The 35 Best Action-Comedy Movies to Watch Now

It’s easy to laugh about an old lady being an unwitting lead in an action film, the joke being that they can’t possibly be that. But June Squibb’s Thelma is. She refuses to be infantilized and undertakes a journey that’s dramatized to great effect. It’s still funny, but without Squibb’s character being the butt of the joke. It’s also immensely charming, smart, and moving, without ever being too saccharine or pandering. The performances are wonderful across the board, but it’s Thelma’s intergenerational bond with her 24-year-old grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger) that’s at the heart of the film. In some ways, both Thelma and Daniel have to prove their worth to a world that gives them little credit for their idleness, even though they’re both happy and make other people happy that way. Parker Posey, who plays Thelma’s daughter and Daniel’s mother, is equally commendable as the seeingly stable but perpetually harried “adult” that keeps the two grounded in reality. Equal parts sweet and bad-ass, Thelma is the movie to see if you want to feel the warm fuzzies (minus the cheese) with the family.

True Romance is a wildly entertaining and twistedly enjoyable crime film, directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun) and written by a young Quentin Tarantino. It stars Christian Slater as a young nebbish comic book store employee named Clarence who falls in love with a prostitute named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), and sets his mind to rid her of her indebtedness to a volatile pimp named Drexel (Gary Oldman). The story eventually finds them absconding to California with a suitcase full of cocaine, with the intention of selling off their illicit cache to a Hollywood bigwig in order to pursue their dreams of freedom and opportunity. Replete with a remarkable cast of famous names and familiar faces (including Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken and even Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis), True Romance is a true 90’s-era classic. It showcases Tarantino’s trademark witty dialogue throughout, enmeshed with the savage humor and jarring violence that he has become so well known for. It’s very much an homage to Hollywood classics such as Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands (including a rousing score by Hans Zimmer inspired by George Tipton’s score for Badlands), and ultimately serves as one of Tarantino’s most underrated career accomplishments.

Filmed as a “found footage” of a Norwegian college film crew investigating local poachers, this movie really surprised me. To be fair, I didn’t really know what to expect. But I definitely didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did. The pacing is on point. The suspense hits you at just the right times. There are a few drops of humour trickled throughout to keep a smile on your face. And that’s how my face stayed when the credits rolled.

After an initially disappointing breakthrough attempt to Hollywood, Jackie Chan pivoted back to Hong Kong, unexpectedly creating an iconic film franchise and maybe perhaps one of the best martial arts movies ever made. Police Story seems to be a simple story at first, but it was through this film that Chan’s spectacular stunts evolved for a more modern setting, incorporating slapstick and action choreography into a definable style, while also questioning the ways Hong Kong police conducted themselves at the time. Police Story is Jackie Chan at his best, pushing an entirely new standard for action films all over the world.

Can the Western only be made in the West? The Italians answered with the Spaghetti Western, and in 2010, China came up with their own gunslinging, horse riding group of gangsters in Let the Bullets Fly. It feels just like an old fashioned Western in Old China, only with quips as fast as its bullets, and the wry satire mocks these thugs and politicians as one and the same, through a series of multiple impersonations made in the name of survival, corruption, and profit. Some of the humor can go over the heads of those unfamiliar with Chinese comedy, but nonetheless Let the Bullet Fly is a funny mix of genres, with writer-director and lead Jiang Wen playing with many Western tropes in over-the-top fashion.

Two brothers played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver decide to rob a local NASCAR event, the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

They put together a team to help them, with Daniel Craig as the demolition expert and Katie Holmes as the gateway driver. Other big names behind this project are actors Seth MacFarlane and Hilary Swank; and director Steven Soderbergh, who is best known for Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Thirteen, and Magic Mike.

The main characters are cheerful and just goofy enough to be completely unpredictable. Their heist is as chaotic as it is random, which inevitably leads to many funny moments. The performances by the whole cast are amazing, Daniel Craig is almost unrecognizable.

A friend once described this movie as Ocean’s 7 Eleven, and it’s hard to come up with a better line.

Of the many violence-inflected black comedies that Pulp Fiction spawned, Grosse Pointe Blank ranks among the best. Though it’s patently inspired by Tarantino’s magnum opus — John Cusack plays a sardonic, amoral hitman, and the film features bursts of stylized violence and a retro soundtrack — it never feels derivative. The film finds its own identity as a quirky romcom when Cusack’s character, Martin Blank, returns to his hometown for a 10-year high-school reunion on the advice of his terrified therapist (Alan Arkin).

