Top 10 Best Action Movies 2018
Each year, filmmakers strive to push the industry to new heights with more ambitious stories, visuals, and stunts. 2018 was no exception. This year gave us many momentous films exhibiting groundbreaking visuals and sound, many of which received critical acclaim.
Action movies, in particular, provide filmmakers with the opportunity to blow minds. From M:I6 to Black Panther, there has been no shortage of stellar blockbusters.
Here is our list of films that pushed the industry with striking visuals, writing, and technology:
10) Tomb Raider
Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 02/03/18
Director: Roar Uthaug
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu
Video game adaptations do not have a great history. Form Resident Evil to The Angry Birds Movie, there has yet to be a genre-defining video game movie. However, Roar Uthaug’s Tomb Raider is both exciting and respectful of the source material. This version of Lara Croft, played by Alicia Vikander, is loosely based off the modern Tomb Raider game trilogy, taking set pieces directly from the games itself. The film follows Lara Croft as she searches for answers regarding her Father’s disappearance, leading her to an island in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Hong Kong, Yamatai, and some unfortunate encounters in and outside of tombs. Throughout the film, Lara develops into the full-fledged badass we see in the games, wielding her iconic duel Heckler & Koch USP Match with stainless steel slides. Tomb Raider showed the industry that there is a still hope for video game adaptations, hopefully leading the way for more exciting movies in the future. Monster Hunter is already on the way.
9) Upgrade
Release Date: June 1, 2018
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden
Upgrade is a perfect example of how a strong creative vision and passionate team can create a fantastic movie with only a small budget. Set in a dystopian future, the protagonist Grey Trace, played by Logan Marshall-Green, is paralyzed from the waist down after a brutal attack that killed his wife. Seeking revenge, he takes an offer from a sketchy group that implants him with a chip that allows him to walk, and pursue vengeance. Trace and his new AI companion come to resemble a buddy cop duo as they traverse the ultra-violent landscape presented by Upgrade. One impressive characteristic of Upgrade is the dynamic camera movements that follow Traces movements during fights. To achieve this, an iPhone was tethered to a dolly-mounted-camera that followed the dynamic and well thought out choreography. Leigh Whannell relied heavily on his practical effects experience from Saw as well. He chose to incorporate lots of impressive practical body-horror elements as well. Upgrade is a surprisingly great movie and shows what creative use of new technologies can achieve.
8) Skyscraper
Picture: Universal Pictures
Release Date: July 12, 2018
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson returns for another absurd adventure, this time in the neon-lit city of Hong Kong. The film follows Johnson, as an FBI leader forced to climb up 255 floors of a burning Hong Kong Skyscraper to save his family from a group of terrorists and clear his name. This insane setting allowed for many vertigo-inducing scenes. Amongst the action, there is an impressive variety of weaponry such as:
- SIG-Sauer P226R
- Heckler & Koch HK416
- IWI X95
- Norinco QBU-88
- Norinco Type 97b
- CZ Scorpion Evo 3 A1
Skyscraper is a traditional but exciting summer blockbuster film perfect for a Saturday night movie.
7) Overlord
Picture: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: November 9, 2018
Director: Julius Avery
Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier
This genre-bending flick blends a WW2 setting with over the top action and bloody horror. Some critics have called this a video game film not based on a video game, and it’s clear why. The story is utterly insane. Yet, with the help of solid practical effects, Overlord retains a level of visceral realness lost in many similarly crazy films. A historically accurate arsenal helps suspend disbelief with weapons such as:
- M1 Thompson
- MP40
- M1 Garand
- M1911
Although lacking any meaningful character development, the writing still asks some heavy questions such as how the Allied forces could defeat the Axis forces without falling to their level? Overlord is a welcome addition to 2018, bring an obscure sub-genre to the limelight.
6) Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Picture: Universal Pictures
Release Date: June 7, 2018
Director: J. A. Bayona
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall
Although a radical departure in tone from the original Jurassic Park films, the new Jurassic World trilogy is highly entertaining and visually stunning, giving us a dose of dinosaur action and nostalgia, Fallen Kingdom follows Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard) as they return to Isla Nublar on a rescue mission. The island is on the verge of volcanic collapse, showing how even these powerful beasts are no match to mother nature. The team behind Jurassic World created details and life-like animatronics and animations, following in the footsteps of the classic films that inspired them. The use of CGI makes Isla Nublar feel alive and authentic, something many films fail to achieve.
