Whether these films set a trend or still look better than movies released in 2022, they're landmarks in the genre for many different reasons.
The past decade has seen action in movies advance at an exponential rate. But even though it's been over a decade since 2011, that year had a huge amount of game-changing action movies that still hold up today. An argument could easily be made that it was the best year for action movies ever, or at the very least, of the 21st century.
From CGI apes destroying the Golden Gate Bridge to Tom Cruise scaling the largest building in the world, 2011 is full of treasured action movies. And whether these films set a trend or still look better than movies released in 2022, they're landmarks in the genre for many different reasons.
While the series is a huge billion-dollar-grossing franchise right now and audiences will show up in droves to see Tom Cruise's next wild batch of death-defying stunts, the franchise was on a downwards trajectory up until Ghost Protocol. While Mission: Impossible 2 was financially successful, it was critically scathed, and while Mission: Impossible III was positively received, it had an underwhelming box office performance.
But Ghost Protocol was the movie that turned Mission: Impossible into the franchise it's known as today. Though the previous movies mostly featured Cruise running and they heavily used CGI, Ghost Protocol is full of thrilling stunts and had some of the best uses of practical effects. Whether it was climbing the world's tallest skyscraper or fighting through sandstorms, the fourth M:I movie is one of the most entertaining blockbuster releases ever.
Just like with the Mission: Impossible series, the X-Men series had seen way better days than where it stood in the late 2000s. 20th Century Fox released two duds in a row, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so the franchise needed a huge comeback. And that's exactly what happened with First Class, which was a refreshing take on the mutants.
First Class completely rebuilt the series from the ground up. And though the movie lousily answers a question nobody was asking, which was how Professor X and Magneto got their names, the film is a largely loving and gripping superhero flick. It also does what few superhero movies have pulled off successfully, which is depicting the fallout of two all-powerful beings and what that could mean for the world.
Though John Wick popularized gun-fu and influenced the whole of Hollywood with it, it was the 2011 Indonesian thriller that did it first. The Raid is action-packed, as it sees a cop who is well versed in martial arts work his way through a gang-controlled high-rise building.
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The movie is brutal and full of bloodshed, but most of all, the stunt work is so fluid and jaw-dropping that it even puts the John Wick movies to shame. A just as exciting sequel was released in 2014, which expanded the world tenfold, and fans are dying to see a third movie too. Unfortunately, that looks unlikely, but a Hollywood remake is being developed by Michael Bay.
Though some might shrug off the Fast & Furious franchise for being nothing more than a street-racing popcorn flick, Fast Five marked a huge transition in the series. While the movies were known for appealing to adrenaline junkies and boy racers, the 2011 movie elevated the series into a high-octane action franchise full of huge set pieces, and it's low-key one of the best heist movies ever.
After Fast Five, each consecutive release has tried to outdo the last in terms of set pieces and action sequences, getting more and more unrealistic. But none of them have struck a more perfect balance of being fairly grounded, having a compelling and cohesive narrative, and being endlessly entertaining than the fifth movie.
Studios are often criticized for turning a beloved non-action series into an adrenaline-fuelled action flick. The most obvious examples are the recent Star Trek movies. While they're liked by general audiences, they're rejected by the series' most hardcore fans for being so action-oriented. 2009's Sherlock Holmes could have suffered the same problem, as the series has never been led by its action.
However, the Guy Ritchie-directed movie was full of it, and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows doubled down on it. But the movie deserves credit for pulling it off so well, as it was able to turn the iconic character into something of an action hero. And Ritchie turned the detective's most famous story, "The Final Problem," into a meticulously planned action-adventure while still maintaining its mystery and engaging clue-solving hijinks.
Leave it to Steven Spielberg to direct the most effective motion capture movie with one of the best uses of 3D ever. The Adventures of Tintin is such a slept-on movie, and it features some of Spielberg's all-time greatest action sequences, including some swashbuckling pirate scenes that put The Pirates of the Caribbean to shame.
The Adventures of Tintin is the first Hollywood adaptation of the beloved comic book series, and it could have been the start of an incredible adventure franchise akin to the Indiana Jones movies. And while a sequel has been planned, it, unfortunately, remains in development hell. However, according to Stuff, Spielberg exclaimed that "Tintin is not dead!"
Captain America: The First Avenger is so unique in the superhero movie landscape, as it isn't just an action movie, but a period war drama too. Mixing those genres makes for some of the most thrilling action sequences in the MCU, meshing World War II-period artillery and espionage with superpowers.
The period setting also proved that movies in a cinematic universe didn't particularly have to be released in chronological order either. That has led to several other great period superhero movies, such as Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and Joker. And while Wonder Woman is more creative with the time period, it was The First Avenger that paved the way for the DC movie's success.
The Green Hornet may not have had a positive reception when it was first released, and that mostly comes down to Britt Reid being completely miscast and being too full of jokes that audiences would find in a stoner comedy. However, when it comes to the action, there's no denying just how creative the set pieces are.
With the visionary filmmaker, Michel Gondry, behind the camera, inventive filmmaking is one of the ways The Green Hornet is underrated. The movie is made up of practical action sequences that are all done in-camera, not to mention the martial arts and the Batmobile-lite, the Black Beauty, which make for some shockingly exciting moments.
But while the movie adaptations of the game have been insultingly bad from the fans' perspective, The Mechanic fills that void of a decent Hitman movie. And that's putting it lightly, as the assassinations in the film are so inventive and thrilling.
Nobody ever expected Rise of the Planet of the Apes to be as good as it is, as CGI-rendered apes jumping around and talking was surely destined to fail. However, the result was unbelievable, as not only do the apes look like the real thing, but the narrative is totally believable and it's impossible not to empathize with the mammals.
And though the action developed along with the apes in the following movies, Rise does such a great job of making the interaction between the CGI apes and the real world look so realistic. As far as the Planet of the Apes series goes, the 2011 movie is just as game-changing as the 1968 original, both in terms of storytelling and action.
