6 Best Action Movies Released Since 2000,

Image via 20th Century Fox Published Jul 31, 2026, 7:45 AM EDT Andrea M. Ciriaco is a long-time script reader and former entertainment editor who specializes in classic movies and Hollywood history. She was a student film critic at Kent State University for three years and worked at Warner Bros Studio in Burbank and The Safran Company for several years. Based on her vast taste and range of knowledge, many consider Andrea to be a walking IMDb who knows dozens of underrated movies and is a vital assesst to any trivia night. While movies are her expertise, Andrea is also a diehard fan of iconic shows including The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Will & Grace and South Park. Some of her favorite filmmakers are Walt Disney,John Huston, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Howard Hawks. Sign in to your Collider account The term "action film" has been around since the 1910s, but the action genre we know and love today was originally established during the New Hollywood Movement by classics such as Goldfinger, Dirty Harry, and Enter the Dragon, and hit its peak of popularity in the 1980s with iconic hits including The Terminator, Die Hard, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Since then, action movies have entered a new age that has redefined the genre with intense action sequences, compelling stories, and memorable characters, proving that the genre is more than just a spectacle of explosions and fight scenes. While there have been an abundance of stellar action movies released since 2000, there are a few exceptional entries, such as John Wick, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Casino Royale, that transcend the genre with unwavering thrills and intriguing players, making them some of the greatest action movies of the 21st century. From Mission: Impossible — Fallout starring Tom Cruise as the legendary Ethan Hunt to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1, these are the six best action movies released since 2000, ranked! 6 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' (2018) Image via Paramount Pictures Tom Cruise reprises one of his famous roles as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible — Fallout, marking the sixth installment in the hit action film franchise. Set two years after the events of Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Hunt and his team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), work with a CIA agent, August Walker (Henry Cavill), to track down a dangerous arms dealer and a group of terrorists who have three plutonium cores, but when the weapons go missing, the mission intensifies into a desperate race against time to stop a potential nuclear attack. Mission: Impossible — Fallout features some of the most ambitious practical stunts ever filmed, including Cruise's HALO jump, helicopter chase, and brutal hand-to-hand combat scenes, which were all performed with little to no CGI. Its expertly choreographed action, memorable villains, and stunning cinematography not only set a new standard for modern action films, but it also showcases how to maintain the nostalgia of a popular franchise while still forging a fresh and original path. By blending thrilling spectacle with genuine suspense and emotional depth, Mission: Impossible – Fallout has become a benchmark against which many contemporary action movies are measured. 5 'Man on Fire' (2004) Image via Paramount Pictures Denzel Washington stars in Ridley Scott's 2004 action thriller, Man on Fire, as a former CIA operative turned personal bodyguard, John Creasy, who is employed by a wealthy businessman in Mexico City, Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony), to protect his nine-year-old daughter, Lupita "Pita" Ramos (Dakota Fanning). When Pita is kidnapped by a notorious gunman, Creasy goes on the warpath to find her before it's too late, leaving a path of bloodshed, vengeance, and destruction behind him every step of the way. Unlike many action films, Man on Fire gives equal weight to character development and explosive action, which makes Creasy's journey both compelling and emotionally impactful, setting it apart from other modern action thrillers. Washington delivers a powerhouse performance, conveying the genuine danger of a man who has nothing else to lose with a blend of unpredictable menace and surprising vulnerability. Between Washington's unforgettable performance, Scott's sharp direction, and its timeless tale of revenge, Man on Fire continues to endure decades after its original release and is, hands down, one of the best action movies of the 21st century. 