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2021 was the year action movies helped drag us back into theaters, blow up our living-room speakers,
and remind us why we love watching fictional people jump out of very real exploding things. From
superheroes and secret agents to dads-with-a-past and gunslingers on the frontier, the best 2021
action movies delivered big spectacle and surprisingly emotional stories.
This ranked list mixes critic scores, audience buzz, box-office performance, and sheer “rewatch with
friends” energy. We’ll break down what each movie does best, why it earned its spot, and how these
films together defined action in 2021.
How We Ranked the Best 2021 Action Movies
Before we start arguing over placing your favorite at #4 instead of #1, here’s the basic recipe
behind these rankings of the best 2021 action movies:
- Critical reception: We factored in critic scores and year-end “best of” lists.
- Audience response: Fan scores, online buzz, and how much people still talk about it.
- Box-office or streaming impact: Did it get people back into theaters or dominate streaming?
- Action quality: Choreography, stunt work, visuals, and how memorable the set pieces are.
- Rewatch value: Is it the movie you put on again when someone says, “Let’s watch something cool”?
With that in mind, let’s dive into the best 2021 action movies, ranked from “really fun” to “everyone
will still be quoting this in 10 years.”
Ranked: The Best 2021 Action Movies
#1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
If there is one film that defined action in 2021, it is Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It wasn’t just a superhero movie; it was an event. The film united multiple generations of Spider-Man
storytelling, delivered massive box-office numbers, and gave fans some of the loudest in-theater
reactions of the decade.
The action is big but character-driven. Every multiverse smackdown is anchored in Peter Parker’s
personal stakes and moral dilemmas. The final battle combines web-slinging spectacle, emotional payoffs,
and crowd-pleasing entrances in a way that practically redefines what fans expect from a blockbuster.
- Best for: Fans who want emotional storytelling wrapped in crowd-cheering action.
- Signature moment: The Statue of Liberty showdown, where nostalgia and chaos collide.
#2. No Time to Die
No Time to Die closes Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond with a mix of brutal hand-to-hand
fights, high-tech espionage, and surprisingly heartfelt character beats. It’s less about topping earlier
films in scale and more about giving Bond a human, vulnerable exit.
Action-wise, the film delivers: the opening in Matera with the motorcycle jump and bridge sequence is
pure big-screen adrenaline, and the third-act infiltration of the villain’s island offers classic Bond
gunfights, gadgets, and tension. The emotional stakes elevate every bullet fired.
- Best for: Viewers who like their action polished, classy, and fueled by spy drama.
- Signature moment: Bond’s stairway shootout, which plays like a stylish video game level come to life.
#3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the MCU’s martial-arts-infused entry that
stunned audiences with crisp choreography and heartfelt family drama. It blends Hong Kong–style fights with
Marvel’s CGI spectacle, but it’s the grounded, practical stunt work that really stands out.
The bus fight alone could earn it a spot on any “best of 2021 action” list. It’s dynamically shot,
easy to follow, and full of creative beats. Later, the scaffolding battle on the side of the building
ups the vertical tension, while the finale leans into fantasy epic territory with aerial dragon combat.
- Best for: Fans of martial-arts movies who also love superhero scale.
- Signature moment: The bus fight, where Shang-Chi reveals who he really is.
#4. Nobody
In Nobody, Bob Odenkirk goes from “that lawyer you vaguely don’t trust” to “genuinely
terrifying suburban dad with a past.” The movie starts as a darkly comic tale of a man pushed too far,
then morphs into a beautifully messy, bone-crunching action rampage.
What makes Nobody one of the best 2021 action movies is its commitment to practical-looking stunts
and grounded brutality. Fights feel clumsy in a deliberate, realistic way: Hutch gets hurt, exhausted,
and angry. The bus sequence, where a simple commute turns into a vicious brawl, is one of the year’s
standout action scenes.
- Best for: Viewers who enjoy dark humor, broken noses, and middle-aged rage catharsis.
- Signature moment: The “I’m gonna mess you up” bus speech that he absolutely follows through on.
#5. The Harder They Fall
The Harder They Fall brings western action into the 21st century with bold visuals,
a killer soundtrack, and a stacked ensemble cast. It’s technically a western, but functionally an action
film with shootouts that feel like choreographed dance numberswith bullets.
Instead of aiming for historical realism, the movie leans into style: bright color palettes, slow-motion
standoffs, and highly staged shootouts. Every showdown feels like a music video where everyone just
happens to be carrying a gun.
