Action is almost always better on the big screen, butstreaming has made it possible for action movies to be easily accessible for wide audiences. The 2000s in particular was an excellent decade in original action movies. Christopher Nolan began his excellentDark Knighttrilogy, and James Bond rebooted with the gritty Daniel Craig era of 007 movies. Peter Jackson completed his acclaimedLord of the Ringstrilogy just a few years before Marvel kicked off its cinematic universe withIron Man. Meanwhile, Tarantino managed to pull off the thrilling bloody affair that wasKill Bill. There were plenty of great action movies across this decade.
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That being said, there are still a number ofgreat 2000s action moviesthat flew under the radar for most audiences. Perhaps some of them were popular at the time, though outside of film circles, many stellar action films seem to either have slipped or begun slipping into obscurity. Ranging from arthouse thrillers to action comedies, there are plenty of exciting and enthralling movies that deserve to be discussed alongsideThe Dark Knight,Iron Man, orKill Bill.
9Battle Royale
What many gamers may not know is that the term “battle royale” actually originated from this Japanese action movie, based on the 1999 novel by Koushun Takami. Essentially the originalHunger Games, the film follows junior high students in a dystopian Japanese society who are forced to fight each other to the death. Like in all battle royale concepts, only one person can remain alive.
This brutal and bloody movie understandably drew its fair share of controversy but also earned acclaim, with director Quentin Tarantino stating itto be one of his favorite movies. A tense thriller from beginning to end,Battle Royaleinfuses social commentary about education and adolescence while still remembering to be a fun and violent action movie. The movie went on to influence much of today’s media, fromThe Hunger GamesandKill Billtomany popular video games.
8Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
One of the few action movies in recent memory to earn a Best Picture nomination, Ang Lee’sCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonremains consistently thrilling, exciting, and entertaining throughout its full runtime. Taking place during the 9th-century Qin dynasty in China, the story follows two warriors trying to recover a stolen ancient sword. Quickly, suspicion falls upon the daughter of a Chinese governor, and the epic action-adventure begins.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragoncombineswuxiafantasy with clever sword-fighting to create some of the most memorable and exciting action sequences of the current century that couldeasily make a good video game adaptation. Easily rivaling any of Hollywood’s modern blockbusters, the action scenes are also backed up by a strong narrative filled with great writing, acting, and music. With 10 nominations, it ties with the 2018 dramaRomaas the most Oscar nominations received by a non-English language movie.
7Minority Report
Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction thriller manages to raise a number of philosophical debates while still being an effective and suspenseful action movie. Loosely based on the novel fromBlade Runnerauthor Philip K. Dick,Minority Reportis set in Washington, D.C. in 2054. The local police precinct has been testing an experimental technology that allows them to see into the future and arrest criminals before the criminal act has been committed. While controversial, the system is set to be voted on for legal use nationwide. This all changes, however, when protagonist and commanding officer John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the one predicted to commit murder within the next three days.
While there has now been an abundance of science-fiction action movies,Minority Reportstill feels fresh, largely due to an intense story paired with creative worldbuilding and cinematography. Spielberg manages to constantly keep the action flowing and keep audiences on the edge of their seats, while still providing enough substance to make audiences think as well. It’s a rare action movie that raises valid moral questions using creative science-fiction and thrilling setpieces.
6Collateral
Bigger isn’t always better, as this acclaimed action-thriller does a lot with only the simplest of premises. Jamie Foxx plays Max, a taxi driver barely making enough to scrape by. This all changes when Vincent, played by Tom Cruise, offers him $600 to drive him to various locations around LA. Vincent claims to be working for real estate, though that alibi is thrown out the window when Vincent throws a dead body out a window. Vincent is really a hitman, and he forces Max to drive him to the rest of his hits.
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Collateralis directed by Michael Mann, who is most known for directing similar crime-thrillers such asManhunterandHeat.Collateralis just as stylish as any of Mann’s other works, while also being endlessly thrilling. Earning highly positive reviews, Foxx even earned an Oscar nomination for his performance.
5Children Of Men
Children of Menis a bleak post-apocalyptic thriller that manages to also have a poignant silver lining within its narrative. From two-time Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron,Children of Mentakes place in an alternate future where humanity hasn’t been able to reproduce for nearly two decades. With the end of the human race in sight, a ray of hope shines through when Theo, played by Clive Owen, is approached by a revolutionary group that has a young pregnant refugee. Theo is initially told that the young woman is to be handed over to a scientific group looking to cure humanity’s infertility, but he eventually learns that the group intends on using the baby for political advantage. Theo then takes manners into his own hands to save humanity.
