10 Over-the-top 2000s Action Movies That Are So Much Fun

While gritty, realistic action has its place, there’s nothing like an absurd action thriller that goes beyond the bounds of reason. The 2000s brought a lot of silly action movies that combined humor with heart. Action has the ability to leave anyone amazed and happy when done well. People can get swept up in the sheer fun of action movies in a way that doesn’t necessarily happen with all other genres.

Some of the most fun action films of the 2000s kept things light, poking fun at the genre’s absurd excesses. This trend has produced a number of action comedies that remain hilarious and exciting years later. Even if the films didn’t overtly point to the genre’s history, they often parodied the action tropes and pushed to see where the limits lay.

10

Crank (2006)

Crank is a relentless thrill ride

Jason Statham was busy in the 2000s, starring in a few action films every year. Crank is one of the best of the bunch, even though it has a proudly ridiculous premise. Crank stars Statham as an assassin who must keep his adrenaline high to avoid the effects of a poison coursing through his veins. Of course, Statham does everything he can to make sure the audience stays tuned in, too.

Crank is extremely fun for action fans who aren’t looking for anything too serious. Those who come looking for believable real-world characters and situations will likely be disappointed, but Statham’s tough-guy charm is enough to win anyone over. He’s made some subpar action films in which he’s little more than a stoic wall of muscle. Crank perfects Statham’s formuladisplaying his impressive skills alongside some eye-catching set pieces.

9

Shoot Them (2007)

Shoot ‘Em Up is proudly and happily absurd

Shoot them He often goes too far with his absurd action, and then goes even further than that just to prove a point. As the title suggests, Shoot them revels in the stylized violence of big-gun action thrillers. The other obvious allusion in the title refers to video games, and may be more appropriate. Shoot them It certainly feels like a video game movie at timeswith a charismatic hero who is seemingly incapable of dying and a relentless army of henchmen for him to fight his way through.

Only in the insular logic of films like Shoot them a carrot can be as deadly as a hail of bullets. The film states its intent from the start, as the hero delivers a baby during a shootout, only to sever the umbilical cord with a perfectly placed shot. This is just a taste of the full-throttle violence to come. Shoot them knows no other way than to speed things up into a frantic carnival of cinematic action.

8

Team America: World Police (2004)

The team behind South Park uses puppets to parody big, dumb action movies

20 years later Team America: World Police The action-packed satirical puppet show developed a controversial reputation. On the one hand, it happily pushes the boundaries of good taste and some of its jokes have aged poorly. However, the broad momentum Team AmericaHollywood satire pokes fun at Hollywood’s jingoistic depictions of war. Team America It’s not laughing so much at Middle Eastern stereotypes as it is at the idea that Hollywood perpetuates these ridiculously shallow caricatures.

In addition to attacking American exceptionalism, Team America also satirizes the tired clichés of big-budget action filmswhere explosions are seen as adequate substitutes for character development and clever storytelling. The use of puppets creates a dissonance between the epic nature of the on-screen conflict and the pathetic limitations of having characters dangle from ropes. Team America is as explosive as any action film, but the violence is designed to be mocked.

7

Shaolin Football (2001)

Stephen Chow’s Sports Film Is a Ballet Exhibition of Wire-Fu

While there have been some great football films, there aren’t as many as there are for other sports such as boxing and football. Part of the reason is that Hollywood’s version of football rarely looks like the real thing. Shaolin Football It’s an absurd approach that mixes the sport with the tradition of Hong Kong martial arts films. Players fly through the air on wires and kick the ball as if they were kicking an opponent in a duel, but it’s as poor a representation of football as most other big-budget films can present.

Shaolin Football uses its quirky premise to expose the absurd customs of all sports films. As Burnt or Blades of Glory, this shows that the sport itself is largely immaterial, because all sports films follow the same stories and characters anyway. What it does Shaolin Football unique are the creative action scenes. Instead of letting the concept do most of the work, Stephen Chow constantly finds new, humorous ways to mix football and martial arts.

6

Zombieland (2009)

Ruben Fleischer’s Zom-Com is equal parts horror and action

Zombieland offers a good dose of horror like any self-respecting zombie film, but is equally focused on action. The “Zombie Kill of the Week” segment highlights its theatrical approach to bloody violence. In the dark post-apocalyptic world of Zombieland, style is as important as survival. While some zombie movies can turn into brutal action attacks, Zombieland makes every death a joke.