4 'John Wick' (2014) Image via Lionsgate John Wick is a top-tier action thriller that ultimately reinvented the modern action movie with its innovative fight choreography, stylish world-building, and relentless pacing, and has since grown into one of the most popular action film franchises to date. Keanu Reeves stars as the titular character, a retired assassin and grieving widow, who, after his dog is killed by a sadistic mobster (Alfie Allen) and his crew, comes out of retirement to track down those who are responsible, ultimately serving up his own form of street justice and merciless revenge. What begins as a simple revenge story evolves into a thrilling showcase of expertly choreographed gunplay, martial arts, and tactical combat, often referred to as "gun-fu," essentially cementing John Wick as one of the best action movies in recent years. Director Chad Stahelski's emphasis on practical stunts, long takes, and realistic action sequences gives the film a distinctive style and undeniable edge that has influenced countless action movies since its release. Combined with Reeves' committed and emotionally fueled performance, a richly imagined underworld of assassins, and jaw-dropping action scenes, John Wick set a new standard for the genre and launched one of the most successful action franchises of the 21st century. 3 'Casino Royale' (2006) Casino Royale is the second adaptation of Ian Fleming's spy novel of the same name and revitalized the legendary James Bond franchise with a grittier, more realistic approach, essentially appealing to both original fans of 007 and newcomers to Fleming's iconic MIF agent. Daniel Craig makes his grand debut as Bond, who, after earning his license to kill, is tasked with taking down a private banker and terrorist financier, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), by playing him in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. The movie explores Bond's early career while blending high-stakes espionage with intense action and emotional depth, making Casino Royale a modern standout in the action genre. Despite being a remake, Casino Royale leaves its own distinct mark on the franchise with a career-defining performance by Craig and memorable action-packed sequences, notably the opening black-and-white chase and the tense finale in Venice, which is a masterclass in practical stunt work and expertly choreographed action. By combining thrilling action, sophisticated storytelling, and a standout performance from Craig, Casino Royale successfully reinvented one of cinema's most iconic heroes and set a new benchmark for modern spy and action films. Collider Exclusive · James Bond Personality Quiz Which James Bond Actor Are You Most Like? Connery · Moore · Dalton · Brosnan · Lazenby · Craig Six actors. Six completely different visions of the same man — dangerous, charming, complicated, and almost certainly wearing a very good suit. Only one of them shares your particular way of moving through the world. Eight questions will figure out which Bond you really are. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Connery 😄Moore 🎭Dalton ✨Brosnan 🤵Lazenby 💠Craig FIND YOUR BOND → 01 How do you carry yourself when you walk into a room? Bond is always the most interesting person in the room. The question is how he makes you feel it. AWith absolute authority — I don't announce myself. I simply make everyone aware that I've arrived. BWith a raised eyebrow and a ready quip — I'd rather disarm a room than dominate it. CWith focused intensity — I'm taking everything in, and people can tell. DWith polish and ease — I look like I belong everywhere, because I've decided I do. EWith quiet confidence — I'm still figuring out my place, but I carry myself as if I already know it. FWith guarded stillness — I notice everything and give nothing away until I choose to. NEXT QUESTION → 02 How do you handle a dangerous situation? Every Bond faces it differently. What does your version look like? AWith dangerous calm — I've been here before, and the threat already knows it's made a mistake. BWith improvisation and a degree of theatrical flair — tension should never be wasted. CHead-on and without hesitation — I don't need gadgets. I have training, and I use it. DWith the right tool for the job — I came prepared, and preparation is its own form of confidence. EInstinctively — I react faster than I think, and it usually works out. FWith controlled brutality — I don't enjoy it, but I don't flinch from what the moment requires. NEXT QUESTION → 03 How do you charm someone you need on your side? Bond always gets what he needs. The method varies considerably. AI make them feel like the most interesting person in the room — for exactly as long as I need them to be. BI make them laugh — a shared laugh is the fastest way to make someone trust you. CI'm direct and honest — I tell them what I need and why. Manipulation wastes time. DWith surface perfection — the right words, the right smile, deployed with enough precision to look effortless. EBy being present and genuine — I'm still developing my technique, but sincerity covers a lot of ground. FReluctantly and sparingly — I'd rather earn trust through actions than manufacture it through charm. