I like action films. I am shallow. I admit it readily. I like seeing explosions and people getting beaten up.
That being said, there must still be a good story and strong characters (or at least one of the two) behind the action. If I don’t know who I’m supposed to root for, what will that exploding car mean to me? If there are two swordsmen duelling atop a random volcano, how do I know what each vicious slash means if it doesn’t matter who wins?
So yes, my friends, action movies can be good movies as well. So here’s the 7 best action films of this non-leap year.
I loved how the film opened with a battle between the Transporter and the Rock. Yes, Dom and Brian are the heroes of the film, but they’re in their own franchise. You know they’ll win. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham already had kickass reputations going into the film, so the battle wasn’t really about their “Fast and Furious 7” characters, it was about the Rock and the Transporter.
And the way the cars moved – they were like Transformers who forgot to transform. Throwing cars off planes (with parachutes attached) were the stuff of our childhood imaginations given life. It was like a live action cartoon, and somehow, they managed to pull it off for the seventh time.
The explosions and fires are great, but what really sticks about the action was how it showed that the Terminators were unstoppable. Their progress was inexorable. Yeah you might stab them with a metal pole, but that was just a logistical hindrance rather than an impediment to survival. They were real threats, and the question on your mind was – would this explosion be big enough to stop them?
There’s just something about dinosaurs that appeals to all of us. Big giant lizards that evolved solely to cause more destruction to other big giant lizards. Although dinosaurs look sillier now since we know more about them and hence have deduced that they look like giant lizard birds, the “Jurassic World” dinosaurs looked like all kinds of ferocious awesome. And in the finale, you actually rooted for the Tyrannosarus Rex to win. That’s some good writing there.
Although it was a rather disappointing “Avengers” film, what with all the artificial angsting that the heroes had to go through, it also gave us the Hulk vs Hulkbuster Armour battle and a whole bunch of other set pieces that made the action awesome. Honestly though, what could possibly pose a threat to a team of superheroes that’s already beaten back an alien invasion?
The best part about this Bond is that he’s no longer a greenhorn like he was in the previous films in the Daniel Craig series. He’s suave, confident and gets the job done, allowing us to jetset across the world with him as she pummels villains into submission (the way we imagine we would if we were spies, which we aren’t). A powerful villain, Blofeld, helped make the story feel even grander by tying it back to the previous three films, making the stakes even higher since Blofeld was indirectly responsible for all the deaths in the last three films.
“The Last Witch Hunter” was refreshing in the sense that it gave us another interpretation of magic and the sense of a hidden world behind us. It felt like d20 Modern, and how it melded the contemporary with the classic was the key to setting the expectations for the action. It was a good action romp that balanced simplicity with sophistication, and also hinted at possible Lovecraftian threats in the future.
Cthulhu. Heh.
“San Andreas” was so ludicrously over the top that it actually became pretty awesome. The film just took this premise and ran with it, and each scene was underscored by one question – how can this be made more awesome? With such a governing principle in its direction, it’s no wonder “San Andreas” was such a fun action film to watch. You forgave all the logistical inconsistencies because it looked awesome. Now that’s upholding the Rule of Cool!
Did I miss out anything? Ip Man 3 was good too, but it didn’t quite make the cut since it was more about Ip Man mowing down mooks than duelling nigh invincible pugilists. We’ll have another Superman movie in 2016, so there’s another levelled city to look forward to!
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