Action Movies

Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg have been inseparable since first teaming up for 2013’s Lone Survivor. In the years since, they’ve become Hollywood’s leading providers of robust, forgettable action thrillers with weirdly conservative politics. They’re…

The Fast and Furious franchise may not be everyone’s favorite, but there’s no debating that it still has a massive built-in fan base and has continued to gross stupid amounts of money at the box…

Not only is Endgame on the horizon, but so is the rest of the blockbuster season. The late spring/summer movie season is when studios have their largest money-makers…or their worst bombs. Either way, it’s a…

Last week I reviewed Dragged Across Concrete, which co-starred Michael Jai White. Coincidentally, Triple Threat also co-stars Michael Jai White — he’s a lot nicer in DAC. Both films are also exceptionally violent. The similarities…

There’s too many goddamn movies out there. My head spins just looking at all the movies getting a theatrical release every week, let alone the plethora of films going straight to streaming and VOD. I…

“Franchise.” That’s the magic word that causes all Hollywood execs to start comically drooling like Homer Simpson looking at a pink frosted donut. I imagine that anyone green-lighting movies is hoping to strike gold on…

Last week, Walter Hill’s street-fighting gang adventure The Warriors celebrated its 40th anniversary. Hill’s film, while initially poorly received by critics, has in the decades since its release garnered a massive cult following. But the big…

Witnessing Netflix’s transformation from humble video-rental to gigantic streaming behemoth (bestreamoth?) has been disorienting at best. Whereas the release of a new Netflix original movie was once a momentous occasion, the platform nowadays churns out an…

Netflix is quietly putting together an array of hyper-violent, stunt-driven action films from around the world, and I’m so happy to see this happen. We live in a time where the standard action film is…

With Bumblebee out and about, it’s time to look back at the entire Transformers franchise. It’s been quite the checkered history for the franchise with some of its entries ranking as some of the worst…

There are some actors that can play a wide variety of characters. Tom Hanks, for example, can play anything from a starving man on a deserted island to a newspaper executive to a talking cowboy…

Well, Mission: Impossible – Fallout was pretty great. Not only is shaping up to become a box office success, but it’s a serious critic success as well. As it currently stands, Fallout holds a 97% critic score on Rotten…

By the sixth movie in the franchise, a property is normally faced with an identity crisis: adapt or succumb or growing disinterest that results in waning box office numbers. But for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, salvation actually…

Mission: Impossible is one of the longest running franchises in Hollywood that hasn’t been rebooted. Since the original film’s debut in 1996, Hollywood has given us four different iterations of Batman, three of Spider-Man, and…

Heat (1995), the famous first pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, was so well made, with such high quality on both sides of the camera, that it was too good

If The Equalizer 2 (2018) seems familiar, let’s figure out why.  A fun game to play is to see how many other films you can identify in this movie — and there’s a lot of…

What’s up, MovieBabble followers? It’s your girl Kali back at you with another article comparing Classic and Modern Hollywood. Last time, we compared Tom Hanks and James Stewart — two well-respected, lovable actors who personified…

Skyscraper, or, considering its familiar setup and story, Sky Hard — or maybe even Rock Hard if sexual innuendos are your bread and butter — is the latest action vehicle for The Rock to show off his rippling body as he…

Die Hard (1988) is 30 years old.  Imagine that.  Three decades represent solid proof that it has passed the test of time as an enduring action movie classic.  Thank you, Die Hard, for so many…

Happy Father’s Day everyone! As I did for my mother, I would like to dedicate this article to my wonderful Dad. He has been a shining light in my life since the day I was…

It’s no secret that mega-budgeted films are dominating the film industry and the conversation around it at the moment.  Thankfully, there’s still always room for a little throwback film that operates as an elevated B-movie.…

Some movies receive tons of press and hype before their premiere and ultimately live up to their lofty expectations. However, some, like the following movies, really flop at the box office and with fans despite…

In age where the “movie star” seems all but dead, one — very swoll — actor is still raking in the dough as a leading man, forcing studios to pay him top dollar to star…

On April 13th, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will star in Rampage (2018), an absurd movie about giant raging gorillas who terrorize America. Admit it: that sounds a lot like King Kong, only with a lot more gorillas and an…

Tomb Raider could also be called “white woman’s burden.” It mirrors social progress in some ways, and in others shows how far we still have to go. I haven’t seen the original Angelina Jolie version of…

On May 2nd, YouTube Red will release Cobra Kai, a spin-off series based on the famous dojo in The Karate Kid. Just like every other franchise or production company monopoly nowadays, this franchise decided it couldn’t just let a…

You ever notice that action movies are getting more and more ridiculous with time? It’s laughable but also entertaining to watch. Pacific Rim (2013) is literally about robots fighting ginormous monsters. And this movie did so well that…

Of all the filmmakers in all the world, Steven Spielberg might be the most well-known. He’s been in the right place at the right time on several occasions, and many of his career highlights mark…

There are great action movies about out-for-justice characters, with bullets flying, car chases, and the like. And there are more intimate movies, driven by an emotional story. Some movies blend the two styles well, and…

Action movies often draw mixed reviews from critics because of their focus on things like gunfights, car chases, and harrowing rescue scenes, which often come at the expense of plot continuity and purposeful dialogue. So,…

Few filmmakers are as divisive as Zack Snyder.  His take on Batman and Superman caused a veritable war of words on internet message boards. His adaptation of Watchmen prompted its creator, Alan Moore to literally curse it…

The next reader requested review comes from a dear friend and highlights George Miller’s crazy action epic, Mad Max: Fury Road!  Coming 30 years after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Miller had ruminated for years on what a fourth Mad…

Before he tackles Deadpool 2, director David Leitch is here with another film, Atomic Blonde!  The film has Charlize Theron kicking tail as a spy in the Cold War era.  Considering Leitch worked on John Wick, there’s…

In a summer full of studios releasing the third, fourth, or even fifth installment in a franchise, it’s nice to see an original film get some buzz.  Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is that film.  Filled to…

The next big action vehicle for Tom Cruise comes with greater importance to a hopeful franchise, The Mummy!  Setting the staged for the proclaimed Dark Universe, Universal Studios wants to bring back all its beloved monsters.…

Fourteen years after the release of the original Pirates of the Caribbean, the bumbling masters of the sea are back in the fifth installment for the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales!…

Surprisingly, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is still cranking out films despite many lackluster products that have made their way to theaters.  Disney has put a ton of capital into the Pirates films with four…

Anime has had a large following for many years now.  In an attempt to capitalize on this large market of potential moviegoers, Paramount Pictures has created a live-action version of one of the most popular…

This weekend gives us the sequel to one of the sleeper hit movies of 2014, John Wick: Chapter 2!  Keanu Reeves is back as the title character and ready to shoot more people in the…

The next attempt from Vin Diesel to kick-start another franchise other than the Fast and Furious is here with xXx: Return of Xander Cage.  This is the third movie in the xXx franchise with the last…