Actionmovies often have some of the biggest budgets in cinema, and many of the most popular and well-funded have storylines that are considered a little outlandish. However, having a silly plot doesn’t mean that a film can’t be good or even critically acclaimed. The action genre has aged well and has become an important part of cinema because movies within the genre are often less self-serious than their dramatic counterparts. Whenfilmmakers prove themselves and have shown that their projects connect with viewers, they’ll often be rewarded with larger budgetsthat allow them to experiment and push boundaries.
Money can be used for many things in film, including paying high-profile actors or incorporating large set pieces.
Some of thegreatest summer blockbusters of all timehave been big-budget action movies that surprise audiences with their depth and amazing performances. The differences in critical and commercial successes of action movies have long indicated thatthe gap between what audiences enjoy and what critics deem to be worth watching needs to be bridged.A large budget doesn’t necessarily indicate the success or failure of a film, only that the creative team had the tools to create the product they wanted. Money can be used for many things in film, including paying high-profile actors or incorporating large set pieces.
8 “Rotten” Action Movies That Became Classics Anyway
Though critics & audiences often differ on the reception of movies, action films can still gain popularity despite negative reviews & low scores.
Con Air
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Con-Air is a 1990s action crime-thriller starring Nicholas Cage as former U.S. Ranger turned to convict Cameron Poe. Poe, in an act of self-defense and passion, is court-martialed for accidentally killing the man he protected his wife from. Having served his time and achieving Parole, Poe is on his way home with one problem - the transport plane he’s on has been hijacked by several dangerous convicts, led by one of the worst in the United States.
Con Airis chock-full of high-stakes and explosive tension, as the movie primarily takes place on a prison transport plane that’s supposed to be taking Cage’s character, Cameron Poe, home to his wife.
John Malkovich is a terrifying evil mastermind inCon Air, a feature led by Nicolas Cage in an early example of the campy narratives that would come to define his work.Con Airis chock-full of high-stakes and explosive tension, as the movie primarily takes place on a prison transport plane that’s supposed to be taking Cage’s character, Cameron Poe, home to his wife. However, the plane also houses Malkovich’s Cyrus Grissom anda host of other dangerous criminals who hijack the flight to escape custody.
Con Airfeatures a surprisingly high-profile cast, as Cage and Malkovich are joined by John Cusak and Steve Buscemiin the midair crime drama. It’s difficult to ignore the more outlandish elements ofCon Airthat undercut the serious premise and insert elements of accidental comedy. However, it’s all in good fun, asCon Airis a throwback to the classic cult hits of the late 1990s that don’t concern themselves with realism or accuracy, leaning into entertainment value above all.
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Bullet Train
Bullet Train: Released in 2022, Bullet Train follows unlucky assassin Ladybug as he seeks a peaceful mission amidst a web of globally connected and conflicting adversaries on the world’s fastest train. The film explores themes of fate and interconnected objectives, creating a tension-filled narrative in a high-speed setting.
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The hyper-stylized and well-choreographedBullet Trainis a testament to how important editing and sound arein the action genre. Directed by David Leitch, who would go on to make the blockbuster hitThe Fall Guy,Bullet Trainis in the same vein as Guy Ritchie or Matthew Vaughn. These filmmakers have cornered the market on raunchy and violent blockbusters that appeal to older audiences and are in conversation with older movies that have influenced what audiences expect from thrillers.
The basic idea ofBullet Trainis intriguing and creates many opportunities for unique set pieces and innovative fight choreography. However, the actuality of a litany of assassins all being on board the same train and after the same briefcase is a little difficult to wrap your head around. Additionally, the interweaving storylines and hidden connections between characters quickly become convolutedand difficult to follow. Each assassin is somehow related and owes the other a debt, which complicates the already intricate plotting.
(viaIMDb)
Demolition Man
In the 1993 action movie Demolition Man, Sylvester Stallone stars as time-displaced police officer John Spartan, who struggles to adapt to the year 2032 after being cryogenically frozen for messing up a job. However, his old-school skills come in handy for innocent cop Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) and the futuristic city of San Angeles when the criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) is thawed and the complacent authorities don’t know how to react.
Stallone’s character, John Spartan, is an LAPD officer who is sentenced to imprisonment in a cryogenic tomb alongside his nemesis, Simon Phoenix (Snipes).
Sylvester Stallone co-stars with Wesley Snipes and a young Sandra Bullock inDemolition Man, a film with a premise so improbable that some of the characters have a hard time believing it. Stallone’s character, John Spartan, is an LAPD officer who is sentenced to imprisonment in a cryogenic tomb alongside his nemesis, Simon Phoenix (Snipes). When the pair wake up, decades have passed, and in the future,L.A. has become a peaceful city upon which Phoenix starts wreaking havoc, and only Spartan and his new ally Lenina Huxley (Bullock) can stop him.
