Action movies never go out of fashion. And there's something to be said watching a good action flick from the comfort of your living room. Luckily, if you're a Peacock subscriber, you've got plenty to choose from.
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00:00Action movies never go out of fashion, and there's something to be said watching a good
00:04action flick from the comfort of your living room.
00:06Luckily, if you're a Peacock subscriber, you've got plenty to choose from.
00:10The critically acclaimed British film Polite Society isn't just one of the funniest movies
00:14of 2023.
00:15It also boasts some of the best action scenes put to film in recent years.
00:20I am the fury.
00:23Rather than opting for death-defying stunts, Polite Society keeps things grounded, focusing
00:28on wannabe stunt performer Rhea Khan, played by Priya Kansara.
00:32Rhea makes her own martial arts film to the help of her sister, Lina, who's no longer
00:36available to help when she gets engaged.
00:38At first, Rhea just wants her sister back, but she soon realizes there's something sinister
00:42about the family Lina's marrying into.
00:44The fight scenes in Polite Society hit hard, no pun intended, because of the underlying
00:49emotions, and the use of practical effects make everything feel more real.
00:53This Khan, would you say a career as a stuntwoman is a serious one?"
00:58Affirmative."
00:59It's usually Kansara in those gritty fight scenes.
01:01Speaking to the Golden Globe's website, Kansara revealed that her stunt team encouraged her
01:05to do what she could, saying,
01:07"...what you see in the movie, it's 90 percent the real me.
01:10I was like, step aside, Tom Cruise, we're doing this!"
01:13Polite Society utilizes sensibilities from Bollywood, British comedies, and social satires
01:18to create something wholly unique.
01:20However, the main inspiration comes from British-Pakistani writer-director Nida Manzoor's love of action
01:25movies, and the fact that she wanted to see herself in them.
01:28Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, she explained,
01:30"...we don't usually see Muslim women playing music and being funny, and we certainly don't
01:35see South Asian teenage girls leading action movies."
01:382021's Baby Assassins is an action comedy out of Japan.
01:42The movie begins with two teenage assassins, Mahiro and Chisato, being told by their employer
01:47that they have to blend into regular society, which means becoming roommates and trying
01:51to get regular jobs.
01:53Plenty of comedy is drawn from the two simply trying to get along while living together,
01:57but they're once more drawn into a violent world after crossing paths with a Yakuza boss.
02:01That's when the action really kicks into high gear.
02:03The action scenes may be few and far between compared to some of the other entries on this
02:08list, but when they do happen, they make a huge impact.
02:11Reviewers largely adored the film, with The Skinny stating,
02:14The lead pair are so charming that the film would work as an office-space-esque slacker
02:18comedy even if all they did was hang out in their apartment together.
02:21Any time they do get off the couch, though, it accelerates into an absolutely exhilarating
02:26action flick.
02:28Tony Jaa is a household name today, but that's arguably because of his breakout role in what
02:32many people view as one of the best action movies of the 21st century.
02:36Ong Bark, The Thai Warrior, a practitioner of Muay Thai, a fighting style known for its
02:40aggressive punches and kicks as well as elbow and knee strikes.
02:44After a precious Buddha statue is stolen from his remote northern village, Ting vows
02:47to get it back.
02:48His journey leads him to Bangkok, where he dives headfirst into the underworld.
02:52He gets into plenty of memorable fights as he hunts the thieves, and if you thought Mortal
02:56Kombat was gory, just wait.
02:58To say that Ong Bark, The Thai Warrior, made waves around the world would be an understatement.
03:07Critics quickly dubbed Jaa the new Jackie Chan and or Jet Li while praising the film's
03:11gritty action scenes.
03:13The Hollywood Reporter called it,
03:14"...an effective martial arts film destined to leave mouse agape."
03:17And a New York Times review said,
03:19"...fans of action movies will find much to appreciate in this symphony of flying limbs,
03:23breaking bones, and elaborately staged chases and confrontations."
03:28Dev Patel directed and produced Monkey Man, in which he plays Kid, an underground fighter
03:32trying to get revenge on the man who murdered his mother when he was a child.
03:36You like John Wick?
03:37Cause this just came in.
03:40Kid fighting his way through India's rich and powerful is entertaining enough.
03:43There's a real emphasis on examining how those in power persecute those without it, something
03:48Kid experienced firsthand when he was younger.
