There is no genre we associate more with the theatrical experience than action. Often painted across a wide canvas and bolstered by extravagant set pieces, these movies are uniquely fashioned to play on the biggest screen possible. By the grace of the entertainment elves, thank goodness, home flat screens just keep getting bigger. Here are our picks of films from around the globe and tonally range from family friendly to downright gory.
Image Credit: IMDB and Netflix
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‘Below Zero’ (Stream it on Netflix): Sporting a green poncho, a menacing figure drags a bloody hooligan into a muddy grave. He’s looking for information, details only this young man can provide. A combination of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Unbreakable’ and John Carpenter’s ‘Assault on Precinct 13’, Lluis Quilez’s Spanish-language prison thriller, ‘Below Zero’, unfolds its tantalising mysteries within the claustrophobic confines of a prisoner transfer bus. The vehicle is driven by a new police transfer, Martin (Javier GutiErrez), protected by his gauche partner Montesinos (Isak FErriz). The convicts range from the very dangerous to the flippantly annoying. Two in particular stick out: the glib con artist Ramis (Luis Callejo) and the unsuspecting ruffian Nano (Patrick Criado). During their drive, on a snowy, foggy road, the officers’ convoy comes under the attack of a dangerous, enigmatic figure. He wants Nano, and amid a violent inmate revolt, it’s up to Martin to figure out why. Icy and relentless, ‘Below Zero’ features raw torture scenes, allowing Quilez and his co-writer Fernando Navarro to smartly consider the moral compass of these characters.
Image Credit: Netflix
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‘Finding Ohana’ (Stream it on Netflix): Siblings Pili (Kea Peahu) and Ioane (Alex Aiono) travel with their mother (Kelly Hu) from New York City back to Hawaii to care for their grandfather (Branscombe Richmond) after his heart attack. Among her grandfather’s belongings, geocaching enthusiast Pili discovers a journal detailing a legend of buried Spanish gold. Jude Weng’s film aims for family-friendly thrills in the vein of ‘The Goonies’, with the archaeological intrigue of Indiana Jones. A bright, endearing tribute to the island state’s culture and its people, the story sees Pili teaming with her brother and their new local friends, Casper (Owen Vaccaro) and Hana (Lindsay Watson), to search for the fabled loot. Hitting lovable adventure beats, ‘Finding Ohana’ is as much about reconnecting with the past as it is about swashbuckling deeds and treasure maps.
Image Credit: Netflix
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‘Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse’ (Stream it on Amazon Prime Video): Michael B. Jordan wears the skin of a weary soldier who borrows a page out Liam Neeson’s book of revenge or even Jason Statham for that matter. Jordan plays ex-Navy Seal John Clark who is bent on revenge after losing members of his family in a gruesome death. While John is out for blood, the powerful corridors of Washington have a game unspooling that could signal a new Cold War between Russia and the US. Jordan is now the first Black actor to play a Clancy hero, which is an achievement it itself. And while the story seems a bit simplistic in its handling, there is hope for more diversity in Hollywood in future. The hand-to-hand combat is an added bonus.
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
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‘The Swordsman’ (Rent it on Amazon): We gravitate toward sword films like a blade to the flesh. ‘The Swordsman’, Choi Jae-hoon’s riveting period piece, rewarded my proclivity for the retired loner who is once again compelled to wield an exquisite slashing talent against the vicious goons disturbing a hard-fought peace. Tae-yul (Jang Hyuk), the once-royal guardsman to the King of Joseon, lives on a hill in seclusion with his daughter Tae-ok (Kim Hyun-soo). Nearly blind, his body older than his age would indicate, and burdened by a regret as tattered as his once-pristine robes, the quiet Tae-yul is dragged into the kingdom’s political turmoil when the brutal Lord Kurutai kidnaps Tae-ok into slavery. Son Won-ho’s nimble cinematography, elegantly capturing the blisteringly fast swordplay, is as entrancing as Jang’s pale-blue-eyed warrior. The film doesn’t overflow with blood. The kills arrive too cleanly for that. But the enthralling duels and immersive period detail make ‘The Swordsman’ a bladey good time.
Image Credit: Netflix
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‘Sentinelle’ (Stream it on Netflix): The title for Julien Leclercq’s French-language film stems from the force protecting France against terrorist attacks. While ‘Sentinelle’ opens in Syria, it morphs into a Paris-set rape-revenge thriller. After a wartime tragedy, Klara (Olga Kurylenko), a serious and steadfast soldier, is transferred back home. Although she suffers from PTSD, chaining her to opioids, Klara believes the less grueling assignment is a demotion. Her only solace away from the battlefield comes from her carefree sister Tania (Marilyn Lima). To unwind, the pair go clubbing. Tania departs from the hot spot with an attractive high roller. Klara leaves with her own one-night stand. Their night of revelry turns tragic, however, when paramedics discover Tania comatose after a brutal sexual assault. All signs point back to the wealthy partyer, a son of a Russian tech mogul. Bone-crunching hand-to-hand combat and sharply choreographed gunfights accompany Klara’s dogged pursuit of justice in this gritty genre-bender that’s packed with plenty of firepower.
Image Credit: Netflix
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Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Stream it on Netflix): Grab that fedora and catch up on some Indy action even as a new installment is being planned by Hollywood. The Indiana Jones franchise — about Dr Henry Walton ‘Indiana’ Jones Jr., a fictional professor of archeology — started here, with Harrison Ford in the lead, fighting a group of Nazis seeking the Ark of the Covenant. Helmed by Steven Spielberg, the story is co-written by George Lucas (‘Star Wars’) and sparked a film franchise that is drawing in revelers even today.
Image Credit: IMDB
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Extraction (Stream it on Netflix): Chris Hemsworth’s bloody Netflix action flick ‘Extraction’ was the closest thing we’ve had to a summer blockbuster last year. The fact that Randeep Hooda featured heavily in it also gave Bollywood fans something to talk about. The thriller based on a graphic novel, follows a black ops mercenary on a mission to rescue the kidnapped son of an Indian drug-lord in Bangladesh. The film received mixed reviews for its plot and excess violence, but the action sequences — and Hemsworth’s performance — were a point of praise.
Image Credit: Netflix
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