I don’t usually do ‘Best of’ lists as it’s always hard to pick a favourite and I can’t be bothered with people saying “Why isn’t this on the list?” or “why is that on the list?” but I felt like this year there were some fun action pictures, so here are my favourites of 2025.
15. K.O.
This came out of nowhere and I watched it on Netflix several months ago; I remember it had plenty of brutal fight scenes and was well paced, so it deserves a spot on this list.
14. Deathstalker
Let’s face it, the original Deathstalker movies are hardly amazing pieces of cinema; they’re lovable trash but this new iteration (it’s more a sequel than a remake) is easily the best yet with Daniel Bernhardt perfectly cast as the sword wielding anti hero. It’s packed with graphic kills but is let down by a lack of nudity. There’s always the sequel…
13. Sisu 2: Road to Revenge
This may be one of the most ludicrous action movies I’ve seen for some time, but I loved every blood soaked minute of it. It’s a shame it wasn’t a bigger hit and nobody has been talking about it but this sequel is every bit as action packed as the first.
12. Osiris
William Kaufman is one of my favourite indie action directors working today and this Aliens style actioner looks great and has enough action to keep things well paced.
11. Affinity
Brandon Slagle directs Marko Zaror in this fight filled indie action feature. With its cool music score and an awesome villain in Brahim this is lots of fun.
10. Havoc
Despite the crap looking visual effects of the opening car chase, I had a good time with Havoc as Gareth Evans (The Raid) is a master of shooting action scenes. Tom Hardy is well cast as brooding cop, Walker and the bullet riddled finale is awesome.
9. Ballerina
It’s too bad this flopped so badly at the box office as I consider Ballerina a worthy addition to the John Wick universe with some fantastic action set-pieces and that flamethrower scene is one of the best of the franchise.
8. The Old Woman with the Knife
There have been some fantastic international action pictures this year and this was really cool with some brutal fight scenes and an awesome protagonist proving that age is just a number.
7. The Accountant 2
I love these movies and the banter between Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal provides plenty of laughs as two bickering brothers. The action is superb with an epic final shoot-out.
6. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
Is it overlong and convoluted? Sure, but The Final Reckoning still has some of the most incredible action scenes you’ll ever see with Tom Cruise once again proving he’s one of the all-time great action stars.
5. Prisoner of War/Diablo
I couldn’t decide which Scott Adkins film I liked more but I loved both of these movies – Prisoner of War was packed with awesome fight scenes and is one of my favourite movies of his. Diablo is also fun with a winning villainous turn from Marko Zaror.
4. Nobody 2
This sequel is arguably even better than the first movie with amazing fights and one of my favourite final action scenes of the year. It should be law that Timo Tjahjanto directs an entry in every action franchise as he is one of the best in the business.
3. Ghost Killer
From the director of Baby Assassins (Kensuke Sonomura) Ghost Killer has a crazy concept that may not be for everyone, but the fight scenes are jaw dropping, and the final showdown is one of the year’s best.
2. The Shadow’s Edge
Jackie Chan returns in his best film since The Foreigner as The Shadow’s Edge has amazing fights and a hateful villain; it’s a movie I will happily return to when it eventually hits home video.
1. The Furious
I saw this as part of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and proves that Joe Taslim and Miao Xie are two of the best action stars in the world and director Kenji Tanigaki is also another legend of action. I can’t wait for you all to see this next year as it really is the fight flick of the decade.
I’m sure I’ll have forgotten something, but these are the movies I remember off the top of my head. What are your favourite action movies of the year?