Martin is experiencing professional disillusionment as part of the quarter-life crisis that often takes hold when one realizes it’s been a whole decade since high school. His profession puts a darkly comic spin on that convention, but the film doesn’t treat that element entirely flippantly. Unlike Martin — and so many of the film’s Pulp Fiction-inspired brethren — Grosse Pointe Blank isn’t nihilistic, but quite sincerely romantic. Its hybrid nature and surprising heart come to the fore in Martin’s renewed relationship with the girlfriend he jilted at prom: Debi (Minnie Driver), now a ska-loving radio DJ. Cusack and Driver have sparkling chemistry, which makes the sincerity with which their characters grapple with the possibility of a second chance at happiness all the more absorbing to watch.

When citizenship and rights can only be achieved through federal service, you have no choice but to militarize. Johnny Rico is young, impressionable, but noble; in other words, he is an archetypal hero even if he initially enlists just to be close to his girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards). From then on, Starship Troopers unfolds as a high-strung high school drama, but in the middle of a space colonization. During one such mission, a highly evolved insectoid race, Arachnids, proves to be the most dangerous enemy to human supremacy and the fight is on. What’s interesting about Starship Troopers is that it shows how a well-oiled propaganda machine works and for that reason, it was accused of indoctrination and army endorsement. Even more, it was dubbed fascist, instead of the fascist satire it claimed to be. But today, it’s indisputably a cult film and a great introduction to the Paul Verhoeven’s work in Hollywood.

Who would’ve thought a wordless, black-and-white, slapstick comedy would still be hugely entertaining in this day and age? Hundreds of Beavers is created in the same spirit as the Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton comedies of yore, but it’s a tribute that manages to feel fresh, exciting, and unpredictable. The premise is simple: a man tries to survive the wilderness in the dead of winter by coming up with new ways to catch game. But the execution is wildly creative and nostalgic. You’ll feel like a kid again watching Saturday cartoons, in the best possible way.

Better known through its original Spanish name El Infierno, Hell is an underrated crime thriller that satirizes Mexico at the time of the Drug War. It follows an immigrant, Benjamin Garcia, who subsequently dives into a life of crime, though it’s not as lucrative as he expects. What ensues ends up becoming a darkly humorous, Western-inspired take on the issue, flipping from funny to dramatic at a turn of a hat, and smartly pointing out the absurd in the violence that still grips the country today. While underseen abroad due to its NC-17 rating, it’s a fitting installment for director Luis Estrada’s penchant for bold political satires, garnering a cult following in the country itself.

Surprisingly heartwarming and enjoyable, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent turns its over-the-top premise into a tribute to the one and only Nicolas Cage. Playing an unfulfilled and broke version of himself, Cage’s next gig is an appearance at eccentric billionaire Javi Gutierrez’s (Pedro Pascal) birthday party. They strike up an instant bond over their love of film. However, the CIA suspects Gutierrez’s involvement in a political kidnapping, forcing Cage to investigate his friend. The film brilliantly employs those 90s-esque action tropes that Cage’s movies are known for – the car chases, the sunglasses, and the eccentric characters. Cage himself fully commits to the premise, but Pedro Pascal adeptly matches his energy with his easy-going charm. Their moments together and their shared love for cinema makes this a great watch.

Don’t let the title and poster fool you—Riders of Justice isn’t the testosterone-filled action flick you’d expect going in (though it does get ridiculous at some points). It centers on deployed military man Markus, played by the appropriately masculine Mads Mikkelsen, who has to return home to his teenage daughter Mathilde after his wife dies in an accident. Instead of coping normally and sticking with his daughter to get through the tragedy, he goes down a rabbit hole discovering how the accident that killed his wife is more than just bad luck and may have been collateral damage from a gang orchestrating an assassination.

Surprisingly, director Anders Thomas Jensen injects this violent film with a lot of gentle moments about trauma and togetherness. Mikkelsen and the rest of the cast play off of each other very well, using dark humor to bring together a bunch of characters who are, in oversimplified terms, “fucked up but trying their best.”

It may seem like the guns, blood, and badass moments are a front for this film that, at its core, shows men who badly need therapy banding together to cope with the harshness of life. Extremely funny and deeply moving, it qualifies as a heartwarming Christmas movie, believe it or not.