- Best for: Viewers who want something stylish, modern, and unapologetically cool.
- Signature moment: The train sequence and the climactic town raid, both dripping with swagger.
#6. Dune: Part One
Some might file Dune: Part One under sci-fi, but let’s be honest: the action is huge,
physical, and absolutely belongs in a 2021 action ranking. The film’s large-scale battles, explosions,
and hand-to-hand duels are shot with a grand, almost operatic sense of scale.
Instead of nonstop fights, Dune gives you carefully placed, high-impact sequences: a desperate nighttime
attack on House Atreides, sandworm encounters that feel like nature-horror, and personal duels that
carry enormous political weight. It’s cerebral but still packed with big, cinematic moments.
- Best for: Fans who like their action paired with world-building and gorgeous visuals.
- Signature moment: The Atreides compound assault, where everything goes from calm to chaos.
#7. F9: The Fast Saga
F9 is the movie you show someone when they ask, “How ridiculous did the
Fast & Furious movies actually get?” Cars with magnets, cars in space, and physics that
waved goodbye to the franchise four movies agoit’s all here.
And yet that’s the charm: this is pure maximalist blockbuster action. The magnet set pieces are wildly
inventive, and the car stunts still feature the kind of practical mayhem the series is known for, even
when wrapped in CGI-enhanced insanity. It might not be the “best” in terms of tight plotting, but it’s
absolutely one of 2021’s most gleefully over-the-top action experiences.
- Best for: Turning your brain down and your subwoofer up.
- Signature moment: The magnet truck chase that yo-yos cars across the city streets.
#8. The Suicide Squad
James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is colorful chaos: a gory, irreverent, and surprisingly
heartfelt antihero movie that never goes more than a few minutes without some new explosion or absurd
visual gag.
The action ranges from military-style assaults to giant-kaiju destruction, all filtered through Gunn’s
twisted sense of humor. You get slow-motion beach massacres, a starfish the size of a building, and
creatively brutal kills that somehow still advance character arcs.
- Best for: Fans of violent comic-book movies with big laughs.
- Signature moment: Harley Quinn’s acrobatic hallway escape, where flowers and bullets share the frame.
#9. Black Widow
Black Widow finally gives Natasha Romanoff the spy-thriller spotlight she deserved.
While the story leans into family dynamics and trauma, the action sequences are pure kinetic energy:
car chases through tight European streets, prison breaks in the snow, and aerial combat in a crumbling sky fortress.
The hand-to-hand fights, especially between Natasha and Yelena, feel bruising and grounded. It’s less
about superpowers and more about brutal, close-quarters combat, which helps it stand out from other
MCU entries.
- Best for: Viewers who like espionage mixed with superhero spectacle.
- Signature moment: The prison escape, where everything that can explode, does.
#10. Free Guy
Free Guy is technically an action-comedy, but the action side is no joke. Set inside
an open-world video game, it uses that premise to justify outrageous physics, giant weapons, and
city-scale destructionall while Ryan Reynolds cracks jokes and accidentally becomes a hero.
The film stands out because the action isn’t just noise; it’s tied to the idea of an NPC gaining agency.
Each big set piece doubles as a milestone in Guy’s journey from background character to full-on protagonist.
- Best for: Gamers, meme-lovers, and anyone who likes their explosions with punchlines.
- Signature moment: The final showdown where Guy literally weaponizes pop culture.
#11. Godzilla vs. Kong
Godzilla vs. Kong is here for one reason: to show a giant lizard and a giant ape
absolutely wrecking cities, aircraft carriers, and each other. On that front, it massively delivers.
The human plot is mostly an excuse to get from one brawl to the next, but the monster fights are cleanly
staged and ridiculously fun. Neon-lit Hong Kong battles, mid-ocean smackdowns, and a tag-team finale
make this one of the simplest yet most satisfying action films of 2021.
- Best for: Creature-feature fans and spectacle junkies.
- Signature moment: The Hong Kong battle, essentially a kaiju wrestling match in a neon skyline.
#12. Wrath of Man
Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man is a colder, more brooding Jason Statham vehicle than usual.
Instead of quippy banter, you get a slow-burn revenge story punctuated by sudden, shocking violence.
The action feels heavy: gunfights are loud, messy, and fast. The climactic armored-truck heist plays out
like a tactical puzzle, with overlapping perspectives that ramp up the tension. It’s not flashy in the
same way as superhero films, but its grounded brutality earns it a place among the best 2021 action movies.
