Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for action movies like Carry-On:
Rebel Ridge
Jeremy Saulnier is continuing to show that there aren’t many filmmakers capable of making movies like he is. Rebel Ridge occasionally establishes him as an auteur capable of extreme visceral sequences and building up tension that will make you squirm in your seat, but I’m not as sold on his attempt to tie these themes to this story. A good movie made by a director capable of making great movies.
The Beekeeper
While David Ayer‘s The Beekeeper is a lot of fun and has some surprisingly effective and exhilarating action sequences that are decked out with every possible way you could break a bone or die, it’s still too odd and ill-conceived to be taken seriously. And for that reason, it’s a perfect Dumpuary movie. Jason Statham stars a rogue special forces agent.
Lift
Lift is another example of the Netflix’s inability to create lasting movies. Once the credits hit, Lift leaves your conscious. There are a few action sequences, and lively performances, that help it move towards a soft landing.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Dead Reckoning surpasses many recent action movies, using Tom Cruise’s death-defying stunts as a reason to see them by themselves. Despite a few nitpicks, nothing compares to the practicality that the new Mission: Impossible movie offers.
Read our full review of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
The Gray Man
When The Gray Man is working at its best, it has the wiseass-ery of Chris Evans at the center, even if it takes a decent amount of runtime for him to even enter the fold. Otherwise, Ryan Gosling barely ties this comatose Netflix action movie together.
Black Adam
When Black Adam isn’t trying to piece together narrative fragments into a puzzle without any inside pieces, it’s cramming in every genre trope at its disposal. The action is clunky and unengaging and relentless, bludgeoning you with one horribly rendered CGI fighting sequence after another. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson fails to deliver a new hierarchy for the now-defunct DC extended universe.
The Killer
The Killer is nothing short of a triumph for David Fincher and a treat for fans of his filmography. It may be the most Fincherian movie ever made, but far from devolving, it solidifies his mastery of the medium. A calm Michael Fassbender performance helps seal The Killer as on of the best movies of 2023.
Ballerina
Considering the rocky production history behind it, Ballerina emerges as a competent entry in the John Wick universe—though one that never quite matches the highs of the mainline films. At its center, Ana de Armas delivers a strong performance as Eve, bringing physicality and grit to a role that demands both, while the action—particularly in the second half—benefits greatly from the influence of Chad Stahelski, who stepped in alongside Keanu Reeves to help reshape much of the film after original director Len Wiseman’s version assumingly faltered.
A Working Man
Jason Statham continues his relentless streak of mid-tier action vehicles with A Working Man, a film that feels as workmanlike as its title suggests. Following his roles in Meg 2: The Trench and The Beekeeper, Statham trades giant sea monsters and bee-themed vengeance for a more grounded but also more generic revenge setup. He plays Levon Cade, an ex-Royal Marine Commando turned construction foreman in Chicago, in a film that’s essentially a stripped-down Taken clone without much flavor or personality to distinguish itself.
The Amateur
The Amateur plays like a collage of better films. It’s not egregiously bad—just forgettable, over-familiar, and often flat. Despite flashes of life from its supporting cast and a premise that could’ve breathed new life into the spy genre, this is a film that fizzles rather than detonates. If you’re looking for the next Mission: Impossible or Bourne, this isn’t it. It’s not even a great slow-burn alternative. It’s just… there.