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you handle your emotions on the job? Every Bond deals with this differently. Most of them not particularly well. AI suppress them completely — detachment is a professional requirement, not a personal failing. BI deflect with humour — a well-timed joke is the best defence against genuine feeling. CI let them show — I'm not ashamed of feeling things, and I think pretending not to is its own kind of weakness. DI compartmentalise with precision — everything in its place, nothing bleeding into the mission. EWith difficulty — I haven't quite worked out the system yet, and sometimes it shows. FBy burying them — deeply, imperfectly, in ways that eventually cost me something important. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How would your colleagues describe your working style? MI6 has opinions about all of its 00s. What are theirs about you? AEffective and uncompromising — results-focused to the point where the methods occasionally become a concern. BReliably brilliant in the field, occasionally exasperating in the briefing room. CPrincipled to a fault — they'd rather do it right than do it fast, and they'll tell you so. DPolished, capable, and slightly too good at making it look easy. ERaw potential — still developing, but there's something there that's hard to teach. FA weapon. Pointed at problems, usually effective, occasionally unpredictable. NEXT QUESTION → 06 How do you feel about operating within the rules? The licence to kill comes with terms and conditions. Not everyone reads them. ARules are for people who haven't earned the judgement to know when to break them. BI follow them in spirit and bend them in practice — the important thing is the outcome. CI take them seriously — there are things I won't do regardless of what the mission requires. DI work within them effectively and creatively — the system has its uses if you know how to navigate it. EI'm still working out where my lines are — the job has a way of moving them on you. FI follow orders until I decide the order is wrong. Then I act on my own judgement and accept the consequences. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What is your relationship with love? Every Bond has a different answer. None of them have found it easy. AA liability I've learned to manage — I don't let it interfere with the work, and I try not to examine why. BA pleasure I take seriously in the moment, lightly in the long term, and honestly in between. CSomething I want genuinely — and struggle to reconcile with the life I've chosen. DPart of the performance — I'm charming, and I enjoy it, but I keep the door to anything deeper firmly closed. ESomething that surprised me — I found it when I wasn't looking and it changed everything, briefly. FA wound I carry — something happened, and I haven't fully processed what it means for everything since. NEXT QUESTION → 08 When the mission is over, how do you want to be remembered? The name is Bond. The rest is entirely up to the man behind it. AAs the original — the one who defined what this could be before anyone else knew what it was. BAs someone who made it enjoyable — who understood that entertainment is its own kind of excellence. CAs someone who took it seriously — who refused to coast and pushed harder than the role required. DAs the complete package — who had the looks, the timing, and the ability to make it all seem inevitable. EAs an underrated chapter — one that deserved more time and more credit than it received. FAs the one who made it human — who found the cost beneath the cool and didn't look away from it. REVEAL MY BOND → The Name Has Been Determined Your Bond Is…Six actors. One role. Your answers point to the Bond who shares your presence, your method, and your particular way of carrying the weight of being the most dangerous person in the room. Sean ConneryYou are the original — and you carry that fact without needing to announce it. There is an authority in the way you occupy a room that others spend careers trying to replicate. You don't explain yourself, justify yourself, or soften yourself for anyone's comfort. The confidence is structural, not performed. Connery's Bond established everything — the tone, the danger, the cool — because Connery himself had the innate presence to make something that had never existed feel inevitable. You share that quality: the sense that you were always going to end up exactly here, doing exactly this. The name is Bond. In your case, it always was. Roger MooreYou understand something that more serious people miss: that wit is its own form of intelligence, and that making people laugh is not a retreat from danger but a way of mastering it. Moore's Bond is underrated precisely because the effortlessness looks easy — and effortlessness is the hardest thing to manufacture. You have the same quality: a lightness that disarms people before they realise how sharp you actually are. The raised eyebrow, the perfectly timed quip, the refusal to be rattled — these are not affectations. They are a philosophy about how to move through a world that would like to take itself too seriously. You have never let it. Timothy DaltonYou took the role seriously when everyone wanted you to coast — and that refusal to take the easy version of anything is the most defining thing about you. Dalton's Bond has genuine moral weight: he feels the cost of what he does, he has lines