A Korean police comedy built on a premise so dumb it’s brilliant: a group of bumbling cops who are so bad at their job that they accidentally start an amazing fried chicken restaurant while undercover. All of the suspense and excitement that should be going into their actual mission is spent on this new job that actually begins to give them coordination and a greater sense of purpose. There may not be much of a deeper meaning to be found here, but the characters are lovable enough—and the filmmaking sharp enough—to get you invested in their personal happiness, and to get you to appreciate how strong editing and performances can make even the smallest throwaway line spit-take hilarious.

While produced by Wong Kar Wai, Chinese Odyssey 2002 isn’t a moody, melancholy drama that we’re used to. Instead, the Ming Dynasty-set adventure directed by Jeffrey Lau comically spoofs plenty of the beloved genres that captivated Chinese audiences– wuxia epics, musical dramas, and historical romances. The ludicrous crossdressing plot is played in such an over-the-top way, with Lau visually delivering his jabs, with a narrator providing droll commentary on the events, and with intercuts of faux interviews and excerpts from everyone, even including the disgruntled innkeeper spying on the crossdressing princess and the confused restaurant owner. It’s actually quite impressive how the ridiculous plot leads to such a wholesome, moving conclusion.

Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino, but when he recommends a martial arts film, you just have to watch it. Like plenty from the genre that Tarantino’s inspired by, Iron Monkey has the same stylish, badass action that Hong Kong cinema is known for, with spectacular wire-work choreography, excellently shot fight sequences, as well as the goofy slapstick comedy that punches in some quips between hits. But what makes the film work is the folkloric story– it’s not quite as astounding as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and it’s all packaged in a familiar Robin Hood-esque plotline, but with a fantastic Donnie Yen and a script that rightly makes fun of the incompetent, corrupt cronies that rules over this small village, Iron Monkey does justice to the genre and to the actual folk hero the story was inspired by.

This remake brought back the iconic blind swordsman a decade after disappearing from film, and like his previous stints, it’s entertaining and action-packed. It’s cool to see bad guys taken unaware by Zatoichi’s unassuming demeanor. It’s exciting to see Takeshi Kitano take on the mantle from the late Shintaro Katsu, and fight for the oppressed town he’s visiting. This time, however, the 2003 remake takes on a lot more fun. Adding to the Western-esque drama and Japanese chanbara, the 2003 remake brings in more energy, more CGI experimentation, and more humor– emphasizing the mostly serious character’s more playful deceptions and lighthearted interactions with the people he’s protecting. Beat Takeshi only had this one stab at the franchise, but The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi is certainly fun, and certainly well-made.

How do we explain Peking Opera Blues? It’s a film set earlier in history, but it’s not as sepia-toned, slow, and depressing as other historical dramas. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. It’s colorful, with all the bright reds and blues on all sets and costumes. It’s comedic, as the three leads– Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung, and Sally Yeh– get roped into each other’s affairs through unfortunate coincidence. And because of Tsao Wan’s mission, it’s quite fast-paced, driving the action towards a stellar operatic climax. While juggling the frenzy of this thrilling tale, Peking Opera Blues looks to the past to contemplate Hong Kong’s future. 

Martial arts is awesome, comedy is awesome, but the idea of putting them together wasn’t really explored until the late 1970s, when a young Jackie Chan made his breakthrough. One of the films he starred in was The Drunken Master, where Chan’s mischievous character goes under the tutelege of the titular teacher to fight against his father’s assassin. It’s a funny film, one that presents a different, more playful side to a real-life master, but the hilarious, perfectly choreographed fights eventually formed the foundation for Chan’s action-packed slapstick style, and even moved the entire martial arts genre into a new direction. The Drunken Master hinted at the cinema that was to come.

Code 3 is a comedy about a crazy night out, though the craziness doesn’t stem from drunkenness, drugs, or bad decisions– it comes from the way anything can happen in the shift of a paramedic. And we mean, anything. That means the needle stabbing and projectile vomiting occurs organically. But the crazy night that happens isn’t presented for comedy’s sake only. At the heart of the humor is the understanding of how thankless the job can get, and how much strain the healthcare system is handling even without a pandemic. Code 3 acknowledges their troubles and rightfully honors their work.

