic with its bad ass action scenes and amazing plot twist. It also features the best soundtrack of the entire year! Oh, and Dan Stevens kicks ass! It's so nice to see someone young kick ass for once!
1: This one was kind of a no-brainer. Nobody packed more action, blood, kills, and fist fights into one film this year than Gareth Evans did. The Raid 2 is so insane that one must view it more than once simply to take in all of the action in the film. Your eyes might glaze over more than once, so get ready on the pause or rewind button if you have the chance. Evans has crafted The Godfather Part II of action films here, a film that expands upon the characters and mythology of the first film while racking up the stakes beyond belief. The film also literally follows The Godfather Part II as a model with its dueling gangs plot and lengthy run time of nearly two and a half hours. Iko Uwais is easily the action star of the year and possibly the decade for how much ass he kicks in both The Raid 1 and 2.
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