The film draws inspiration from the seminal work of dystopian literature,Brave New World,and other classic works of sci-fi, but it doesn’t capture the themes and tones of such lofty work. However, this opens the door forDemolition Manto lean into its outlandish elements and reap the benefits of blending action with sci-fi. Since Stallone has so much experience within the genre, his past as an action star greatly informs the plotting and tone ofDemolition Man.
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Armageddon
In Michael Bay’s sci-fi action thriller Armageddon, a colossal asteroid is found barrelling toward Earth, guaranteed to wipe out all life. To stop it, NASA concocts a plan that involves drilling into its core to denote a nuclear bomb inside of it - and to make that happen; they’ll need the right crew. Led by the head of an oil drilling company, Harry Stamper, a group of blue-collar workers are given the crash course for Astronaut preparation as the crew races against time to save the planet.
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Armageddonmight be one ofBruce Willis' best science fiction movies, but that doesn’t mean the film doesn’t include its fair share of plot holes. To this day, one of the biggest issues withArmageddoncomes from a flaw in the story’s internal logic. When an asteroid is heading for Earth,it’s determined that drilling into its core in space to blow it up from the inside is the only way to stop it.A group of drillers led by Willis' character, Harry, must carry out the mission. While they’re a ruggedly skilled group, they’re no astronauts.
While it’s a romantic and cinematic idea that the face of the world rests on the shoulders of blue-collar drillers,it would make a lot more sense for astronauts to be trained in drilling instead.Fortunately,Armageddonis less concerned with making sense than it is with supplying an incredible spectacle and building strong relationships between its characters. Though a giant asteroid will likely not crash into Earth anytime soon,Armageddonis a fun reimagining of the disaster genre.
The Expendables
The Expendables is the first film in the action franchise that follows the exploits of a close team of mercenaries that complete dangerous jobs worldwide. Hired by a covert operator, the Expendables are tasked with heading to South America to deal with a dangerous dictator and liberate a country from his oppressive rule. However, they soon learn that the dictator is a front, leaving them caught in a dangerous mission with a threat higher up the chain than they could have imagined.
The enormous and skilled cast of characters comes together to overthrow a corrupt government using their various expertise in anOcean’s Eleven-type plot but for the action genre.
The Expendablesfranchise has totaled four movies so far, and each has delivered on the high bar set by the first film. Featuringan ensemble cast of some of the best action stars in history, including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Jet Li,The Expendablesdoesn’t take itself too seriously even while these great stars lead the cast. Directed and co-written by Stallone,The Expendableshas no shame in taking part in the well-worn tropes of the genre, but it has the budget and talent to back up these choices.
The enormous and skilled cast of characters comes together to overthrow a corrupt government using their various expertise in anOcean’s Eleven-type plot but for the action genre.The Expendablesassembled this illustrious cast, who must have cost a fortune to employ, in order topay tribute to the classic action flicks of the ’80s and ’90s that many of the performers starred in.It’s a globe-trotting adventure that allows the audience to let loose and enjoy the campy aspects of the genre.
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6 Underground
From director Michael Bay, 6 Underground centers on a group of elite individuals that track down criminals and terrorists that the government won’t pursue. The action film stars Ryan Reynolds alongside Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Adria Arjona, and Dave Franco as ghost One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six, respectively.
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Ryan Reynolds leads6 Undergroundas One/Magnet S. Johnson,a member of the elite team the movie revolves around who plots to take down corrupt governments and terrorist groups. This vigilante super squad takes the law into its own hands, and the members use their unique abilities to fake their deaths and move as ghosts in the world. While this concept is highly improbable and involves many fictional countries, there is plenty of entertainment value in6 Underground. Reynold’s other major action franchise,Deadpool, also pushes boundaries in terms of tone and plot.
Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office successshows how much audiences connect with Reynolds’s brand of humor and raunchiness.Michael Bay is known for making impressively high-budget and high-octane action movies,and6 Undergroundis no exception. The film takes this to new heights as6 Undergroundincorporates elements of spy movies and action thrillers but is exceptionally well-made. It’s clear that the significant budget paid off in terms of the realistic special effects and massive stunts that6 Undergroundpulls off flawlessly.
Bright
In an alternate Los Angeles, mystical creatures live side by side with humans. When police officer Daryl Ward is partnered with the division’s first Orc officer, the two must overcome the racism and police corruption in their way, in order to stop a magical artifact and mythical figure from wreaking havoc in the city.