One of the many good movies from director Edgar Wright – if you loved Shaun of the Dead, then this Buddy-Cop Homage will make you double over (and question humanity – or lack, thereof) just as much. Sandford is a small English village with the lowest crime and murder rates, so when overachieving police Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) gets sent there because he was so good he intimidated those around him, he just about loses it. From car-chasing, bone-thrilling, head-blowing action, he graduates to swan-calling, thrill-seeking, sleep-inducing madness. But all that’s about to change – for the worse? For the better? You decide. An obscenely funny flick that has an intriguing plot and an even greater set of characters, Hot Fuzz wasn’t named the best film of the Cornetto trilogy for nothing, clearly cementing Pegg and Nick Frost as the ultimate action duo of the genre.

Going by the Book is quite absurd. Of course, most people would understand not to take an assignment like this too literally, so when this deadpan, fastidious cop does so, it brings this mere simulation into an unpredictable, fascinating situation. It’s so funny. The film leans into the humor by depicting the horrifying possibility before pulling the curtain to the silly actions he actually does. It’s a clever concept that pokes fun at his colleagues’ complacency, as it highlights the gap between the needs of a situation and how unprepared institutions are to meet it, as well as how rules are made and practiced. While not as fast-paced as the original, Going by the Book is a hilarious thriller comedy that’s so fun to watch.

Shaolin Soccer is hilarious. It takes all the familiar elements of the sports drama and kung-fu action flicks, and uses it to create ludicrous stunts, jokes, and slapstick that poke fun at how self-serious the genres tend to be. It helps that the jagged edges of both types fit quite well– “Golden Leg” Fung may not know kung-fu, but the former athlete turned coach makes for a great unexpected mentor that Shaolin monk Sing could learn from. Likewise, Sing having learned a different craft makes him the perfect underdog Fung can teach. However, what makes Shaolin Soccer work is its heart. As the Shaolin style of kung fu has been ignored for more marketable, fighting-focused styles, and as Fung’s career has ended due to sabotage, their team-up allows them to fight for their respective passions. It just so happens to be downright hilarious.

At first, Midnight Runners seemed to be a lighthearted buddy cop flick where two friends just make their way through the police academy. It starts off pretty funny. Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul clearly had fun forming the bond between their characters with a competitive spirit. However, this bond sets the stage for some subtle critique, as these academy students decide to solve a kidnapping despite all the systemic hurdles they bump into that run contrary to what they’ve been taught. Midnight Runners doesn’t set out to fully critique the system, but it at least acknowledges some of its failures and inspires future cops to act for justice, not just for power.

In cinema’s fight against AI, we’ve seen sci-fi spectacles, action-packed stunts, and the belief in sheer humanity that helps us win the day. But perhaps it’s that optimism that has led us here. Perhaps that’s why Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die chooses to depict a bleakier, kookier version of this battle. Still, despite the hopelessness of it all, director Gore Verbinski has a lot of fun dumping a time-travelling Sam Rockwell in a full LA diner taken unawares, pushing him on a chaotic mission with unpredictable steps and surprisingly moving moments along the way. Thanks for the warning! We hope that certain AI tech overlords would hear it.

As the 1970s brought about the civil rights movement, as well as the abandonment of the American Hays Code, the blaxploitation genre (portmanteau of “Black” and “exploitation”) became popular, with black artists reclaiming their image, albeit with B-films centered around themes of violence, drugs, and sex. Black Dynamite is an homage and parody to the genre, with low budget mistakes, over-the-top dialogue, and Super 16 shooting all combining in the most hilarious of ways through the smooth timing of leading man (and co-writer) Michael Jai White. It’s silly, and stereotypical, but all the jokes poke fun from a clear love and nostalgia of the genre.

Movie vampires are usually depicted in the spooky gothic way or the sexy, supernaturally romantic way. Mr. Vampire instead depicts this undead creature in a goofy manner, taking the Chinese jiangshi as an unfortunate mentorship program between Master Kau and his silly, incompetent assistants. It’s a bit corny, but director Ricky Lau creates action-packed yet comedic fights that Hong Kong cinema is known for, taking this creepy mythology with much more playfulness than we’re used to with vampires. Horror fans looking for a scare won’t find what they’re looking for in this flick, but action-comedy fans, as well as viewers that want to start watching horror films, might enjoy this slapstick satire in anticipation for Halloween.

After accidentally hitting a homeless man with his car on the way to his mother’s wedding, Detective Ko Gun-su is certainly having A Hard Day. No one would blame him if he took the next day off and took some time for himself. However, he doesn’t do that. Instead, he reacts so differently, leading to a series of increasingly chaotic consequences. It makes for an unpredictable crime thriller, finding some humor in the way he continues to dig himself further into trouble, while cathartically letting karma play out with each morally dubious action. A Hard Day is so fun to watch.

