As the halfway point of 2025 approaches, it’s become clear that the 2020s have been a great decade for action movies. The genre is very popular among the various streamers, but it’s also still the top draw at the box office. Almost all of the major hits from the last half decade have incorporated action into the story in some way. It’s just what people want to see on the big screen.
It was surprisingly easy to pick the No. 1 film on our list of the seven best action movies of the 2020s. But there may soon be another contender for the throne. And if the second half of the decade produces action flicks that are as good as the movies of the last five years, then this list will look very different in 2029.
7. Violent Night (2022)
Violent Night lives up to its title and it’s a pretty great action flick. Red One‘s on our naughty list, but this is the antithesis of that film and it actually seems to get the meaning of Christmas as well. Stranger Things‘ David Harbour stars as Santa Claus, and this former Viking warrior has lost all love and enthusiasm for Christmas as he goes through the motions on Christmas eve. It’s just Santa’s bad luck that he gets caught at the vast estate of Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) as she and her wealthy family are taken hostage by Scrooge (John Leguizamo) and his Christmas-themed goons.
Gertrude’s granddaughter, Trudy (Leah Brady), is a true believer in Santa, and for her sake, the not-so saintly Nick transforms his Christmas paraphernalia into instruments of war. Have you ever seen Santa kill a man with a candy cane sharpened to a lethal point? You will, and that’s not the only trick that Santa has in his bag. Ho-ho-ho.
Rent or buy Violent Night on Prime Video.
6. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Any of the first three John Wick movies could have filled up the top of this list if they hadn’t been released in the previous decade. While there were diminishing returns with John Wick: Chapter 4. It’s still a lot better than most action flicks, it’s just not on the level of the ones that came before it. This time, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is marked for death by the High Table, and Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) has been granted extraordinary powers and resources to eliminate him. That includes excommunicating Winston Scott (Ian McShane), destroying his beloved Continental Hotel, and murdering his best friend, Charon (Lance Reddick).
John and Winston hatch a scheme to get the High Table off their backs forever, but it’s going to be a challenge when the price on John’s head is so high that he’s targeted by Caine (Donnie Yen), Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), and countless assassins around the world. And if John can’t meet the High Table’s challenge than Winston will share his fate.
Watch John Wick: Chapter 4 on Peacock on May 15.
5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Mad Max: Fury Road was the No. 1 action movie of the 2010s. And as good as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is, it’s no Fury Road. But Anya Taylor-Joy was a worthy successor to the role of Furiosa, which was originated by Charlize Theron in the earlier movie. Young Furiosa once had a home and a family until she lost her mother to the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).
Even when Dementus tries to adopt Furiosa, she never forgives or forgets what he did. It takes several years for Furiosa to turn herself into a warrior so she can get her revenge on the man who murdered her mom. But Dementus proves to be more formidable than she expected, and he can still take away someone else that Furiosa cares about.
Watch Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Max.
4. Bullet Train (2023)
John Wick co-director David Leitch went in a wild new direction with Bullet Train, an action comedy that is a very good example of both genres. Brad Pitt is particularly funny as an assassin with an odd codename: Ladybug. He’s tired of killing people and remorseful about the carnage he’s left in his wake. Ladybug’s handler, Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock), directs him to the bullet train for a simple operation. All he has to do is grab a suitcase full of cash and get off at the next stop before anyone realizes what he’s done.
Of course it isn’t that easy, as someone has arranged for five other assassins to be on the train at the same time, some of whom want Ladybug dead. Not all of the other killers are bad guys, but Ladybug has to watch his back as the train speeds towards its final stop. That’s where a fearsome crime lord, the White Death (Michael Shannon), is waiting to slaughter every assassin who makes it off the train alive.
Watch Bullet Train on Hulu.
3. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Much like Tom Cruise put off making a Top Gun sequel for 36 years, his character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, managed to avoid a promotion for three decades before Top Gun: Maverick sprang into the theaters as one of the biggest hits of the 21st century. Maverick has made a lot of enemies inside the Navy since his last appearance, and only his friendship with Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer) secures him a chance to keep his military career alive as an instructor for Top Gun.
Maverick is also a bit put out that the recruits he’s training for a dangerous mission are going into battle without him. One of the pilots, Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), is the son of his late friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, who still has a grudge against Maverick for his father’s death. They’re going to have to sort out that emotional baggage before the final mission, because there’s no guarantee that any of the pilots will make it back home in one piece.
Watch Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount+.
2. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine was Ryan Reynolds’ dream project and he lobbied for years to make it happen. But it took Hugh Jackman’s unexpected desire to come out of superhero retirement that brought together one of the best Marvel movies of the last decade. It’s also a fantastic action comedy with unexpected callbacks to over two decades of Marvel movies, including one that wasn’t made by 20th Century Fox.
This movie followed Jackman’s moving swansong in Logan with a hilariously profane desecration of Wolverine’s body during the opening credits. Deadpool (Reynolds) desperately needs a living Wolverine (Jackman) to help him save his universe from destruction. Except this Wolverine has already let his world down, and he may not have what it takes to save the day. This multiversal superhero buddy comedy set a new standard for R-rated comic-book flicks. It’s going to be hard to top if Marvel ever makes a Deadpool 4.
Watch Deadpool & Wolverine on Disney+.
1. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Since Tom Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie began collaborating in 2008, they’ve elevated action movies to another level… especially since McQuarrie started directing every Mission: Impossible movie since the fifth film. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the first half of Cruise’s final story as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, and he’s got one last mission to save the world. Ethan has decided that the A.I. being known as the Entity must be destroyed at all costs. But the Entity is already everywhere and influencing life or death decisions in the real world.
Cruise’s practical stunts play incredibly well on the big screen because for the most part, they’re very real. The action and the stunts in this movie are mind-blowing, and there hasn’t been anything else that’s come close since Dead Reckoning hit theaters. But if the early word about Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is any indication, it may be the one movie that can surpass this.
Watch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One on Paramount+.
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