03:50"...this is not the place to work if you can't handle that sort of stuff."
03:53Fortunately, he has the opportunity to help those in the present by protecting people
03:57in a hijra, or transgender, community.
04:00Monkey Man is a movie with more on its mind than simply having characters throwing punches,
04:04but it still delivers the action.
04:06According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a monumentally entertaining and bare-knuckled revenge flick,
04:10and The Atlantic called it,
04:11"...a stylish thriller that's also a cathartic unleashing of Patel as a performer and storyteller."
04:16It's impressive that Patel does most of his own stunts, but it came at a cost.
04:21In the middle of filming, he felt his hand break.
04:23"...I told my producer, I was like, don't say anything, let's just keep filming.
04:26By the end of it, the day, my hand was like an elephant's foot."
04:30Maggie Q was always impressed, and she does it again with her lead role in 2021's The
04:34Protégé.
04:36She plays Anna Dutton, who's been a contract killer ever since she was a child, after being
04:39recruited by Moody, played by Samuel L. Jackson.
04:42"...This is R&D plumbing, your leak has been fixed.
04:47Please remit the balance of your payment forthwith."
04:50When tragedy strikes, Anna wants vengeance, which puts her on a collision course with
04:54the shady Michael Rembrandt.
04:56The Protégé only grossed a little over $8 million worldwide, perhaps because it came
05:00out in the fall of 2021, just after the COVID-19 shutdowns were lifted.
05:04Those who did see the movie largely enjoyed it.
05:07The film has a 63 percent rating from critics and Rotten Tomatoes, and an 82 percent score
05:11from audiences.
05:12Among the major outlets to review the picture positively was The Washington Post, which
05:16wrote,
05:17"...the film is polished and watchable, with a satisfying third-act twist that nicely upends
05:21much of what has come before it."
05:23If you're craving a pulpy action film with an assassination plot, give The Protégé
05:27a shot.
05:29Anyone who wants to see stuntmen get their due in front of the camera would do well to
05:32check out 1980's The Stuntman on Peacock.
05:35This dark action film finds Vietnam veteran Cameron on the run for attempted murder when
05:40he's recruited to be a stuntman in a war movie directed by Eli Cross, played by Peter O'Toole.
05:45But Eli will do anything to make his film as realistic as possible, and Cameron begins
05:49to have difficulty discerning what's real and what's fake.
05:52"...Hey, I just listen.
05:53There are a few actors only in the entire world who've mastered that art."
05:59The Stuntman was critically acclaimed when it came out, earning three Academy Award nominations,
06:03including Best Actor for O'Toole and Best Director for Richard Rush.
06:07The Associated Press review of the film called it,
06:09"...a brilliant feat of cinematic ledger domain, creating an illusory world in which nothing
06:13is what it seems."
06:14"...What would you do if you were in that aeroplane and about to die?"
06:18"...I'd probably dance for joy.
06:20I might even do a jig."
06:22While there are plenty of action elements in The Stuntman, it has something for everyone,
06:26blending together the best qualities of drama, satires, and thrillers.
06:30And it hits just as hard all these years later, so now's a great time to check it out on Peacock.
06:361976's Assault on Precinct 13 is one of John Carpenter's earliest films, and remains a
06:41standout in his filmography.
06:42The seized thriller sees Lieutenant Ethan Bishop overseeing an unused LAPD station with
06:47minimal staff and some prisoners at the location.
06:50The precinct is overrun by a gang seeking revenge after cops killed some of their members,
06:54leading to a violent standoff.
06:56Carpenter is well known for his contributions to both horror and action, and some of his
07:00films are outright classics, including Halloween, The Thing, and They Live.
07:04Anyone who considers themselves a fan of Carpenter absolutely has to give Assault on Precinct
07:0913 a shot, if only because it sees him really honing in on what would later become hallmarks
07:14in his later work.
07:15For example, Assault on Precinct 13 focuses on crumbling infrastructure and the breakdown
07:19of societal norms, which would be explored on a much larger scale in 1981's Escape from
07:25New York.
07:27Two cops wishing me luck.
07:28I'm doomed."
07:30Assault on Precinct 13 may be nearly 50 years old, but it's still plenty shocking.
07:35In fact, the themes that Carpenter explores here are as relevant as they were back in
07:39the 1970s.