Based on the legendary Zhang Sanfeng, Tai Chi Master recreates the myth surrounding his beginnings of his craft and transforms it into an energetic action flick. It’s rather entertaining. While tai chi is mostly practiced more as a meditative exercise, the fact that it’s a martial art provides the perfect excuse to see Jet Li fight. And he does deliver. Every showdown between him and Chin Siu-ho is unpredictable, over-the-top, and downright fun, with both their characters fighting for their diverging goals. While the later portion struggles to balance between the comedic tone it set earlier and the drama of the brothers’ separation, ultimately Tai Chi Master delivers all the wirework and action you could ask for, and then some.

From the director of Drive comes Bronson, the true story of a man who was sentenced to seven years in prison but ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. Tom Hardy is phenomenal in this dark comedy. His character is so likable and you quickly feel sorry for what he is going through. No one can help him no matter how much he asks for it. Bronson has class, great acting, hilarious comedy, and a true story backing it up. There is nothing not to love about this film.

Micmacs is short for the original French title MicMacs à tire-larigot, or “non-stop shenanigans”. It is exactly that. Rather than starting with raising awareness, lobbying, or even protesting, Bazil and his friends instead play with the big headed executives through whimsical pranks. Everyone acts in the most ridiculous way here. Their brand of mischief combines old-fashioned slapstick and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s warm-toned style, but like the comedy greats that inspired the film, these silly scenes remind viewers of the real harm the powerful have waged, and the goodness of the common people that we ought to protect. Micmacs does it all in a twee, charming fashion.

Written, directed and starring the auteur Stephan Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a distillation of decades of Hong-Kong Cinema’s greatest export : the martial arts comedy. Full of numerous allusions and witty nods to other greats in the genre, this film is nonetheless entirely fresh and new. Equal parts hilarious and breathtakingly action-packed, Kung Fu Hustle showcases an enormous amount of raw talent, cinema magic and ass-kicking for any true cinema connoisseur.

Snatch is all things great. The film strings together multiple plots with a great ensemble of actors – which turns it into an excellent thriller movie. Jason Statham leads the film with Brad Pitt close behind, both turning in performances of enormous physicality. You’ll recognize many actors in the film as well, but the acting is not the only area where this movie shines. The style, quick cuts, and narration will surely keep you on your toes and engaged.

While the police haven’t been getting a good rep in recent years, there were times when cops actually got the job done, and went after the gangs that we individuals can’t. Kang Yun-seong’s narrative feature debut is based on the real-life Yanbian Heuksapa Incident, and what’s interesting is that along with having Ma Dong-seok deliver some of the finest and most entertaining fight scenes, there’s a sense that these cops actually care about people, like when Seok-do urges his boss to be gentle towards their team after having to stay in the office longer, or when he reaches out and works directly with the community. The Outlaws doesn’t transform the genre, but it’s well-written, well-choreographed, and held together through the strength of Ma Dong-seok’s charisma (and arms). It’s no wonder director Kang and Don Lee managed to transform this into a sprawling franchise, something to be akin to Korea’s Fast & Furious.

When it comes to examining the cycle of violence college students get into just to get their degree, Aavesham falls short of making a clear stand against the ingrained student hierarchy, as well as ethnic nationalism that plays into that. The film could have delved deeper into these issues in a more incisive way. That being said, it’s really fun to watch these three hapless freshmen try to make it somehow. It’s cool to see the fight scenes. And it’s also pretty fun to see Fahadh Faasil wield his charisma, as such a cool guy that these freshmen see some hope in. Aavesham doesn’t delve deep into the serious topics, but it’s nonetheless a fun drama that captures the relief of finding someone like one’s self in a strange place.

Admittedly, the English dub of Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky can sound quite goofy. The American-accented voices don’t quite match the Asian characters, and because the characters are easily provoked into violence, they all talk in an exaggerated way. As such, the film is absurdly funny. It’s unclear whether or not that was intended. The action sequences are equally intense, choreographed and staged in order to maximize ridiculous spurts of blood, so it’s possible that the campy approach was on purpose. However, underneath this over-the-top, violent veneer, is a surprising premise that tackles the worries towards a privatized prison system albeit through some of the most wacky stunts ever put on film. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky won’t be the prison film for everyone, but there’s no denying its ludicrous appeal.