Countless fun Action
movies have been released over the years, each with its own compelling plot — but some of the best action movies feature protagonists who have bitten off more than they can chew. These character leads are often thrown into action-heavy scenarios through no fault of their own and have little to no combative background. Some of the best action movies of the 2000s feature such characters, learning on the fly about the best way to deal with each dangerous situation.
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These kinds of unprepared protagonists serve to keep the action genre exciting, offering a different insight into the circumstances depicted through a more relatable character. This allows the viewers to put themselves in their shoes, further connecting them to the film. With any luck, some of 2025’s upcoming action movies will follow similar steps to keep things fresh.
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Jack Burton
You are watching: 10 Action Movie Heroes Who Were In Far Over Their Heads
Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
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Big Trouble in Little China
PG-13
ActionAdventureComedyFantasy
Release Date
May 30, 1986
Runtime
99 minutes
See more : 8 Ways Mufasa Changes The Lion King & How You’ll See Mufasa & Scar’s Story
Director
John Carpenter
Writers
Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein, W.D. Richter
Cast
-
Kurt Russell
-
Kim Cattrall
-
Dennis Dun
-
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Beginning the film as a truck driver, Jack Burton’s life quickly spirals out of control when he goes to pick up his friend’s wife from the airport. Jack finds himself in the middle of an attempted kidnapping by a street gang called the Lords of Death, only for the kidnappers to accidentally take his friend’s wife instead of their intended target. It is from this point on that he makes it his mission to save her, feeling responsible for her involvement in the first place.
Despite Jack’s inexperience in dealing with street gangs, the fighting in the film is visceral from the very beginning. There is a steep learning curve and Jack certainly feels like he is on the back foot, but this only adds to the tension of the film. This, paired with Kurt Russell’s excellent acting in the role of Jack, comes together to make Big Trouble in Little China greater than its historical box office flop would lead viewers to believe.
9
Helen Tasker
True Lies (1994)
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True Lies
R
ComedyThrillerAction
Release Date
July 15, 1994
Runtime
141 minutes
See more : 8 Ways Mufasa Changes The Lion King & How You’ll See Mufasa & Scar’s Story
Director
James Cameron
Writers
James Cameron
Cast
-
Tom Arnold
-
Eliza Dushku
-
Bill Paxton
-
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True Lies, for the most part, tells the story of Harry Tasker and the double life he leads as a secret agent. He pretends to be an everyday husband with a boring office job when discussing his day-to-day life with his wife, Helen, keeping his dangerous business taking down terrorists and saving the world a secret from her. However, when Helen begins to mistake this sneaking around for cheating, she is quickly pulled into his life as a government agent.
Though Harry is perfectly prepared for the situations that arise for a secret agent, Helen is just a normal woman. She has never been trained to hold a gun or trick terrorists. Despite this, once she comes to confront her husband about his double life, she is involved in all manner of situations that many would consider frightening, including but not limited to gunfights and jumping from exploding bridges.
8
John McClane
Die Hard (1988)
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Die Hard
R
ActionThriller
Release Date
July 15, 1988
Runtime
132 minutes
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Director
John McTiernan
Writers
Roderick Thorp, Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza
Cast
-
Bruce Willis
-
Bonnie Bedelia
-
Reginald VelJohnson
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Considered by many to be one of the greatest (not) Christmas movies of all time, Die Hard follows Bruce Willis’ everyday police officer John McClane as he stumbles upon a terrorist plot while attempting to reconcile with his estranged wife. When the terrorists take everyone hostage, he manages to get free, swiftly taking matters into his own hands. While the FBI attempts to handle things from outside, despite the fact John is only a police officer, he takes on the terrorists alone.
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The movie sees him face off against Hans Gruber, played by the iconic Alan Rickman. Because he is a police officer and not an FBI agent with the highest degree of training in combating terrorists, there is a hard-won grit to his decisions that simply wouldn’t have been present otherwise. This brings him into conflict not only with the terrorists he fights against but the FBI agents who would do things differently.
7
Nicolas Cage
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)
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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
R
ComedyCrimeAction
Release Date
April 22, 2022
Runtime
107 minutes
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Director
Tom Gormican
Writers
Kevin Etten, Tom Gormican
Cast
-
Jacob Scipio
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Pedro Pascal
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with Neil Patrick Harris
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One of the most unique comedy-action films of the past decade, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stars a hyperbolic version of Nicolas Cage as he agrees to meet with an incredibly wealthy super-fan of his acting and films named Javi. However, what he doesn’t know is that Javi is a prolific arms dealer. The FBI contacts him in an attempt to bring him down, leading actor Nic Cage, playing himself, into an action-packed adventure.
Nicolas Cage turned down the role of playing himself several times before finally being won over by a personal letter from the film’s writer-director, Tom Gormican (via THR).
The idea of not only writing a fictional movie about an actor but also having that actor play himself is an incredible idea, one that Cage brings to life with an inspired and equally excitable performance. The action is over-the-top, putting Cage into increasingly goofy situations throughout the film. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent rose to trending on Netflix, showing just how popular this trope can be when used effectively.
6
Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
PG-13
ActionAdventureComedyFantasyRomance
Release Date
August 12, 2010
Runtime
113 minutes
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Director
Edgar Wright
Writers
Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall
Franchise(s)
Scott Pilgrim
Cast
-
Michael Cera
-
Alison Pill
-
Mark Webber
-
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Originally based on the series of graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World follows the titular Scott Pilgrim as he falls in love with an Amazon delivery driver named Ramona Flowers. To date Ramona, Scott must first defeat her seven evil exes in battle. Scott fights each of them despite being a bass player in an indie garage band who has seemingly never been in a fight in his life.