- Best for: Fans of grim, crime-focused action thrillers.
- Signature moment: The final heist, where every character’s plan collides in a hail of bullets.
Big Trends in 2021 Action Movies
1. The Return of the Theater-Defining Blockbuster
Films like Spider-Man: No Way Home, F9, and No Time to Die weren’t just
action moviesthey were cinematic events. They reminded audiences why certain stories hit harder on
the big screen, with wall-to-wall sound design and massive, communal reactions.
2. Streaming-Ready Spectacle
At the same time, 2021 proved that streaming platforms could handle blockbuster-level action. Movies
like The Harder They Fall and Red Notice (whether you loved it or just watched it
because everyone was talking about it) brought large-scale fights and explosions straight to couches
worldwide.
3. Genre-Blending Action
Some of the year’s best action movies didn’t live in a single genre box.
Shang-Chi fused fantasy and family drama with martial-arts choreography.
Dune combined slow-burn political sci-fi with huge battle sequences.
Free Guy mashed video-game parody with heartfelt hero’s journey storytelling.
4. Aging Heroes, New Faces
2021 balanced veteran leads and fresh blood. Daniel Craig and Vin Diesel represented the old guard,
while Simu Liu, Jonathan Majors, and new ensemble casts in films like The Harder They Fall
pushed action franchises toward more diverse stories and perspectives.
How to Use This List
Think of this ranking not as the final word, but as a high-octane watchlist. Want emotional superhero
catharsis? Start with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Craving brutal, grounded fights? Go straight
to Nobody or Wrath of Man. In the mood for something stylish and offbeat? Queue up
The Harder They Fall or Free Guy.
However you use it, the best 2021 action movies prove that even in a chaotic year, there’s something
oddly comforting about watching fictional characters solve problems the old-fashioned way:
with absurd bravery, questionable decisions, and a frankly irresponsible amount of explosives.
Personal Experiences: What It’s Like to Revisit 2021’s Best Action Movies
Rewatching the best 2021 action movies a few years later is like opening a time capsule filled with
popcorn, nostalgia, and a faint smell of IMAX butter. You remember where you were when you first saw
certain scenes: the gasp when familiar faces appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the hush as
Bond makes his final stand in No Time to Die, the collective “wait, is Bob Odenkirk really
doing all this?” moment during Nobody.
One of the most satisfying parts of revisiting these films is seeing which sequences still hold up
after the initial hype. The bus fight in Shang-Chi remains a masterclass in clear, creative
choreography; you can pause almost anywhere and understand who is hitting whom and why. The Hong Kong
brawl in Godzilla vs. Kong still feels like an artist went wild with neon highlighters and
building-sized action figures. Even the more divisive entrieslike F9 with its magnets and
rocket carsturn into excellent background movies for a fun movie night with friends.
These films also offer different experiences depending on how you watch them. In theaters,
Spider-Man: No Way Home was a rollercoaster of crowd reactions; at home, you notice smaller
details, like character beats and visual callbacks to earlier films. Wrath of Man plays very
differently on a quiet TV screen late at nightyou feel the tension and grim mood more intensely,
almost like a crime drama with occasional action spikes.
If you watch them in a mini-marathon, you’ll notice how varied 2021’s action slate really was.
Go from The Harder They Fall to Dune and you’re basically jumping from a stylish
western music video to a contemplative space opera. Toss in Free Guy, and suddenly
the language of video games is part of the action toolkit. It’s a reminder that “action” isn’t just a
genreit’s a spice that flavors everything from superhero movies and sci-fi epics to Westerns and
darkly comic revenge stories.
There’s also something strangely comforting about rewatching action movies from that specific year.
2021 was still full of uncertainty, and movies like Nobody or Black Widow gave people
a chance to channel frustration, root for impossible odds, and enjoy a couple of hours where the rules
of physics could be ignored and problems could be solved with elaborate car chases instead of emails.
If you’re building your own ranking of the best 2021 action movies, try this: rewatch a few of these
titles and pay attention to which scenes you’re tempted to rewind. Is it the emotional sacrifice, the
clever one-liner, or the ridiculous midair stunt? Those are your personal “top action” criteria. This
list is one way to order the chaos of 2021’s action outputbut the real fun is using it as a springboard
for your own debates, rewatches, and “you have to see this” movie nights.
