The Evolution of Action Thrillers in the Modern Era
While action thrillers have always been a pervasive and wildly popular genre and approach to action filmmaking over the years, it cannot be understated just how much John Wick completely flipped the genre on its head. It’s focused on stylized choreography and top-notch stunts with compelling worldbuilding and a great lead protagonist, quickly making it one of the most provocative and highly celebrated action thrillers of the 2010s.
Many of the action thrillers that would come out in the time after John Wick would be influenced by its exceptional take on the genre, whether it be dynamic heroes taking on hordes of villains or an increased focus on pristine action choreography. While John Wick stands out to many as the defining action thriller of the modern era, it’s far from the only great action thriller to be released in the past 11 years. There has been a wide array of great action thrillers that have been released in the time since John Wick graced the silver screen.
Notable Action Thrillers Since John Wick
Revenge (2017)
Before French director Coralie Fargeat took the world by storm with her Best Picture-nominated horror smash hit, The Substance, she concocted one of the most underrated and visceral revenge thrillers of the modern era in Revenge. The film follows Jen (Matilda Lutz), who embarks on a rage-fueled vengeance against her boyfriend and his friends after they leave her for dead when their romantic getaway vacation goes awry.
The setup of the film is just simple enough to get the audience engaged and on Jen’s side, making it all the more cathartic when her journey of revenge is soaked with blood and gore at every opportunity. Her heightened battles against the despicable people who wronged her make for an array of highly entertaining action scenes, not holding back in terms of the raw carnage of the violence shown.
The film has grown over the years to be a hidden gem of the action thriller genre, with Fargeat’s filmmaking chops and directorial vision elevating the energy of the film.
Ambulance (2022)
While Michael Bay has certainly been a divisive filmmaker across his tenure of blockbuster filmmaking, his unmistakable style and approach to action thrillers are undeniably singular to his vision for action. Surprising many by being Bay’s best film in years, Ambulance utilizes an entertaining vehicle-based setup, a great dynamic between its leads, and an overwhelming abundance of satisfying drone shots. It at times feels like a return to form for Bay, not relying on preexisting IP and product placement and simply allowing him to tell a compact, high-energy action thriller.
The film follows charismatic criminal Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal) and decorated veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a duo of adoptive brothers desperate for money to cover medical bills. With seemingly no other options, the duo embarks on a highly dangerous mission, attempting to pull off the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history. However, when their plans go awry, they find themselves in a high-speed chase while commandeering an ambulance, complete with multiple hostages.
Prey (2022)
While the original Predator film is still an icon of sci-fi action in the 80s, none of the numerous sequels and spinoffs had come close to the impact and energy of the original until the bold, brazenly original Prey. The film sticks to what made the original film work so well while flipping the setup on its head, seeing the iconic alien hunter embarking on a hunt in the 1719 Great Plains. Instead of a decorated army soldier, it becomes up to skilled Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) to protect her people and take down the alien predator.
The sci-fi prequel’s approach to action and thrills feels distinctly different and more original than the vast majority of other action thrillers, as very few films are willing to give such respect to the Comanche people and this time period. Whether it be the predator laying waste to hordes of French soldiers or Naru’s ingenuity at hunting down the predator itself, the film has a lot of heightened thrills that make it one of the best films in the Predator franchise.
Carry-On (2024)
Similar to how Die Hard utilized the holiday season for its setting and heightened thrills, Carry-On utilizes the madness and chaos surrounding the airport during the holidays to create a high-tension game of cat and mouse. The film follows airport security officer Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) as he races to outsmart and put a stop to the dastardly plans of a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) as he attempts to put a dangerous item on a Christmas Eve flight.
A lot of the ingenuity and entertainment factor that comes from Carry-On is not just in its breakneck pace and pinpoint execution by director Jaume Collet-Serra, but with just how grounded the film stays as it takes its premise entirely seriously. It delves into the fear and gravitas of its situation, with Bateman giving an exceptional villain performance as he plays against type, and the entire film balances on this heightened tension.
Monkey Man (2024)
A striking display of personality and talent from actor-turned-director Dev Patel, Monkey Man cuts to the heart of political discourse and class divide as it imbues these classic themes with heightened stuntwork and top-notch action scenes. The film sees Patel as an anonymous young man who just barely ekes out a living working in an underground fight club where he loses on purpose to more popular fighters while wearing a monkey mask. Tired of the city’s upper class and elite who have wronged him, he begins to enact a plan of revenge to settle the score against those who took his life away from him.
