The best action movies to watch on Netflix and others (November 2022)

What makes an excellent action film?

It may very well be the combat choreography and blocking, viscerally bringing the viewer in on each blow. It may very well be the stunt work, awing the viewers with gravity-defying leaps and methods. It may very well be the results work, with large explosions or sickening bone breaks. It may very well be a tense narrative that explodes into frenetic action.

In many instances, it’s all the above (or not less than a mix of some). And for all of the movies beneath, it’s a assured good time. Here are our favourite action movies at the moment streaming, and the place you’ll be able to watch them.

The Man From Nowhere

Year: 2010
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Lee Jeong-beom
Cast: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron

This action thriller performs out like a leaner, much less, properly, problematic model of Léon: The Professional, albeit with a karambit-wielding antagonist à la Cecep Arif Rahman’s character in The Raid 2 in lieu of a Gary Oldman crooked-cop analog.

Won Bin (Mother) stars as Cha Tae-sik, a widower and pawn store proprietor who befriends So-mi (Kim Sae-ron), a younger lady who lives in the identical condominium constructing along with her go-go dancing, opium-addicted mom. When So-mi is kidnapped by gangsters as a part of a ploy to get well a lacking packet of medicine, Tae-sik finds himself ensnared in a feud between two warring legal organizations as he embarks on a dogged one-man mission to deliver her again residence. Won Bin is cooler than the opposite aspect of the pillow, providing up a convincing and compelling portrayal of a person dusting off his talent for surgically incapacitating his opponents with brutal aptitude and single-minded focus. This was his closing movie earlier than coming into retirement, and truthfully, who might blame him? The Man From Nowhere is a contemporary traditional and a must-see for any savvy action film fan. —Toussaint Egan

The Man From Nowhere is on the market to stream on Peacock and at no cost with adverts on Freevee, Tubi, and Plex .

The Night Comes for Us

Year: 2018
Run time: 2h 1m
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle

Horror and action are nearer siblings than they seem to be. Both genres are dedicated to externalizing the inner conflicts of their characters, to find sensational and dynamic visible methods to depict what their characters lack the phrases to say. They’re additionally genres that, at their simplest, actually understand how to make one thing look extraordinarily painful.

The Night Comes for Us is acclaimed Indonesian horror director Timo Tjahjanto’s action opus, a brutal and violent masterpiece that follows Ito, a South East Asian Triad member that turns his again on legal fraternity so as to save somewhat lady’s life. Under Tjahjanto’s route, a well-recognized premise develops into an unforgettable movie, as Tjahjanto presides over a few of the most brutal fights on movie and slowly marches the protagonist to damnation. —Joshua Rivera

The Night Comes for Us is on the market to stream on Netflix.

The Northman

Year: 2022
Run time: 2h 17m
Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy

In The Northman, a man leaps into the air, catches a spear thrown at him, and in a single fluid movement, throws it proper again with such informal precision that makes it one of many coolest and funniest scenes of the yr. The remainder of the movie, a few Viking’s lengthy quest for revenge towards the uncle that betrayed his clan, killed his father, and kidnapped his mom, is layered in several methods. Shifting between folks horror, twisted household drama, and testosterone-drenched action, The Northman is director Robert Eggers’ model of a popcorn film, bringing the discomfort of his abrasive interval items to a muscular brawl of a movie. It might’ve simply been the film that climaxes with a unadorned sword combat on a volcano to be a winner; that it’s a lot extra makes it a triumph. —JR

The Northman is on the market to stream on Prime Video.

SPL 2: A Time for Consequences

Year: 2015
Run time: 2h
Director: Cheang Pou-soi
Cast: Tony Jaa, Wu Jing, Simon Yam

I’m an enormous fan of martial arts movies, and I usually get requested the place somebody new who’s ought to begin. It usually relies upon on what temper you’re in — there’s an enormous hole between the fun of Jackie Chan’s stunt-based action comedies and the bone-crunching thrillers of one thing like The Night Comes for Us — however I at all times find yourself coming again to SPL 2: A Time for Consequences as a film just about everybody might take pleasure in.

Kit (Wu) is a cop who has gone undercover to infiltrate against the law syndicate that’s working a sinister kidnapping-for-organ-harvesting scheme. When Kit’s cowl is blown, he’s despatched to a jail in Thailand, whose warden (Zhang Jin) is in league with the syndicate. The jail portion of the film contains a number of jaw-dropping fights between Kit, the warden, and jail guard Chatchai (Jaa).

A criminal offense thriller with hints of a medical drama, it encompasses a famous person forged of action legends like Jaa, Jing, and Max Zhang. The first film within the sequence, Kill Zone, stars Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung and additionally guidelines, however this one is just not actually associated, so that you don’t have to watch it first if you happen to don’t need to. —Pete Volk

SPL 2: A Time for Consequences is on the market to stream on Peacock on Hi-Yah!, or at no cost with adverts on Plex, Pluto TV, and Tubi.