A clear influence onpopular media such asThe Last of UsandLogan,Children of Mensucceeds due to Cuaron’s talent as a director. The emotional core never fades from view, yet he still pulls off some of the most impressive set pieces to date. Most notably is his use of long takes; the film’s most famous sequence is a four-minute shot inside a moving car avoiding hundreds of attacking gang members. Paired with the beautiful camerawork and haunting music,Children of Menis a thriller that sticks with the audience long after the credits roll.
4The Host
Over a decade before he swept the Oscars withParasite, Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s insane monster movie is just aseffective as the rest of his body of work. The action-horror starsParasite’s Song Kang-ho as a dim-witted father whose life is changed when a terrifying monster emerges from the Han River. The monster snatches his daughter, causing him to fight endlessly to get her back safely.
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A monster movie may seem like the last thing a director like Bong could pull off, but anyone who’s seenSnowpiercercan attest that his attention to detail is applied to action just as much as anything else.The Hostperfectly blends action, comedy, and horror into one giant monster of a movie that never gets tiresome. The movie received highly positive reviews from both Korean and American critics and even placed on numerous Top 10 lists as one of the best films of 2006.
3Mission: Impossible 3
It may not quite have the same pull as the following three installments, butMission: Impossible 3is still a mission worth accepting. This entry begins with an instant nail-biter of an opening. Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, and his wife are both tied to a chair. Ethan is told he has an explosive in his head and his wife is threatened at gunpoint. What follows is a heated debate between him and the film’s central villain, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, that escalates in tension before boiling over in its final moments. The film then flashbacks and retells everything that led up to this moment.
The story follows a typical MacGuffin-spy-thriller narrative, though like mostMission: Impossiblemovies, the excellent action set pieces make up for any plot cliches. Cruise pulls off all of his own stunts here just as he does today,and it never fails to be impressive. Meanwhile, the late Philp Seymour Hoffman is effective as the film’s central villain, despite not being as nuanced as other action movie antagonists.
2Tropic Thunder
Truly amazing action comedies are rare; even rarer are action comedies that effectively parody other action movies. Such is the case withTropic Thunder, a satirical action film that works just as well today as it did in 2008. The story follows a wide range of Hollywood actors – the bonafide action star, the gross-out comedian, and the acclaimed method actor – who all team up to do a movie about the Vietnam War. When the actors cause production to go over-schedule and over-budget, the film’s director gets fed up and drops the actors into the real jungle, telling them that there are hidden cameras everywhere and they’ll film the movie “guerilla-style”. Only, it turns out that much of the jungle is occupied by a Vietnamese gang and still has rigged explosives from the war.
While the actors assume everything is just a movie, the audience knows that much of the events are not. The result is a hilarious comedy that manages to nail its spoof of Hollywood.Tropic Thundertakes no time getting to the laughs, cleverly opening on a series of fake trailers introducing each of the film’s main actors. The humor isn’t a replacement for the action, however, asTropic Thunderstill manages to be just as exciting as it is funny.
1District 9
As one of the most interesting experimental science-fiction movies in recent memory,District 9combines alternate history with an immersive filmmaking style that makes it all the more effective. In this alternate history, an alien spacecraft landed over the South African city Johannesburg in 1982, with the aliens becoming stranded on Earth. The local government relocated the aliens into a small camp and over the years civil unrest between humans and aliens has prevailed. In the events of the film, the government hires an executive from a weapons manufacturer to relocate the aliens to a new camp. During the relocation, alien fuel is sprayed onto the executive, who throughout the movie begins mutating into an alien. He must then team up with one of the aliens to help fix their spaceship so they can leave Earth.
What makesDistrict 9stand out is its unique style. The movie is partially filmed in a “mockumentary” style; the opening features a number of interviews, and much of the relocation is filmed with news logos and fourth-wall breaks. This isn’t true of the entire film, but it’s prevalent enough to make it stand out amongst the many other science-fiction action movies. While many thrilling set-pieces occur, at its core remains the unique bond between a human and an alien and important themes about xenophobia and humanity. Recently,the director announced that a sequel is on the way, making this the perfect time to stream the original.
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