07:40In a glowing review of the film, Slant magazine said,
07:43"...there's no mistaking the modern racial and sexual politics encoded in the distinctly
07:47Western elements of Carpenter's lean, mean, genre-defying masterpiece."
07:53It takes some serious skill to upstage John Wick in his own movie.
07:56But one could argue that's precisely what Donnie Yen did as Kane in John Wick Chapter
08:004.
08:01In fact, Lionsgate has announced a Kane spinoff movie set in that universe.
08:04Such was his impact.
08:05While fans wait to see that film come to fruition, they can tide themselves over with 2021's
08:10Raging Fire, a Hong Kong action thriller that shows how no one else is quite doing it like
08:15Yen right now.
08:16Yen stars as Chung Sung Bong, a hard-boiled cop tasked with bringing down former protege
08:20Yao Kongno, who's turned to a life of crime.
08:23What follows is an intriguing game of cat-and-mouse, as Cheng runs the gamut of local criminals
08:27to find Yao.
08:28The two may be separated throughout much of the runtime, but the tension and Yen's amazing
08:32fight moves keep viewers heavily invested.
08:35In an exclusive interview with Looper, Yen shared how he kept the action exciting throughout
08:39the fight sequences, particularly one where he battles a bunch of bad guys simultaneously,
08:43saying,
08:44"...for that scene, taking on a dozen thugs, you got to find ways, like with a prop here,
08:48with a mace here, and falling down and chasing my fellow actor, Ben Lim, going down the sewage,
08:53constantly giving me obstacles, I'm constantly getting beat up."
08:57After serving as the action director on Baby Assassins, Kensuke Tsunemura stepped into
09:01the director's chair for Bad City.
09:03It's a surprisingly complex cops-versus-criminals movie where Makoto Terada, a police captain
09:08jailed for murder, gets secretly released to lead a task force to bring down a corrupt
09:12businessman called Gojo Wataru, who's seeking to expand his powers by running for mayor.
09:17Bad City isn't a movie to watch for subtle dialogue.
09:20It's all about the action.
09:21As The Guardian noted in its review,
09:23"...all the nuance is in the grace of the fight scenes, as lovingly choreographed as
09:27a production of Swan Lake."
09:28A big part of why the action sequences hit as hard as they do comes down to Japanese
09:32cinema legend Hitoshi Ozawa's performance as Terada, who did many of his own stunts,
09:37despite being around 60 years old at the time of filming.
09:40Ozawa has been in the industry a long time, and he reflected to Nippon about how action
09:44movies have changed over the decades, saying,
09:46"...in the old days, a choreographer would set up the fight scenes and the director or
09:49the cameraman handled the camera blocking.
09:51These days, an action film director handles everything."
09:54Bad City was a passion project for Ozawa, who also produced the film and wrote the screenplay.
09:59Hopefully he's not done with the genre just yet.
10:02When most people think of a Thomas Jane action movie, their first thoughts probably turn
10:06to 2004's The Punisher.
10:08However, a year before that film came out, Jane appeared in the titular role in an action-packed
10:12biopic called Stander.
10:14Andre Stander was a rising force in a South African police department who had a crisis
10:19of faith after shooting a protester who was fighting against apartheid.
10:22"...I need you to help me this time.
10:24I need you to tell me I won't get sucked back into the muck."
10:27Stander then went on a bank robbery spree, coming into conflict with those he worked
10:30with and even investigating his own crime scene.
10:33It feels like a larger-than-life story, but truth can often be stranger than fiction.
10:37Director Bronwen Hughes spoke with SFGate about chatting with a member of Stander's
10:41gang to get the details just right, saying,
10:43"...he told me that they always intended to be invisible.
10:46Go in, go out.
10:47Sometimes even the bank's guards would be holding the door for them as if to say,
10:51Thank you very much, gentlemen.
10:52Have a nice day."
10:53Stander is far more grounded than most modern action movies, and that, along with the fact
10:57that it actually happened, is what made the film appeal to critics at the time.
11:01The New York Times wrote,
11:02"...this true story is an unsettling character study of a man self-destructively addicted
11:06to flouting authority."
11:08"...he's one man with a damn government."
11:10And the Los Angeles Times called the film,
11:12"...an exciting, hard-driving, fast-moving gangster picture and a sharp commentary on
11:17apartheid."