Actioner

via Sony It’s very rarely the best franchises that enjoy longevity, not when the law of diminishing returns sets in eventually. It’s one of the few things no long-running saga can outrun forever, but based on how Netflix subscribers are responding to Sniper: Ghost Shooter, quality doesn’t mean a damn thing when people are willing to watch. As per FlixPatrol, the run-of-the-mill shoot ’em up has parachuted right onto the platform’s global Top 10 charts after being added to the library in many international…

via Paramount If you were to name an action movie revolving around extreme sports that released in 2002, then the answer would obviously be Vin Diesel’s blockbuster success story xXx. For those of you who would respond by naming Extreme Ops instead, we have serious questions, and more than a few reservations. Arriving only a few months after the debut of Xander Cage, the similarities are there for all to see, but there’s not even a contest when it comes to naming the superior of the two. Let’s not forget that…

via Quiver Distribution There are some movies that look, sound, and are deemed to be so stupid that there’s no way they weren’t made with that exact intention in mind, and anyone that’s seen last year’s Money Plane will be aware that it surely has to be among that number. Every bit as self-explanatory as it sounds, a professional thief is left with no other option but to rob an cargo plane casino to pay off a $40 million debt and save his family’s lives, but the aircraft in question happens to be filled with…

Depending entirely on your personal preference, either the 1980s or 1990s can justifiably be deemed as the Golden Age of action cinema, with a veritable bounty of all-time classics emerging throughout those two decades. While the vast majority of them hailed from Hollywood, Luc Besson’s breakout hit Léon: The Professional can stake a claim for the finest international ass-kicker of a glorious period for the cinematic shoot ’em up. A star-making turn from a revelatory Natalie Portman anchors the story, with the future…

International action stars generally have patchy track records when it comes to cracking Hollywood, and it sums up Jet Li’s Stateside adventures in microcosm that his best-reviewed feature outside of his native shores is the divisive Mulan remake. In terms of leading roles, though, 2005’s Unleashed remains at the head of the pack. Arguably deserving of a much better reputation than the one it currently has among genre aficionados, the directorial debut of The Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Fast X filmmaker Louis…

The lawless world of VOD action movies is a strange place, one where you’ll find the most unhinged concepts you’re ever likely to lay eyes on, and many of them end of spawning franchises. Sadly, those with a soft spot for a sprinkling of science fiction over their silly shoot ’em ups were not fortunate enough to see 2013’s Ice Soldiers give rise to a slew of sequels. The title is both completely on-the-nose and yet somewhat vague at the same time, which pretty neatly sums up the sense of silliness (intentional or…

The pandemic was a nightmare for the theatrical industry, and one of the most unfortunate byproducts was that a huge number of underrated, unsung, and acclaimed movies ended up being sent out to the multiplex to die an agonizing death at the box office, with The Protégé deserving of much better than it ended up getting. Directed by GoldenEye, The Mask of Zorro, and Casino Royale‘s Martin Campbell (we’ll just ignore the fact he helmed Green Lantern), scripted by The Equalizer‘s Richard Wenk, and headlined by Maggie Q in…

There’s an old adage that claims the best video game movies aren’t based on existing video games, but even then, the prospect of an entire feature unfolding from a first person perspective sounded like little more than a gimmick. That might be the case, depending on how you feel about Hardcore Henry. The deranged sci-fi action thriller earned less than $20 million at the box office and earned reactions from both critics and audiences that could generously be described as tepid, but there’s a growing wave of appreciation…

If you’re in the mood for a modern classic that opens with a veteran hitman arriving at an airport, hailing a cab, and then having the unwitting driver ferry them around a concrete jungle while they take out their targets at each stop, then check out Michael Mann’s Collateral. If not, then One Night in Bangkok will have to do. No offense to the star of the show, but Mark Dacascos is no Tom Cruise, and even his impressive action hero prowess can’t elevate proceedings above the overly-familiar. Collateral had Michael Mann…

Every year, audiences all over the world revisit the same films on an annual basis to help get the holiday spirit running through their veins, but we didn’t expect Reindeer Games to be one of the titles to suddenly emerge from the wilderness to be put under the microscope for reappraisal. On a base level, absolutely nothing about the critical and commercial disaster makes a lick of sense. It’s called Reindeer Games, and Christmas is sort of a major plot point because Ben Affleck’s Rudy wants to be go home to be with his…