10 Greatest Action Movies of 2025, Ranked
Action. Action is cool. Action movies are cool. They’ve always been cool, like James from Twin Peaks. You can go back to the 1920s, and Buster Keaton was showing why action was dope, like, a century ago and all, if you look at The General. Then there was Seven Samurai, in the 1950s, which kind of redefined what action movies could do, and then The French Connection, Die Hard, Mad Max: Fury Road… too many others to count. Just listing off a few of the all-time classics feels wrong; like it’s snubbing too many others, you know?
So, why not fast-forward? 2025. The year that, as of the time of writing, has nearly concluded, or has progressed far enough that crowning the best action movies of the year is now more than possible. James Cameron released an action movie near enough to the end of the year, and no one else is going to release a big one after that. Oh, Anaconda? Nah, get the hell out of here. Every dollar that movie earns at the box office is a tragedy, based on the trailer alone.
10
‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
To start off a little negative, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is, admittedly, an incredibly flawed movie. It is way too long, and you really feel that length in a way you didn’t really with the previous (also long) Mission: Impossible movies. The first hour is borderline unwatchable, and even if everything after that point is technically paced better, it’s still not enough to completely save the movie.
All that being said… there is still spectacle here. When Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning remembers it’s an action movie, and one with an ever-committed Tom Cruise at its center, it does indeed come alive, seen to an especially great extent with the submarine and biplane sequences. So much of the rest of the movie is pretty dreary, but for those sequences that do stand out, The Final Reckoning does have to begrudgingly be acknowledged as a sometimes impressive action movie here.
9
‘The Running Man’
There were quite a few Stephen King adaptations that came out in 2025, and The Running Man sure as hell was one of them. It previously got an adaptation of sorts back in the 1980s, but emphasis on the “of sorts” part, since that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie deviated pretty heavily from the source material, while this 2025 version, for the most part, is a bit more in line with the book.
It’s not quite as dark, admittedly, but it keeps things fast-paced and appropriately intense for most of the runtime. Edgar Wright directed it, and it’s one of his recent films that does further demonstrate his skills, as a filmmaker, are best suited to more comedic works… but still, his style and personality do shine through in his (comparatively) more serious films, enough to make them pretty engaging. And The Running Man does end up being pretty engaging, even with its flaws.
8
‘Thunderbolts*’
2025 wasn’t the best of years for superhero movies, especially commercially. On the Marvel side of things, 2024 had Deadpool & Wolverine, which drew in quite a lot of money (arguably not deservedly, but that’s another matter entirely), while 2023 had Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which performed well. And then 2022 was a year when Marvel fatigue hadn’t entirely set in, in hindsight, since the second Doctor Strange, the fourth Thor, and the second Black Panther all did quite well.
2025… yeah, bit rough. Nothing dominated. But critically, most people seemed okay with the new Fantastic Four, which was honestly pretty light on action, and then Thunderbolts* has a little more by way of excitement, so, yeah, Thunderbolts* goes here. This writer has not seen it, though has heard that it was good/underrated. But it’s not 2022 anymore. It’s 2025, and Marvel fatigue has set in for this writer (the same one who has not actually seen more than nine unequivocally good action movies from 2025, it turns out). Sorry.
7
‘Predator: Killer of Killers’
2025 was a year when two Predator movies came out, and that’s novel. The series has always been keen to deliver grisly action alongside sci-fi stuff and, usually, a little horror, though Predator: Badlands, one of the 2025 Predator movies, broke that trend, to some extent. It was a little broader and borderline family-friendly, and the filmmakers did go on about the PG-13 rating being because there were no humans involved in all the carnage, but it still felt like some punches were pulled with the synth/alien-related bloodshed.
Anyway, that leaves Predator: Killer of Killers as the gnarlier Predator movie of 2025, and probably the slightly better one, too. It feels like an animated anthology movie at first, but then it brings its different stories together in a fairly interesting way by the end, and does indeed demonstrate that Dan Trachtenberg – who also helmed the live-action Predator: Badlands and 2022’s Prey – mostly seems to know what he’s doing as the apparent current head of the ongoing franchise.
6
‘Warfare’
Warfare isn’t as exciting as most action movies, nor is it particularly fun, but most of it is an extended action sequence of sorts, perhaps enough to have it classified as an action/war/drama sort of movie, according to most sources. It recreates an American Navy SEAL mission that went wrong, with a real “tell it like it is” – or “like it was” – approach, intensified because one of the film’s directors, Ray Mendoza, actually lived through it.
