From Paul and Feyd's climactic fight in Dune: Part Two to the climactic sword fight of Lucius and Macrinus in Gladiator IIThe 2024 movies brought a bunch of great fight scenes. A good fight scene can really reinvigorate an audience. It's a chance for stunt choreographers to get creative and can be an enjoyable moment for the audience when a noble hero violently triumphs over a despicable villain.
2024 featured gruesome, blood-soaked fight scenes like the nightclub sequence in Monkey Manand hilarious slapstick scenes, like the cartoon bar fight in Hundreds of beavers. There were even great fight scenes in non-action films, like the body horror work The substance. From the final confrontation in Boy kills the world to the multiversal chaos of Deadpool and WolverineThe movies of 2024 are full of well-staged fight scenes.
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Boy and Mina vs. The Shaman
Boy kills the world
Boy kills the world has some of the most violent violence of the year on screen. When Boy confronts a bunch of goons in the kitchen, he uses a cheese grater to scrape off their skin. While Glen is being interrogated, a weight falls on his head that instantly crushes his skull into a bloody mess. This film has total shock value, but saves its most shocking violence until the final fight.
After discovering that June 27th is really his sister, Mina, and that his mentor, the Shaman, deceived him, Boy goes after the true target of his revenge. Boy and Mina fight the Shaman in the underground parking lot of the Van Der Koys' compound. With all the bone breaking and blood spatter, this is one of the biggest – and hardest to watch – fight scenes of 2024.
4
Lúcio vs. Macrino
Gladiator II
For most Gladiator IIMacrinus acts as comic relief and mentor to Lucius. But at the end of the second act, Macrinus reveals his true intentions: to assassinate the emperors, take control of Rome and rule with an iron fist. Inspired by his grandfather's dream of utopia, Lucius cannot allow this, so he leaves the arena, chases Macrinus on horseback and challenges him to a fight to the death before the armies of Rome.
Lucius' climactic confrontation with Macrinus is every bit as satisfying as Maximus' climactic confrontation with Commodus in the first film, but it's far more horrifying. The fight takes them to a river, where Rome is symbolically reborn. Just as Macrinus is gaining the upper hand, Lucius cuts off his arm in the film's most shockingly bloody moment.
3
Elizabeth vs. Process
The substance
By the nature of its premise, Coralie Fargeat's body horror epic The substance keeps its protagonist Elisabeth and its antagonist Sue separated for most of the film; when one is awake, the other is in a coma. They resent each other as Sue sucks all the youth out of Elisabeth and Elisabeth drags Sue out of the spotlight. When Elisabeth tries to fire Sue and has last-minute doubts, they come face to face for the first time – and immediately start beating each other up.
When this fight scene starts, The substance suddenly turns into a Bruce Lee kung fu movie. Elisabeth is thrown around the apartment and smashed against tables and mirrors as a super-powered Sue exacts her revenge. Fargeat was clearly inspired by the “fu wire” of the wuxia films, and gave the stunt team many opportunities to be creative.
2
Paul Atreides vs. Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Dune: Part Two
The second volume of Denis Villeneuve's science fiction epic, Dune: Part Twoculminates in a duel. Whether the Emperor's reign continues, whether the Great Houses invade Arrakis, and whether Paul's visions of an apocalyptic holy war come to fruition, it all comes down to a knife fight between Paul and the Emperor's champion, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Villeneuve set the stage perfectly, presenting what's at stake in the duel and how ruthless Feyd is in a fight.
The choreography is suitably brutal; throughout the duel, each character is seconds away from death. During the fight, Villeneuve manages to make the audience forget that Paul has plot armor. For those who haven't read the book or seen David Lynch's version, the outcome of the duel is completely unpredictable.
1
Deadpool and Wolverine vs. The Deadpool Troop
Deadpool and Wolverine
From the initial confrontation in front of a broken 20th Century Fox logo to the brutal brawl in the back of a Honda Odyssey, the title characters of Deadpool and Wolverine There are some really memorable fights. But arguably the biggest fight scene in the film is when they finally come together. On their way to stop Cassandra Nova from using the Time Ripper, Deadpool and Wolverine must fight their way through the Deadpool Corps.
Shawn Levy films the sequence with an immersive tracking shot moving slowly down the street. It's meticulously choreographed – sometimes Deadpool and Wolverine are in front of the camera and sometimes they're behind – with lots of fun variations on Deadpool getting his comeuppance. “Like a Prayer” by Madonna is the icing on the cake that makes this the most unforgettable fight scene of 2024.