he won't cross, and he is not interested in the version of himself that pretends otherwise. You share that intensity. You push harder than the situation technically requires, because you have a standard and you hold yourself to it. He was ahead of his time — the Bond the franchise wasn't quite ready for yet, arriving exactly when he was meant to. You know what that feels like. Pierce BrosnanYou are the complete package — and you know it, which is part of what makes you so effective and occasionally so infuriating to the people around you. Brosnan arrived at the role looking exactly like Bond was supposed to look, and he delivered on that expectation with a professionalism that made it seem effortless. You have the same quality: a smooth competence, a charm that operates like a precision instrument, and the ability to make even difficult things look like they weren't. His era was the most commercially successful in the franchise's history. There is a reason for that. The reason is that some people simply fit their moment perfectly. You are one of those people. George LazenbyYou stepped into something enormous with less preparation than anyone around you thought was sufficient — and you delivered something genuine anyway, which is the more impressive achievement. Lazenby's single outing is, by many measures, one of the finest Bond films ever made — and he is not a small part of why. You share his quality of raw authenticity: less polished than the alternatives, more honest for it, capable of something real that technique alone can't produce. He was underestimated, and then he wasn't, and then history caught up with him. You are the kind of person history catches up with. Give it time. Daniel CraigYou stripped everything back and found what was underneath — and what was underneath was harder, more honest, and more human than anyone expected. Craig's Bond is the franchise's most psychologically complete: a man doing a brutal job, carrying its costs imperfectly, capable of love and loss in ways that can't be dismissed. You share that depth. You don't hide behind the role or the charm or the suit — you let the work show what it actually costs. He was controversial from the moment he was announced and definitive by the time he was finished. The sceptics became the believers. That arc — of being underestimated and then undeniable — is one you know intimately. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 2 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007) Image via Universal Pictures The Bourne Ultimatum is loosely based on the third novel in the Bourne Trilogy series written by Robert Ludlum and masterfully combines fast-paced action with intelligent storytelling and emotional depth. The movie picks up after the events of The Bourne Supremacy and follows Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a CIA assassin with dissociative amnesia, as he continues to search for information about his past before joining the top-secret black ops program, Treadstone, while evading the relentless pursuit of the CIA and a similar program known as Blackbriar. The film's intense foot chases, intense hand-to-hand combat, and realistic car pursuits are filmed with a kinetic style that creates a constant sense of urgency without sacrificing clarity, ultimately solidifying the film's place among the best of the best modern action thrillers. Damon's understated performance adds depth to Bourne's struggle for identity, which makes the action feel more personal and meaningful. The Bourne Ultimatum was a major success and went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. With its gripping plot, relentless pacing, and groundbreaking approach to realistic espionage action, The Bourne Ultimatum raised the standard for modern spy thrillers and influenced countless action films that followed. 1 'Kill Bill: Volume 1' (2003) Image via Miramax Quentin Tarantino's iconic action thriller Kill Bill: Volume 1 combines breathtaking action and unwavering suspense with the director's distinctive style of storytelling and distinct visual spectacle, and is regarded by many as one of the greatest modern action movies to ever grace the silver screen. The movie stars Uma Thurman as a former mercenary known as the Bride, who becomes hellbent on tracking down and exacting her revenge on a group of assassins and their leader, Bill (David Carradine), after they tried to kill her and her unborn baby. Kill Bill: Volume 1 features some of the most iconic action sequences of the 21st century, including the unforgettable showdown with the Crazy 88 and the climactic duel against O-Ren Ishii. Drawing inspiration from martial arts films, spaghetti westerns, and anime, Tarantino creates a visually striking and uniquely stylized experience that only a filmmaker of his caliber could achieve with such precision and passion. With its expertly choreographed sword fights, memorable characters, dynamic soundtrack, and bold cinematography, Kill Bill: Volume 1 redefined the revenge action genre and remains one of the most influential and celebrated action films of the modern era.