As a war film, it’s about as intense and grounded as they come, meaning Warfare does feel pretty horrific. Again, it’s not entertaining, and there isn’t really spectacle here the way you might find with other action movies (hell, like you’ll find with just about all the other movies ranked here). But after the first 20 to 30 minutes, Warfare is non-stop intensity, feeling continually dangerous and overwhelming, and its approach to capturing combat in as believable a manner as possible does make it truly admirable.
5
‘F1’
Like Warfare, F1 is sort of on the border of being a true action movie, but it is more broadly appealing and not nearly as harrowing a watch as Warfare. That being said, much of it does still intend to capture the stakes and dangers that come with participating in Formula 1, and it’s effective most of all on that front.
Other parts of F1 are perhaps even a little lacking, since it’s the kind of thing where if you’ve seen even just a handful of sports movies before, you’ll probably be able to work out where this one is heading before it actually heads there. Still, what it lacks in narrative, thematic, and character-related complexity, it more than makes up for with visceral thrills and spectacle, with director Joseph Kosinski doing for racing what he did for aviation with the also somewhat formulaic – but undeniably crowd-pleasing – Top Gun: Maverick in 2022.
4
‘Superman’
It’s too early to assess whether DC as a whole is in good hands, with James Gunn at the helm, but things did get off to a good start with Superman. If subsequent movies are as satisfying, then those hands are good, and maybe Gunn can be to DC what Kevin Feige has been to Marvel… or what Feige was to Marvel between, like, 2008 and 2019 (maybe the MCU will bounce back; one can only hope).
With Superman, there was a fairly bold choice to say, “Nah, no origin story with this reboot,” and it just sort of throws you into a universe that’s already existed for what seems like quite a while. It’s disorientating and overwhelming at first, but Superman does find its groove after the first few scenes, and ends up being a rather satisfying crowd-pleaser. It’s the right kind of tone for a modern-day Superman movie to strike, does deliver on the action where it counts, and there’s plenty by way of humor and genuine heart here, too. It’s not an amazing movie, but it is satisfying, and it’s a good start to a new/mostly rebooted DC cinematic universe.
3
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
James Cameron doesn’t miss. He hits harder than usual sometimes, and maybe didn’t with Avatar: Fire and Ash, which might not quite stand the test of time, in time, as a classic… but it’s impressive enough for now. It goes very big, delivering similar things to what came before, for sure, yet that might well be enough, if you’re mostly after spectacle.
Like the other two Avatar movies, this one is endlessly impressive on a technical front, and if you’re able to judge it mostly based on the quality of the action, then it deserves to be considered among the most remarkable of 2025. Deep science fiction and groundbreaking drama, on the other hand? You’re not really going to find them here, but you’re also not going to find them in the other two Avatar films, so, like, congratulations, you played yourself.
2
‘One Battle After Another’
Perhaps more of a thriller than an action movie, One Battle After Another still has enough by way of excitement to fit into the action category, so it’s being counted here. It’s also a pretty funny movie, unpacking the tumultuous times everyone’s living in right now, but in a way that’s not intended to alienate anyone who’s not too extreme on either side. Your mileage may vary regarding how successful it is at that, but that feels like the intent.
One Battle After Another has a lengthy opening act, a phenomenal climactic action scene, and then a lot of stuff in between that’s thrilling, offbeat, and darkly funny.
It’s about a father trying to raise a daughter on his own, and being pretty bad at it, and also even worse at doing the sort of daring/revolutionary things he did in the past. One Battle After Another has a lengthy opening act, a phenomenal climactic action scene, and then a lot of stuff in between that’s thrilling, offbeat, and darkly funny. It’s a contender for Best Picture at the 2025 Oscars (well, the ceremony that’ll be held in 2026), and so you kind of have to slot it into a ranking concerning that same year’s best action movies.
1
‘Sinners’
Hey, it blends genres, and a bunch of sources say one of those genres is “action,” so here’s Sinners. It’s not the most action-packed movie of 2025, but neither was One Battle After Another, yet they’re both highlights of the year and have enough by way of action scenes to be semi-action movies, and that’s enough. Sinners is honestly great however you want to classify it.
Horror is probably the primary genre here, but this does also feel like the kind of horror movie people who don’t usually like scary films could watch and still enjoy, especially because the horror stuff (and a lot of the action, really) is downplayed until the final act. Before things get chaotic and bloody, Sinners is also a great period drama, music film of sorts (not quite a musical), and maybe even a crime movie… kind of. It’s also romantic, without really being a romance flick, having a bit of everything and remaining coherent and engaging. It also looks great and is super well-acted. There’s just nothing here that feels out of place or lacking. Best movie of 2025, best action-ish movie of 2025, it’s all the things. It’s all the good things. Hyperbole is fun. It’s Sinners.