Shadow

Year: 2018
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai

No one on the planet makes extra stunning action movies than Zhang Yimou. And his wuxia movies are breathless shows of cinematic excellence.

Rich on political intrigue and attractive distinction in colours, Shadow (whereas in colour) makes nice use of black-and-white imagery. It’s additionally received one of many coolest cinematic weapons of the century — the umbrella you see above, which is made up of blades. I implore you to watch this film, one of many best of the century and a feast for the senses. —PV

Shadow is on the market to stream at no cost with adverts on Freevee, Plex, Pluto TV, Crackle, and Vudu.

The Swordsman

Year: 2020
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Choi Jae-hoon
Cast: Jang Hyuk, Kim Hyun-soo, Joe Taslim

This interval action drama facilities on Tae-yul (Jang Hyuk), the best swordsman within the Joseon dynasty of Korea and bodyguard to King Gwanghaegun. After being blinded in a coup try, Tae-yul flees with Tae-ok (Kim Hyun-soo), the king’s final surviving youngster, to increase her within the mountains out of hurt’s approach. When Tae-ok is inadvertently kidnapped by Gurutai (Joe Taslim), a member of the Qing dynasty, as a part of a feud between him and the native vassal, Tae-yul takes up his sword one final time to reduce a bloody swath by her captors and safe her freedom.

The first half is admittedly on the slower aspect, doling out exposition between Tae-yul and the opposite key gamers of the story, together with Min Seung-ho (Jung Man-sik), the Joseon common answerable for wounding Tae-yul and killing Gwanghaegun. That takes a flip within the final half of the movie, nevertheless, when Tae-yul proceeds to expertly reduce down his adversaries with ruthless effectivity mixed with balletic grace and agility. The courtyard battle towards a troop of armed squaddies, in addition to the ultimate duel between Tae-yul and Gurutai, are spectacular examples of action route. If you’re in search of an engrossing and inventive martial arts action drama, The Swordsman definitely suits the invoice. —TE

The Swordsman is on the market to stream on Peacock and at no cost with adverts on Tubi, Pluto TV, and Vudu.

The Paper Tigers

Year: 2020
Run time: 1h 48m
Director: Bao Tran (Tran Quoc Bao)
Cast: Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, Mykel Shannon Jenkins

One of the best action movies on Netflix can also be surprisingly conservative with its action. A narrative about three former martial arts college students reunited when their grasp is murdered, The Paper Tigers’ first stroke of genius is resisting the grim revenge story the viewers may anticipate from this. Instead, author/director Bao Tran (Tran Quoc Bao)’s movie is a comedy, the place the central trio of fighters are middle-aged, washed up, and barely ready to pull off half of the strikes they did once they had been youthful.

The forged of zeroes thus established, The Paper Tigers is much less a grim revenge fable than it’s a heartfelt story about coming to phrases with rising older and drifting aside, one during which the scenes the place its protagonists can’t combat in addition to they used to are as enjoyable to watch as different movies’ shows of proficiency. This additionally means The Paper Tigers, with wit and attraction, additionally turns into splendidly tense: Eventually, they’re going to have to cease bumbling and combat like they imply it. When the time comes, can they? —JR

The Paper Tigers is on the market to stream on Netflix.

Wheels on Meals

Year: 1984
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: Sammo Hung
Cast: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao

There are quite a lot of causes to love Wheels on Meals. It’s a stellar entry from a time period the place childhood pals Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao had been on the heights of their martial arts comedy film powers. It’s a genuinely humorous buddy comedy with loads of wacky hijinks. But one cause reigns supreme: The fights between Jackie Chan and Benny Urquidez on this film are arguably the best ever put on movie.

First, somewhat background on the legendary Urquidez. One of the best kickboxers of all time, he was a massively influential fighter who helped popularize martial arts within the United States. He’s educated quite a few Hollywood stars as fighters (Patrick Swayze for his function in Road House, and he’s additionally John Cusack’s kickboxing coach and fought throughout him in Grosse Pointe Blank). But at this level in Urquidez’s profession, he was a lot nearer to his time as a legend of the ring than his time as a legend of action movies. Jackie Chan introduced him in for his second movie function (his debut was in Robert Clouse’s Force: Five with some nice fellow cinematic kickers in Joe Lewis, Richard Norton, and Bong Soo Han) as a result of the burgeoning Hong Kong star needed a problem. If you hear to Urquidez speak about filming this film in his interview with Scott Adkins (and you must), they principally actually went at it on this film, as a result of Jackie needed to show himself towards one of many best fighters on the planet. That exhibits on the display screen in a few of the most exhilarating combat sequences ever filmed.

If Wheels on Meals was simply the one combat between Jackie and Benny — Dayenu, it will have been sufficient. Thankfully the entire film is simply as a lot of a blessing. —PV

Wheels on Meals is on the market to stream at no cost with adverts on Freevee on Plex.