Patel’s scorned, vengeful performance does a great deal in terms of elevating the stakes and impact of everything that happens in Monkey Man. His personal struggles are deeply felt by the audience, with the hurdles that he overcomes on his quest of vengeance being highly difficult and growing in stature as the film goes on. Its brash, in-your-face energy has made it an icon of 2020s action and a sign for even greater films in Patel’s future.
Sicario (2015)
A heightened exploration of tension and warfare surrounding the escalated war against drugs at the U.S.-Mexico border, Sicario has grown highly celebrated since its release as one of the best contemporary war thrillers out there. Denis Villeneuve’s exceptional directing style goes a long way in terms of elevating the stakes and maximizing the impact of everything that happens in the film. It’s a film whose raw filmmaking chops make each individual sequence a sight to behold, as it consistently displays signs of sheer prowess and mastery over the medium.
The story itself largely feels second fiddle to the major selling points of Sicario, as simply having a cast of exceptional talent combined with some topical and powerful messaging helped the film cement its classic status as soon as it was released. While the film would eventually receive a sequel a few years later in Sicario: Day of the Soldado, it doesn’t hold a candle to the impact and inherent strengths of this original film.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
The Mission: Impossible franchise has consistently delivered some of the most awe-inspiring and overall impressive action thrillers of the modern era of filmmaking. Nearly any number of recent films from the franchise could earn a spot on this list, yet Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning stands out as having some of the most thrilling moments and heightened energy of the franchise. It sticks to what has made the series so great for so many years, only continuing to elevate the craft and mastery of its action sequences while adding additional layers to the storytelling and formula.
Whether it be the pickpocket chase in the airport, the handcuffed yellow car drive through the streets of Rome, or riding a motorcycle off a cliff, Dead Reckoning is overflowing with notable, entertaining scenes. It constantly one-ups itself in terms of raw entertainment and scale to create one of the most cathartic and exciting blockbuster action thriller experiences imaginable. It sees Mission: Impossible action at its absolute best, which is high praise considering the rest of the franchise’s action prowess.
Baby Driver (2017)
Edgar Wright’s distinct style of satisfying, perfectly timed filmmaking has made many of his films absolute crowd-pleasing fan-favorites over the years. In terms of the action thriller genre specifically, Wright pushes his filmmaking abilities to his absolute limits to make Baby Driver a wild, high-energy musical blast from beginning to end. No other film has more effectively and brilliantly utilized its soundtrack with such precision and impact, with entire scenes centering and timing themselves around the satisfying music accompanying.
The utilization of music and timing makes each moment of the action that much more impactful and striking, going hand in hand with the music to maximize the entertainment factor. Even as the film sports a few poorly aged stars, it continues to be a fan-favorite action thriller to many audiences thanks to just how exceptional the filmmaking and style of the film are. It has an approach to stylish action that no other action film comes close to replicating and leads to an abundance of thrills and charm.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
While the first John Wick film has cemented its legacy as one of the most important and influential action thrillers of the modern era, the franchise itself has continued to up the ante and improve on the formula with each subsequent entry. The latest film in John’s story, John Wick: Chapter 4, feels like the ultimate culmination of everything that made the franchise so effective in the first place. It features masterful stunts and choreography, top-notch worldbuilding, and some of the most cathartic action sequences that a modern blockbuster could ask for.
After so many different films have attempted to live up to and replicate the style and appeal of the franchise since its release, Chapter 4 shows exactly how to make a modern action thriller feel exciting and memorable from beginning to end. It doesn’t lose a second of impact in its nearly 3-hour runtime, as it jumps around to different entertaining action scenes, each more memorable and enthralling than the last. While the future of the franchise and John’s story is up in the air, Chapter 4 feels like the absolute perfect film to cap off and finish this glorious franchise.
One Battle After Another (2025)
One Battle After Another at times surpasses and goes beyond the confines of genre in itself, yet its overwhelming qualities have made it one of the best examples of modern comedy, action thrillers, crime films, and everything else in between. Paul Thomas Anderson’s contemporary masterpiece utilizes the modern day more brilliantly and seamlessly than any action thriller before it, as both a perfect backdrop for its themes and a powerful tool for action and comedy alike.
With all the different styles and approaches the film takes during its runtime, one of the prominent consistencies is its heightened sense of thriller tension that keeps audiences on the edge of their seat the entire runtime. As more layers to its story and character are unveiled, the stakes and impact of its story and tension manage to get that much more palpable and effective. While it certainly leans more into thrills than direct action, the ending car chase over the California desert hills stands as one of the best action sequences not just since John Wick was released, but of the entire 21st century.
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