5) Deadpool 2
Picture: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Director: David Leitch
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin
In 2016, eight years into Marvel’s domination of popular movies, we received Deadpool, a self-aware satire that commented on the state of the superhero genre. Two years later, its sequel improved on almost every dimension. Deadpool 2 follows our hedonistic anti-hero, played by Ryan Reynolds, on a quest to avenge his girlfriend, Vanessa, and save a hot-headed orphan. Along the way, we are introduced to the X-Force and a handful of other colorful characters. Such as Cable, a cyborg from the future, and Domino, a girl with a lot of luck. The wisecracking protagonist is a welcome change from traditional superhero archetypes. Many of his crude but hilarious jokes work very well especially during the novel setpieces, many of which could only work with a character such as Deadpool.
4) Ready Player One
Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: March 29, 2018
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn
Steven Spielberg’s new film explores a dystopian near-future controlled by mega-corporations, where people young and old escape reality through a virtual world named “The OASIS”. Based off Ernest Cline’s book of the same title, Spielberg explores pop-culture’s role in replacing religion as a thing to be revered. The plot follows Wade Owen Watts, played by Tye Sheridan, on a quest to find the hidden keys and win the golden Easter-Egg left by The OASIS’s creator. His adventure takes him through the highly-detailed CGI world of The OASIS, strewn with over 200 references and easter eggs for the viewer to find. Ready Player One was released to critical acclaim and widespread success. Critics praised its fast pacing and stellar visuals. The film is highly entertaining and certainly one of the best movies of 2018.
3) Black Panther
Picture: Marvel Studios
Release Date: January 29, 2018
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o
Seldom does a film have as much cultural significance as Black Panther. The movie was released to critical acclaim during a period of growing concerns over equality, race relations, and diversity in America. Along with its classic Marvel action and writing, director Ryan Coogler looked towards African tribes for visual and musical inspiration, giving the film a truly unique aesthetic. The soundtrack, composed by Swedish musician Ludwig Göransson, combined modern hip-hop beats with booming 808s with traditional polyrhythmic African talking drums and chants, reflecting the films overall theme. Kendrick Lamar was involved with the musical direction as well, composing an entire album for the movie involving numerous artists from the hip-hop world.
Although the films lead King T’Challa, portrayed by Chadwick Boseman, was compelling, it was the villain who stole the show. Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger is a foil to T’Challa’s conflict between diplomacy and warrior rule, presenting a powerful and often convincing argument. Black Panther issued in a new wave of diversity in the traditionally regressive film industry, pathing the way for young aspiring actors from all backgrounds.
2) Avengers: Infinity War
Picture: Marvel Studios
Release Date: April 23, 2018
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and the rest of the Avengers
Since Iron Man (2008), the Marvel cinematic universe has expanded to 20 films and includes over 30 iconic heroes. Avengers: Infinity War is, as a result, an impressive feat of writing. Tying the narratives of 18 movies is a seemingly impossible task, however, the experienced Russo Brothers took the challenge head-on. They successfully created a compelling story, revolving around the iconic villain Thanos (Josh Brolin), even incorporating compelling and funny character moments. The Infinity War team not only pushed film writing but CGI technology as well. Although the lead villain, Thanos, was entirely CG, he was emotional in his expressions and convincing as a result. Additionally, the hidden city of Wakanda was incredibly realistic and the Wakanda war scene showed off the team’s prowess in creating large-scale, detailed set pieces.
- Mission Impossible: Fallout
Picture: Paramount Picture, Polygon
Release Date: July 12, 2018
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg
The sixth installment in the genre-defining Mission Impossible franchise once again succeeded in shattering expectations, blowing us away with more unbelievable stunts and shocking visuals. Mission Impossible is known for pushing the boundaries of action movie set pieces, consistently bringing new, breathtaking ideas to the table. The M:I team took seemingly impossible ideas and made them a reality by creating new, novel technologies. For example, when our charismatic protagonist Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) did a HALO (High-Altitude Low-Opening) jump from 25,000 feet (7600 meters), a specially designed oxygen mask had to be designed, allowing his face to be seen. The camera that filmed the stunt was strapped to the head of fellow jumper Craig O’Brien. Later, novel camera mounting systems would have to be designed to film Hunt in his wild helicopter flights through the mountains of New Zealand. A total of 12 helicopters would be used to film the set pieces, creating a total of 70 hours of film to edit down to a mere 20 minutes. M:I6 is a groundbreaking example of what action movies can be when the team is passionate and dedicated to innovating. It’s sure to take you on an exciting ride.
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