Top 10 Movie Action Sequences of 2024

Honorable Mentions:

"Zero Gravity"-Alien: Romulus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lNhzNLtmdY

"Jason Statham Disrupts Classy Function"-The Beekeeper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg_sBVZZIQE

"Bathroom Fight"-Monkey Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6TlNx-Cex4

"Final Fight"-The Shadow Strays

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_238SZnMSwE

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tANu4OgZfb4

"Rodeo/Motel Evacuation"-Twisters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYnytCW0sT0

10.“The Battle of Numidia”-Gladiator II

This glorious battle sequence from the beginning of Gladiator II is a reminder to appreciate just how absurdly good Ridley Scott is at handling large-scale action while we still can.    

9.“Car Fight”-Carry-On

Both in and outside of the context of the film, this scene is completely whiplash-inducing as the constantly rotating camera, barrage of CGI car crashes happening in the background and inherent claustrophobia that comes with having a fight scene take place inside of a moving car makes it a true chaotic feast for the senses. Once I was able to take a breath and really focus in on what was going on, I was kind of blown away by the creativity and intensity of this scene and how it helped set the stage for the excellent second half of the film that elevated Carry-On to essential B-action thriller status.  

8.“Night Club Fight”-The Fall Guy

While picking such a short, small-scale scene from a movie that is full of huge stunts feels kind of wrong, I just love the way the effects of the hallucinogenic drug that Ryan Gosling's character had his drink spiked with are worked into the fight. Plus, the cinematography from Jonathan Sela is slick as hell here.       

7.“Dev Patel Escapes from Police Custody”-Monkey Man

What a frantic, unpredictable delight of an escape scene that makes great use of Patel's character's physical limitations and desire to avoid going to jail at all costs.       

6.“War Rig Assault”-Furiosa

The primary reason that I'm such a vocal opponent of Mad Mad: Fury Road is that the action is choppily edited and completely devoid of standout moments. George Miller solved that problem in a major way with the prequel Furiosa. This insane 17-minute sequence in which a rogue group attacks a "war rig" (for those unfamiliar with Mad Max, it's basically just a heavily armed supply tanker that's used to carry gas through the desert) has the crisp construction, epic scale and prolonged excitement that Fury Road lacked.     

5.“Opera House Massacre”-The Crow

There's not a ton of action in The Crow remake as the film spends quite a bit of time focusing on building up the tragic relationship between Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgard) and Shelley Webster (FKA twigs) before it delves into the supernatural revenge/vigilante elements of the story. However, once the action revs up at the start of the final act, we're treated to this spectacular splatterfest that makes the wait for the bodies to start dropping well worth it.       

4.“Club Fight”-The Shadow Strays

The blistering speed of the choreography, fluidity of the editing and unflinching brutality of the carnage on display is what makes Timo Tjahjanto one of the most impressive action directors working today. He finally got the opportunity to make the jump over to American cinema with Nobody 2-which is currently set to release in August-and I'll be curious to see how much of his style he applied to an effort that will inevitably be much less hardcore than what he's been making in Indonesia over the past 15 years.    

3.“Elevator Fight”-Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Shooting this fight from outside the elevator as its descending is an absolutely badass stylistic flourish that further elevates the intensity of this pivotal scene that sets the final act of Bad Boys: Ride or Die into motion.  

2.“Night Club Fight”-Monkey Man

Tired: How did Brady Corbet make The Brutalist for roughly $10 million?

Wired: How did Dev Patel make an action movie full of fight scenes as visceral, explosive and elaborately choreographed as this for $10 million?  

1.“Abandoned Alligator Park Showdown”-Bad Boys: Ride or Die

A truly insane highlight reel that showcases the unreal amount of juice Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah possess as action filmmakers. Everything from the first-person shooting sequences to the room-spanning drone shots to the various explosions from various causes that occur are seamlessly stitched together to create this consistently inventive, exhilarating blast of action movie nirvana that ended Bad Boys: Ride or Die on the highest note possible. If Kevin Feige doesn't approach them to direct the MCU Blade movie, he's making a huge mistake.