The action genre has grown to be universally loved. Car chases, shootouts, explosions, espionage, double crosses, and quips all come together to create some unforgettable cinema experiences. Actions movies have had some pretty spectacular highs, with classics like Die Hard and The Matrix, as well as some major disasters like the Point Break remake and Nicolas Cage’s last, like, six movies. Honestly, Cage’s real life seems more exciting than his movies at this point.
Some action movies can be undeniably enchanting, with others putting audiences to sleep. Some can make astronomical amounts of money at the box office, with others being total flops. Somewhere between these two points, there exists a wealth of action movies that never got the praise and fortune that they truly deserved. Here are ten of the most underrated action movies of the past five years.
Widows (2018)
Widows takes a stellar cast and throws them into a familiar heist thriller plot with a twist. When a heist goes horribly wrong, leaving a team of four men dead, their widowed wives take matters into their own hands and attempt to pull off what their late husbands couldn’t. While Rotten Tomatoes gave Widows a Certified Fresh rating of 91%, IMDB has the film sitting at a 6.9. Audiences were mixed, with some accusing it of pushing political correctness, leading to an underwhelming box office haul for a film with a compelling narrative and a stellar cast. If political correctness means having Academy Award-winning Viola Davis starring in action movies, is it really so bad?
Wheelman (2017)
A getaway driver races to survive after a bank robbery goes awry and he is double crossed. What sounds like a run-of-the-mill setup for a car chase flick turns out to be a smart, character-driven thriller. It’s much smaller in scope than, say, Baby Driver. But what it lacks in big action scenes, it makes up for with emotional tension and suspense. The film takes place almost entirely in the lead’s car, who is played by the stoic Frank Grillo. He, like the rest of the film, seems unoriginal for the genre at first, but also like the film, his charm soon shines through.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
This cold-war spy thriller follows a CIA agent and a KGB operative working together to take down a mysterious criminal organization with nuclear weapons. In The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Henry Cavill proves to be the American James Bond that we never knew we needed in this fun, not-to-be-taken-too-seriously adventure. It is packed with the Mad Men type of 60s style, as well as car chases, shootouts, espionage, and quips. It checks most of the action movie boxes. Plus, it features Hugh Grant as a sarcastic handler of sorts, which never fails to entertain.
Non-Stop (2014)
Liam Neeson stars as an air mashal in this action thriller. He is on a transatlantic flight when he starts receiving text messages from an anonymous sender. They demand that $150 million be deposited into their account, or else someone on the plane will die every 20 minutes. With Julianne Moore co-starring, Non-Stop manages to be a tense, entertaining adventure despite a third act that, while exciting nonetheless, relies heavily on action movie logic.
The Guest (2014)
After a soldier is killed in action, his grieving family is visited by one of his military friends. After people start getting killed around town, though, the identity of the family’s new guest comes into question. This action thriller blends in some horror elements to make for one of Dan Stevens’s more compelling and creepy roles.
Run All Night (2015)
Making another appearance on this list, the action hero Liam Neeson stars as a Brooklyn mob hit man who must protect his son from a mob boss, played by Ed Harris, who is hunting him down as payback for the death of his own son. It’s a classic, mafioso, family-centered revenge tale with Liam Neeson’s signature posterior-kicking abilities. Run All Night generally wasn’t favored by critics, mainly because this wasn’t the first time that Neeson was cracking skulls to save his kid, and production wasn’t quite on Taken‘s level. Still, if you’re a fan of mafia thrillers and/or Liam Neeson’s fists, this one is worth seeing.
Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)
During an Alien invasion, a soldier is thrown into battle despite having no fighting abilities. He quickly dies, but finds himself in a time loop that resets every time he dies. He must fight and die, over and over, until he learns how to defeat his enemies. While Rotten Tomatoes eventually gave Edge of Tomorrow a certified fresh rating of 90%, it didn’t initially look that way for this Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt-led action blockbuster. Development issues, several post-production name changes, and low expectations caused this sci fi adventure to slip past many people’s radar, despite it turning out to be great.
21 Bridges (2019)
Chadwick Boseman stars as an NYPD detective who shuts down all of the bridges and tunnels going in and out of the island of Manhattan in an effort to stop a crew of cop killers. Touching on topical issues of police brutality and racism and featuring a less-than-original plot, 21 Bridges was bound to be divisive. Still, it managed to feature some great action scenes, a competent detective story, and the infinite charm of Chadwick Boseman.
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
After being framed for an attempted assassination of the President, Mike Banning must run from the agency and government he used to work for while trying to uncover the truth about the attack. Angel Has Fallen, the third entry in this unexpected franchise, isn’t exactly groundbreaking with its writing, but it makes up for it with its high energy action sequences and and supporting cast members like Jada Pickett Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Nick Nolte. Despite a fairly typical action movie plot, Gerard Butler proves that he’s still got it.
Anna (2019)
Anna, an innocent young girl who works in the fashion industry, is actually one of the world’s deadliest assassins. This stylized, violent, spy thriller manages to throw more plot twists into its runtime than most movies, even if it does get a bit convoluted at times. Still, Anna manages to keep the thrills coming and provides the action genre with a much needed breath of fresh air. A lot of action movies feature supermodels, but they aren’t usually the ones kicking in bad guys’ teeth.
