10 Best Action Movies of 2023, Ranked

2023 was a solid year for action movies. It saw the release of new entries in some of the genre’s biggest franchises, like Fast & Furious, Indiana Jones, John Wick, and Mission: Impossible. In addition, veteran directors Guy Ritchie and David Fincher delivered more restrained (but still highly enjoyable) action dramas. Surprising gems like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and martial arts comedy Polite Society also made a splash.

All this means that there was plenty on our screens this year to get the adrenaline pumping. And, for the most part, audiences showed up, with films like John Wick, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 posting impressive box office returns. It goes to show that the public still craves high-voltage action stories with relatable heroes. As we look forward to 2024’s hotly-anticipated projects like Deadpool 3 and Furiosa, now is as good a time as any to reflect on this year’s finest action achievements.

10 ‘Fast X’ (2023)

Directed by Louis Leterrier

The tenth go-around in the main Fast & Furious franchise sees Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and co. teaming up to thwart Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), the son of mobster Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) who was shot dead by Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in Fast Five. Dante is now out for revenge and has turned Cipher’s (Charlize Theron) crew against Dom. From here, the story plays out like a Greatest Hits collection, revisiting key moments from previous installments. One particularly iconic scene reappears but with a de-aged Momoa edited in.

The result is a movie that will delight the franchise’s fans without winning over new converts. Depending on your point of view, you’ll either find the fan service rewarding or frustrating. The plot is a little cheesy and some of the stunts border on self-parody, but an abundance of high-octane action and a delightfully psychopathic performance from Momoa hold the film together. The Fast & Furious series continues to offer diminishing returns but it hasn’t quite jumped the shark yet.

Watch on Peacock

9 ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ (2023)

Directed by James Mangold

Another nostalgia trip, the first Indiana Jones movie since the much-maligned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. This time round, Indy (Harrison Ford) is on the hunt for a legendary artifact that his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) plans to sell on the black market. Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) also seeks the device but for more nefarious purposes.

Dial of Destiny boasts many great action set pieces that hark back to the series’ heyday, like the horse chase on the subway. Director James Mangold also does a fine job with the period touches that evoke the look and feel of 1969 (something which was lacking from the last movie). However, there are also times when the film stumbles, such as the World War II flashback featuring a de-aged Ford is somewhat unsettling, and the script feels a little too color-by-numbers. However, when Dial of Destiny works, it works. The scene where John Williams‘s iconic theme music hits as Indy and Helena are adventuring makes for one of the year’s most satisfying movie moments.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.

Release Date

June 30, 2023

Rating

PG-13

Runtime

142 minutes

Writers

Jon Kasdan , Philip Kaufman , David Koepp , George Lucas

Studio

Walt Disney Studios

Watch on Disney+

8 ‘Polite Society’ (2023)

Directed by Nida Manzoor

London teenager Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) dreams of being a stuntwoman. She spends her days filming martial arts clips with her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) and writing unanswered emails to her idol, stunt performer Eunice Huthart. However, her life is disrupted when Lena becomes engaged to Salim (Akshay Khanna), a seemingly perfect geneticist. Ria begins to suspect that Salim is up to no good, so she and her pals plan a daring heist to rescue Lena from her own wedding.

Polite Society is one of 2023’s martial arts gems, a rollicking, genre-bending affair that features action and humor in equal measure. Writer-director Nida Manzoor has described it as “a joyful kung fu Bollywood epic.” It’s jam-packed with intense fight scenes, but there’s also much social commentary here. Manzoor considers themes of sisterly love, cultural expectations, and the experiences of immigrants and their children. It’s like Kill Bill meets Get Out by way of Bend It Like Beckham.

Polite Society

Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Release Date

April 28, 2023

Director

Nida Manzoor

Cast

Priya Kansara , Ritu Arya , Renu Brindle , Seraphina Beh

Rating

PG-13

Runtime

104 minutes

Watch on Prime

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7 ‘The Killer’ (2023)

Directed by David Fincher

Michael Fassbender stars here as an unnamed assassin who meticulously plans and executes his hits. He prepares for his jobs by doing yoga and listening to The Smiths, all while explaining his mantras and philosophy. That is, until a botched job in Paris throws his life, and those of the people around him, into peril. The killer sets out to eliminate those who would do him harm, embarking on a mission to the Dominican Republic and across the United States.

In some sense, The Killer is a standard hitman movie. The plot is nothing special. But the movie stands out thanks to its execution. David Fincher is a master stylist, and here he tells this story through sleek visuals, gorgeous cinematography, and a great soundtrack. It’s the classiest action movie of the year, hands down. Fincher also balances out the scenes of intense violence with long periods of silence, waiting, and conversation. The Killer may not rise to the heights of Fincher’s masterworks, but it remains engaging throughout, something which can’t be said for all films in its subgenre.

The Killer (2023)

After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.

Release Date

November 10, 2023

Rating

R

Runtime

118 minutes

Writers

andrew kevin walker

Watch on Netflix

6 ‘The Equalizer 3’ (2023)

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

“I believe that everything in life is about timing. Now unfortunately for you, yours isn’t very good.” The final entry in this trilogy unfolds in Sicily, where former U.S. Marine and Defense Intelligence Agency officer Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) resolves to protect his friends from a violent crime syndicate. Cue a series of shootouts, chases, and bloody showdowns, replete with copious gore and carnage. The action is hardcore in The Equalizer 3, which will entertain many viewers but make others wince.