Despite the existence of magic, the world has developed similarly to ours, and social and cultural discrimination and prejudice run rampant between the different species.
Brighttakes place in a fantastical reality similar to the real world,but with magical beings like orcs and elves living alongside humans. However, despite the existence of magic, the world has developed similarly to ours, and social and cultural discrimination and prejudice run rampant between the different species. The crux ofBrightis the budding tolerance between a human police officer, Daryl Ward (Will Smith), and his orc partner, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton). They slowly build trust and come to rely on each other as they uncover their city’s dark secrets.
The fantasy element alone isn’t enough to setBrightapart for its story, as many great action movies blend other genres into their premises. However,Brightleans too far into the gritty police drama without letting the magic aspects shineand become a central part of the script. It feels like Smith and Edgerton are in two different films, as the world isn’t fully fleshed out and appears the same as normal life, but with costumes and makeup thrown in. Fortunately, this didn’t sway the audience’s opinion, asBrightconnected with the many viewers who watched it on Netflix.
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The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is an action thriller from Bullet Train and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. Ryan Gosling stars as a stuntman who is forced to find a missing movie star, investigate a conspiracy, and repair his relationship with the love of his life. The film was written by Drew Pearce and inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name.
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Ryan Gosling makes an explosive return to the action-comedy genre inThe Fall Guyalongside Emily Blunt in a goofy but endlessly charming new film.The Fall Guyquickly became a favorite of both critics and audiences,as the movie was in conversation with the film industry, and the director, David Leitch, is an experienced stuntperson himself, making the action and stunt sequences all the more exciting. As a comedy, it makes sense that parts ofThe Fall Guyare outlandish, and for the tone of the film, this uplifts the narrative as a whole.
The film’s premise revolves around the star of the fictional movie within the movie, Tom (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), going missing and stunt performer Colt (Gosling) and his ex-girlfriend and director of the movie, Jody (Blunt), stepping up to find him and save the day. From here,The Fall Guyerupts into a convoluted narrative of conspiracies and epic visual effectsthat threaten to ruin Colt’s life forever. However, if the story beats ofThe Fall Guyseem larger-than-life and straight out of a campy action movie, that’s because they’re supposed to be.
Madame Web
Madame Web is a superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Taking place in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the movie revolves around a clairvoyant woman who can look into different dimensions. Dakota Johnson stars in the lead role, with Sydney Sweeney, Adam Scott, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor comprising the rest of the cast.
The plot points of the characters journeying to Peru and Cassie’s mother’s research are never fully explained and remain a confusing part of the script.
While not every action movie with an experimental premise will necessarily fail,Madame Webturned out to be one of the biggest box office bombs of 2024. Marvel has been pushing for more movies led by female characters and expanding the lore of the universe into lesser-known comics, butMadame Webfailed to connect with audiences the way the rest of theSpider-Manfranchise has.Starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and many other big names, it’s possible that the budget went toward the actors rather than the production value.
There were technical issues that got in the way ofMadame Web’s success, like the poor pacing and choppy dialogue, but the central plot left a lot to be desired as well. Johnson’s character, Cassie, develops precognitive skills after a near-death experience. However,Madame Webdoesn’t push these psychic episodes far enough,nor do theSpider-Man-like abilities of the young women she mentors appear in significant ways. Additionally, the plot points of the characters journeying to Peru and Cassie’s mother’s research are never fully explained and remain a confusing part of the script.
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20 Greatest Action Movie Stars Of All Time, Ranked
The action genre has been lucky to see so many incredible actors over the decades, but of all of them, who are the absolute best action stars?
Uncharted
Uncharted is a prequel to the video games it takes its inspiration from, providing backstory into Nathan Drake and how he crossed paths with Victor “Sully” Sullivan, who becomes a friend and mentor.
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Tom Holland has had bad luck with the critical reception of his projects outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However,Unchartedwas a box office hit, performing well with audiences,even if critics found the premise to be less than believable. Based on the popular video game series of the same name,Unchartedwas a swashbuckling adventure tale in the style of sweeping epics of old. The confusion of the premise comes through in the too-convenient way the main characters meet and the fact that the story revolves around the hidden Magellan treasure.
Made for over 100 million dollars,Unchartedincludes massive set pieces and several sequences filmed on location in Spain and other parts of Europe. These elements show how much went into making the film and how seriously production was taken. Unfortunately, one of the weakest parts ofUnchartedwas the dynamic between Holland and his costar, Mark Wahlberg, and the idea that Wahlberg’s character would need Holland to achieve his mission.Unchartedended up beingcloser in tone and themes toNational Treasurerather thanIndiana Jones.