ZombielandThe cast’s fun style of action is complemented perfectly by the cast’s light-hearted comedic chemistry. Each of the four main characters represents a certain classic horror movie archetype, but they also have enough individual personality to stand out. They provide the human touch that is so often missing from zombie films, which sets the stage perfectly for some over-the-top action scenes. The Pacific Playland sequel is worth watching again.

5

Black Dynamite (2009)

Michael Jai White Brings Some Incredible Fighting Skills to Hilarious B-Movie Parody

Black Dynamite parody of the 1970s blaxploitation era, with staples of the genre including a renegade crime fighter, a dark conspiracy, and plenty of shallow female characters to curry favor with the hero. The comedy falls in line with the fast-paced style of some other comedies of the era, such as the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films or even Monty Python, although the genre parody elements are even more pronounced.

Black Dynamite perfects the art of the bad movie. His attention to detail is meticulous, but he only pays close attention so he can make as many mistakes as possible. Black Dynamite is packed with minute details that reward endless replays. There’s No Joke About Michael Jai White’s Martial Arts Skillhowever. He gives the action scenes a professional sheen in a film where nothing is meant to be more than decrepit and fake.

4

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Edgar Wright’s bucolic action comedy delivers laughs and thrills

Each film in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy parodies a different film genre. Shaun of the Dead makes horror films, The end of the world science fiction skewers about alien invasion and Hot fuzz satirizes the excess of the action genre. Wright contrasts the genre’s tropes—from the no-nonsense hero cops to the outrageous shootouts—with the pleasant calm of the English countryside. This dissonance further highlights that most action films are as fantasy-oriented as horror or science fiction.

While Wright takes some lighthearted jabs at the ultra-masculine fantasy of films like Bad Boyshe also shows a deep love for the genre. When the mystery surrounding the city’s murders is solved Hot fuzz does not skimp on emotions in his final confrontation. The town of Sandford provides an unlikely setting for a militarized attack, but the quality and creativity of Wright’s action scenes are gloriously entertaining.

3

Charlie’s Angels (2000)

McG’s spy thriller is all about style

Charlie’s Angels is based on a 1970s TV series of the same name, but its punchy, breezy style is entirely representative of the early 2000s. Charlie’s Angels which sounds like a music video, so it’s no surprise that the soundtrack went double platinum. This highlights how Charlie’s Angels does everything he can to entertain his audiencewith humor, action, music and sexual appeal.

Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu play the three super spies, each with their own personalities and strengths. CharlieAngels takes a rather crude approach to its characterization, but allowing the main characters to fall into easily identifiable stereotypes further highlights the film’s sense of playfulness. Charlie’s Angels it was not meant to be dissected and examined closely. It’s an unabashedly simple good time.

2

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

Tarantino’s action masterpiece is as fun as ever

Quentin Tarantino tells Kill Bill like a film divided into two volumes, and both are gloriously fun. Kill Bill is inspired by martial arts films, but mixes these influences with Western techniques. In this way, Tarantino puts his own spin on the genrelike this pulp Fiction deconstructs the crime genre and Inglourious Basterds reexamines the militaristic fantasy of war films.

It is impossible to choose between the two volumes of Kill Bill, since they were filmed simultaneously and constitute two halves of the same experience. However, the Bride’s fight with Crazy 88 and O-Ren Ishii is probably the highlight of the exciting action. Tarantino’s take on the martial arts genre pays homage to the classics while creating something new and vital. Its bloody, stylized action is a joy to watch.

1

Shanghai Noon (2000)

Jackie Chan brings his eastern style to a western setting

Jackie Chan’s American films have always had an element of culture shock comedy. Shanghai noon takes things even further than Rush hourwith Chan being cast in a western. This is a genre that would always have remained out of reach if Chan had remained in Hong Kong, but it’s an American staple. This mix of influences is facilitated by Owen Wilson, who partners with Chan in a sort of mismatched friendship dynamic.

Shanghai noon allows both actors to use their strengths. Jackie Chan’s physical humor showcases his remarkable martial arts skills, but he’s always happy to be on the receiving end of a nasty jab or a hilarious joke. Owen Wilson’s comedy is more about human observation and awkward social interactions. Most importantly, Chan and Wilson balance each other out perfectlyand the unlikely friendship between their characters makes them two heroes worth rooting for.