The narrative is a little generic, serving more as a means of connecting the finely-crafted action sequences. But when the action is this well done and the lead performance so compelling, that’s alright. The Equalizer 3 is the fifth collaboration between Washington and Fuqua, who first made magic together with Training Day. They’re unlikely to ever top that project, but The Equalizer 3 is a solid consolation. It succeeds thanks to Washington’s effortless charm and the beautiful cinematography courtesy of Robert Richardson.

The Equalizer 3

Denzel Washington is Robert McCall, an ex-assassin with a mysterious past, who returns to action to serve vengeance for the exploited and oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.

Release Date

September 1, 2023

Watch on Apple TV

Directed by Sam Hargrave

Following the death of his son and the dissolution of his marriage, Australian special forces soldier Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) becomes a mercenary. His latest mission takes him to Georgia, where he must rescue a woman and her children from her drug dealer husband Davit (Tornike Bziava), and his vicious brother Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani). When the operation goes south, Rake has to fight to keep both his charges and himself alive.

Director Sam Hardgrave started out as a stunt coordinator and here he once again flexes his talent for adrenaline-pumping action. One particularly memorable scene involves Rake and the family escaping on a train across a frozen vastness as helicopters full of armed goons bear down on them. Hardgrave’s shooting style is influenced by video games, with frequent over-the-shoulder and POV shots along with digitally crafted extended long takes. The highlight, though, is Hemsworth, who adds much-needed depth to what could have been a stock character.

Extraction 2

Release Date

June 16, 2023

Rating

R

Runtime

122 minutes

Watch on Netflix

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4 ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ (2023)

Directed by Daniel Goldhaber

Although based on a nonfiction book, this action thriller spins a fictional story about eight young environmental activists who plot to blow up a West Texas oil pipeline as a protest against climate change. They begin making preparations and producing homemade explosives, but a series of setbacks threatens to undermine their mission. At the same time, they must evade the prying eye of law enforcement.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a solid ensemble film, with complex and three-dimensional protagonists. They seem like real people wrestling with the climate issue and questions around what kinds of destructive protest action are justifiable. Its conclusions are certainly provocative, as the source book by Andreas Malm argues that such radical acts of destruction are necessary in light of the risks of global warming. The directors take a more subtle and open-ended view, balanced out by scenes of white-knuckle tension, explosions, and exchanges of gunfire.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

A crew of environmental activists plot a daring plan to disrupt an oil pipeline.

Release Date

April 7, 2023

Director

Daniel Goldhaber

Rating

R

Runtime

104 minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Watch on Hulu

3 ‘Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant’ (2023)

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie took something of a left turn with The Covenant, an action drama set during the War in Afghanistan. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Master Sgt. John Kinley, leader of a special forces unit. He hires Ahmed Abdullah (Dar Salim), a man who once worked with the Taliban through the opium trade, as his new interpreter. At first, they are wary of one another, but soon earn one another’s respect. After Ahmed saves Kinley’s life, the soldier determines to obtain visas for Ahmed and his family – if he can find them, that is.

The Covenant makes for a satisfying and surprisingly restrained war movie and an intriguing snapshot of the waning years of the American mission in Afghanistan. Some of the montages are a little over-the-top, but fundamentally, this is a well-acted and well-told story hitting on under-explored subject matter. It may be Ritchie’s best work of the last ten years.

Watch on Prime

2 ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (2023)

Directed by Chad Stahelski

After John Wick (Keanu Reeves) kills the Elder of the nefarious organization known as The High Table, the villainous Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) sets out to kill him, with unlimited resources at his disposal. The Marquis even manipulates the blind assassin Caine (Donnie Yen), an old friend of Wick’s, into hunting the hero down by threatening his daughter. Wick has no choice but to track down and eliminate his enemies before they can do the same to him.

As usual, the film boasts exotic locales and exquisite fight choreography. The stunt work is simply phenomenal and the effects are sleek. Wick chops, kicks, and blasts his way through countless bad guys, and the whole thing is a pure treat to watch. The film could have used a little more judicious editing (it’s close to three hours long) but John Wick: Chapter 4 deserves props for more than matching the high bar set by its predecessors.

John Wick: Chapter 4

With the price on his head ever increasing, legendary hit man John Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Japan to Berlin.

Release Date

March 24, 2023

Rating

R

Runtime

169 minutes

Writers

Derek Kolstad

Watch on Starz

1 ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ (2023)

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Former IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) returns with a mission for veteran agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). He informs him that a dangerous A.I. has gone rogue and that it can be activated by a key that has been split in two. Hunt must track down the halves of the key before they fall into the hands of the myriad villains who would use the technology for evil. His quest takes him across the globe, from Washington, D.C., and Abu Dhabi to Venice and the Arabian Desert.

It’s an intriguing and topical premise given the recent strides in AI and renewed concerns about where the technology might be headed. McQuarrie fleshes the narrative out with a sprawling ensemble cast including wonderful performers like Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, and Pom Klementieff. He also raises the stakes when it comes to the stunts, most notably with Hunt’s death-defying motorcycle ride off a cliff face. Dead Reckoning did not perform as well as hoped at the box office, but this was not due to any flaws with the film itself but rather competition from Barbenheimer and Sound of Freedom. It’s spectacle filmmaking done right; combining epic scope with interesting characters, and it may be the best entry yet in this monumental franchise.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Release Date

July 14, 2023

Rating

PG-13

Runtime

164

Watch on Apple TV

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