The film itself is extremely colorful, informed by the style of video games and the graphic novels the story started out as. The effects are all very punchy, and the action scenes bring to life powers that seem otherworldly, but perfectly in place in the story’s setting. All in all, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an excellent love story and an exciting action film.
5
Dr. Richard Kimble
The Fugitive (1993)
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The Fugitive
PG-13
ActionThrillerDramaCrimeMystery
Release Date
August 6, 1993
Runtime
130 minutes
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Director
Andrew Davis
Writers
David Twohy, Jeb Stuart
Sequel(s)
U.S. Marshals
Cast
-
Joe Pantoliano
-
Sela Ward
-
Julianne Moore
-
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Starring Harrison Ford in one of his most exciting roles, The Fugitive begins with a surgeon who has been falsely accused of murdering his wife. After receiving the death sentence, he escapes from custody and sets out to find the real killer. He does so while evading the police, something that only makes his situation more and more dangerous as bullets begin to fly.
The Fugitive won several different awards, with one of the most notable being Tommy Lee Jones’ Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actor.
Dr. Kimble is no action star, but rather a surgeon forced into a frightening situation that feels grounded in reality. The story itself is thrilling, with bold direction that makes each moment feel heavy and intentional. It tells the story of something that could realistically happen, while at the same time dialing the action up to what feels like its natural tipping point.
4
Miles Lee Harris
Guns Akimbo (2020)
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Guns Akimbo
ActionComedyThriller
Release Date
February 27, 2020
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Director
Jason Lei Howden
Writers
Jason Lei Howden
Cast
-
Daniel Radcliffe
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Samara Weaving
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Rhys Darby
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Guns Akimbo is a wild action-comedy film centering on a computer programmer named Miles Lee Harris. He inevitably ends up getting on the bad side of a criminal organization named Skizm, an underground fight club that makes people fight to the death for entertainment. After making fun of viewers, Miles wakes up with guns bolted into his hands as he is forced to fight to the death.
Guns Akimbo is immediately ridiculous, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. The action is punchy, and it is clear that Miles does not know what he is doing, something that adds to the comedy of the film as much as it adds to the tension built by the action. This is especially apparent in the performance of Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Miles in the film.
3
Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
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The Terminator
R
ActionSci-FiThriller
Release Date
October 26, 1984
Runtime
107 Minutes
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Director
James Cameron
Writers
James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, William Wisher
Cast
-
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Michael Biehn
-
Linda Hamilton
-
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Known best for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as the titular killing machine, The Terminator is a time-jumping adventure that sees college student and waitress Sarah Connor fighting for her life against a mechanical assassin from the future. She is being hunted not for anything she has done, but for what her child will do in the future. This is because her unborn son, John, is destined to take down the tyrannical Skynet after an AI uprising.
The film is so iconic for a reason, with the interesting science fiction angle the story takes as well as the incredibly choreographed action being highlights of the film. Sarah herself is compelling because she feels especially out of her element, ripped from the comfort of her life and forced to fight against villains that anyone from her time would be out of place fighting. It is an incredible film, one that has plenty of great sequels to watch as well.
2
Ellen Ripley
Aliens (1986)
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aliens
R
ActionAdventureHorrorSci-FiThriller
Release Date
July 18, 1986
Runtime
137 minutes
See more : 8 Ways Mufasa Changes The Lion King & How You’ll See Mufasa & Scar’s Story
Director
James Cameron
Writers
James Cameron
Cast
-
Sigourney Weaver
-
Carrie Henn
-
Michael Biehn
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The first Alien film is less action and more slow, creeping horror, but its sequel, Aliens, dials up the action element in dramatic fashion. Ellen Ripley, who also starred as the main character of the first film in the series, once again sees herself facing off against the Xenomorph threat. However, because this time the film is more focused on action, it leads to a penultimate scene that sees Ellen fighting against the alien Queen in an exosuit cargo loader.
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Though at times the film is a bit of a departure from the original, Aliens is still a compelling franchise story. Ellen herself is incredible, with the film continuing her development from a warrant officer on a small ship to a genuine action heroine. This only continues throughout the series, making the legend of Ripley that much more compelling because of her resourcefulness in situations she’s not necessarily trained for.
1
Kid
Monkey Man (2024)
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Monkey Man
R
ActionThriller
Release Date
April 5, 2024
Runtime
121 Minutes
See more : 8 Ways Mufasa Changes The Lion King & How You’ll See Mufasa & Scar’s Story
Director
Dev Patel
Writers
Dev Patel, Paul Angunawela, John Collee
Cast
-
Dev Patel
-
Sharlto Copely
-
Pitobash
-
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The main character of Monkey Man goes by many names throughout the film, but more than anything, it is clear from the beginning that he is in way over his head. The son of a woman who was killed by police chief Rana Singh, Kid makes it his mission to kill Rana for her murder. He begins by working his way up into an illicit club that Rana frequents before beginning his first assault on the officer, an attempt that almost ends in Kid’s death.
His failure to kill Rana the first time he tries is only proof that he is initially in too deep. It is only when he is found at the brink of death by the leader of a hijra temple that he begins his journey to readiness, a journey that finally sees him prepared to take Rana on properly by the end. This development makes Monkey Man unique in its own way, making it an action movie worth watching.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment