The 35 Best Action Movies on Hulu That You Should Check Out

Directed by future Razzie nominee Jonathan Liebesman, Battle: Los Angeles follows Marine Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Echart) as he and a platoon of marines try to act as humanity’s last line of defense amidst a global alien invasion. Set in Los Angeles, the soldiers fight their way across the city’s famous landmarks as they try to help trapped citizens and figure out their next moves. Stylized like a war film with a lot of handheld camera actions, Battle: Los Angeles has some impressive action sequences and a stacked ensemble that features performers like Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, and Ne-Yo.

When a nameless drifter (Nicolas Cage) suddenly finds himself with flat tires in a small town, he strikes a deal to spend the night cleaning a dingy children’s arcade called Willy’s Wonderland in exchange for free car maintenance. The night isn’t as simple as he thinks it will be though, as the animatronic robots that used to entertain the establishment’s guests come to life and attack the moody man. Loosely inspired by the video game franchise Five Nights at Freddie’s, Willy’s Wonderland is a silly, action-packed B-movie that lets Nicholas Cage shine in all the best ways.

After the commercial success of Michael Bay's Transformers movies, another Hasbro property was adapted for the big screen in Battleship. Directed by Peter Berg, Battleship follows the crew of the USS John Paul Jones as they deal with a sudden alien invasion near Hawaii. This action-packed film wasn’t successful enough to launch a new franchise, but its impressive ensemble-featuring A-listers like Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgård, and Liam Neeson- makes it worth checking out for anyone who likes watching some good old fashioned alien carnage on the big screen.

Hot off the success of appearing in John Wick 2 and becoming the CW’s Batwoman, actress Ruby Rose was more than ready for her own action flick. In The Doorman, Rose plays Ali Gorsky, a former U.S. marine who takes a job as a doorman at a luxurious New York City hotel. Unfortunately, things aren’t as relaxing as Ali hopes, as a group of mercenaries infiltrate the hotel and initiate a lockdown as they violently search for valuable pieces of art. It falls to Ali to take down the mercenaries in this explosive and twist-filled thriller.

The third film in The Mummy franchise, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, ditches the Egyptian desert and heads to China. After a now-grown Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford) accidentally revives China’s Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) and his clay terracotta soldiers, it falls to him and his adventure-seeking family to stop the supernatural threat and save the world. The film isn’t nearly as entertaining as the first two in the franchise, but seeing Brendan Fraser return to the big screen as archeologist Richard O'Connell and square off with Jet Li feels like the best kind of fever dream.

A group of mercenaries is dispatched to East Africa to rescue the daughter of a politician from a terrorist cell in M.J. Bassett’s Rogue. Led by Samantha O’Hara (Megan Fox), the group has to maneuver dangerous terrain, outgun deadly individuals and even survive encounters with hungry lionesses to complete the mission and reach their extraction point. The film has a solid ensemble, but it’s really Megan Fox’s leading performance that gives the movie its sense of heart as Samantha makes tough decisions to try and get everyone home safe.

Being a bicycle courier should be a relatively low-stress job, but things become incredibly dangerous for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in David Koepp’s Premium Rush. After Wilee picks up a certain package, he is suddenly being chased by a crooked cop (Michael Shannon) who desperately wants the contents of the package for himself. Featuring some incredibly intense chase scenes, Premium Rush is an exciting, adrenaline-fueled ride that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats until all of the action is finally over.

Starring Donnie To as the titular Ip Man- a real-life martial artist who later tutored Bruce Lee- Kung Fu Master focuses on the period in Ip’s life when he was a police captain shortly before the 1949 Communist Revolution in China. Framed for murder and forced out of the force, Ip has to discover the truth and keep himself safe in this entertaining and stunt-filled flick. For those who haven’t seen them, the core Ip Man movies, all of which are directed by Wilson Yip and star Donnie Yen, are some of the best action movies ever made!

Based on a short story by science-fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers follows Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dian) and his friends as they start out as recruits and grow into Mobile Infantry officers as humankind fights a seemingly never-ending galactic war against an alien species called Arachnids.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven, who also helmed action classics RoboCop and Total Recall, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects and includes some fantastic action sequences. Unfortunately, the film was somewhat disliked when it was released because a lot of the satire about constant warfare and the impacts it has on people went over the general audience’s heads, but Starship Troopers is an entertaining film that still holds up as a cautionary tale today.

Starring Spider-Man and The Punisher, excuse me, I mean Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal, Pilgrimage follows a group of monks and their quiet defenders as they transport an item across Ireland before it is sent to the Pope. Set at the start of the 13th century, the group must traverse a dangerous, wartorn environment to complete their mission while also dealing with some of the spiritual challenges that come from how the group acts to ensure their survival. Directed by Brendan Muldowney, Pilgrimage is a beautifully shot film that dwells just as much on the bloody action as it does on the emotional journey of its core characters.

No matter what you may think about the “Snyderverse” or Justice League, it’s clear that director Zack Snyder loves comic books. His star-studded adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen may diverge from the source material, but his love of the story and characters shines through with each moody shot. Watchmen is one of the most brutally violent comic book films to ever be released in theaters, but it is also one of the most thought-provoking and emotionally mature. Before the film came out, Watchmen was often called unadaptable, but Snyder’s adaptation is an entertaining and thought-provoking movie that deserves to be watched by hardcore fans and people who are unfamiliar with the original material alike.

In the third film in the Predator franchise, director Nimród Antal’s Predators finally moves the action away from Earth as a group of killers from across the globe is mysteriously transported to an alien game reserve on another planet. As the group comes to grips with one another and tries to develop a plan to survive the mysterious jungle they suddenly find themselves in, they realize they are being hunted by a deadly alien species that keeps adapting to every one of their moves. The film is full of intense action sequences, but the most enjoyable aspect of the film is likely its impressive ensemble, which features fan-favorite actors like Adrien Brody, Mahershala Ali, and Danny Trejo.

The third entry in the Matthew Vaughn helmed Kingsman franchise, The King’s Man serves as a prequel that lets audiences see the formation of the titular spy agency in the early 1900s. Starring Ralph Fiennes as Orlando Oxford, the film follows the aristocratic spy as he uncovers and tries to diffuse a global plot to lead the world into a deadly war (specifically World War 1). An entertaining film that is equal parts style and substance, The King’s Man has some fantastic action choreography and set design that makes each fight sequence uniquely eye-catching and exciting.

Starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu as the titular Angels, Charlie’s Angels is an entertaining and tongue-in-cheek revamp of the classic TV series. The Angels- private investigators who are sent on dangerous, globe-trotting missions where they have to rely on their brains and beauty to get things done- are sent on a mission to stop a communications magnate named Roger Corwin (Tim Curry) from stealing and deploying a dangerous voice recognition software. Director McG certainly deserves praise for how he infused the cheesy concept with a lot of explosive action and suspense in his directorial debut, but the success of the film really falls on the wonderful chemistry and entertaining performances of the film’s core trio.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, the King of blockbuster filmmaking in the 1990s, 10,000 BC is a prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter named D’Leh (Steven Strait) as he embarks on a journey across unknown territory to help rescue his people, specifically his love Evolet (Camilla Belle), from a deadly group of raiders who attacked their village. Full of fantastical elements and battles against massive creatures, 10,000 BC is a gripping and unique adventure film that is full of action and intense challenges for its core characters.

In what may be his most on-brand role yet, Ryan Reynolds plays the deadly jokester Wade Wilson, also known as the Merc with a Mouth, in Deadpool. Directed by Tim Miller, the quip-filled film follows Wade Wilson as he tries to hunt down the people who experimented on him and gave him his mutant powers. The action looks great and is entertaining throughout the film, but the fight sequences are at their best when they also allow Deadpool to display his unique sense of humor and personality through his moves. For any X-Men fans out there, Deadpool is also worth checking out for the way it incorporates Colossus(Stefan Kapičić) and lesser-known team member Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) into the chaotic fray.

There’s one rule in life everyone has to follow, and that’s don’t cross Denzel Washington.

In Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, Denzel Washington plays John Creasy, a burnt-out and alcoholic former CIA agent who suddenly gets a new lease on life when he is hired to be a bodyguard for a nine-year-old girl named Lupita Ramos (Dakota Fanning). Things quickly turn upside down after Lupita is kidnapped in Mexico City, causing John to do whatever he can to find the girl he’s charged with protecting. Full of intense action sequences and fantastic performances, Man on Fire is a fantastic film that showcases just how far someone will go to defend the people they love.

Set in a futuristic, utopian version of Los Angeles in 2032, Marco Brambilla’s Demolition Man follows what happens after Sergeant John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) and criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) thaw out of a CryoPrison and suddenly start impacting this new pacifist environment. In this future, all deviant behavior is eliminated from criminals’ minds, so when Simon starts causing mayhem, the police force at the time -who have no idea how to fight or use weapons- have to rely on Sgt. Spartan to restore order. The action and performances are great, but what really sets this movie apart from other sci-fi action flicks released around the same time is its satire about American consumer culture and its dedication to long-running gags throughout the movie.

Directed by Tom Tyker and written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Eric Singer, The International is a political thriller that follows Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan’s Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) as they investigate a bank with notorious ties to organized crime and corrupt politicians around the world. As the two follow the money trail around the world in an attempt to prove they are funding terrorism, they quickly discover that they have put themselves and everyone they love at risk from dangerous people who are doing everything they can to stop the investigation.

Former criminal Terry Leather (Jason Statham) is ready for some excitement in his life when Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) presents him with a perfect plan to rob a bank as it supposedly undergoes some alarm maintenance. Directed by Roger Donaldson, The Bank Job is an entertaining and twist-filled ride that sees its cast of characters constantly question one another and put their particular sets of skills to work in order to get in and out of the bank without any issues. Despite the action-packed risks, Terry is willing to do everything he can for the score of a lifetime in this explosive thriller.

Based on journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Green Zone is an action thriller set in Baghdad during the aftermath of the 2003 occupation of Iraq by the United States. Directed by Paul Greengrass, the film follows Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his platoon as they travel across the city on what seems like a wild goose chase to discover weapons of mass destruction hidden in the town. As Miller becomes increasingly frustrated with the faulty intel that puts him and his soldiers at risk, he discovers an elaborate ruse that is intended to conceal the truth about the reality on the ground and keep the forces in the region for an increasingly unclear mission.

After a mob-protected gambling ring is robbed, enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is called in to make matters right in Killing Them Softly. Directed and written by Andrew Dominik, the film follows Jackie as he works to uncover who’s behind the job as the ramifications of the missing money slowly impact the local criminal economy. An action-packed allegory for the 2007-08 financial crisis, the film has a stacked ensemble, featuring mobster legends like James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta, and features a uniquely slick style that sets it apart from so many other movies about organized crime.

Unfortunately, when a crisis hits the New York City area in this 2010 buddy-cop film, it’s not NYPD’s finest who show up to make things right, it’s The Other Guys. Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) are mild-mannered officers who spend more time behind the desk than on the field now, but things change when the two of them take on a minor case that unwinds into a major investigation full of intrigue. Co-written and directed by Adam McKay, the hilarious film features commentary on the 2008 housing crisis that set the director down a path of more satirically pointed films like The Big Short and Don’t Look Up.

After hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) wakes up and realizes that he has been injected with a deadly drug cocktail, he has to do everything he can to keep his adrenaline flowing and keep his heart from stopping. Written and directed by filmmaker duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Crank is a pulse-pounding and over-the-top action film that sees Chev get in multiple fights and cause mayhem all across Los Angeles as he does everything he can to survive and track down the individual who poisoned him in the first place.

Loosely based on historical events in the real town of Tombstone, Arizona, George P. Cosmatos’ Western flick feels like an all-out brawl in the best ways. The film follows notorious lawmen and brothers Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), Virgil Earp (Sam Elliott), Morgan Earp (Bill Paxton), and their friend Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) as they are pressured to come out of retirement to defend the town of Tombstone from an outlaw Cowboy gang. Tense and full of awesome stunt work, Tombstone has grown into a cult classic and is considered a modern Western classic full of fantastic performances.

A detective story with a sci-fi twist, Looper was the mainstream moviegoing audience’s first introduction to future Star Wars director Rian Johnson. Written and directed by Johnson, Looper is set in a world where criminal organizations in the future have the capability to send individuals back in time to be whacked in the past where no evidence can come back to haunt them. Things become complicated for a young looper named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) when he is suddenly tasked with eliminating his older, more experienced self (played by Bruce Willis). Looper is an incredibly complex, entertaining movie that uses each new fight scene as an opportunity to say something about its dueling protagonist(s).

Directed by Joe Wright, Hanna is about a young girl named Hanna (Saorise Ronan) who is raised to be an assassin by her ex-CIA operative father Erik (Eric Bana). Throughout the course of the movie, it is revealed that Erik is hiding out from the CIA, specifically an agent named Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), because of a secret he knows and that he has been training Hanna as a way to help him finally escape from their watchful eye. A globe-trotting affair that sees Hanna on the run and trying to rendezvous with her father in Berlin, Hanna is incredibly entertaining and full of some fantastic fight sequences that push the young protagonist to the absolute limit.

Directed by Jamie Dagg, Sweet Virginia is a dramatic and tense action film that pushes its characters to their emotional limits. As violence grips a small town in Alaska, former rodeo star turned small-town motel owner Sam Rossi (Jon Bernthal) bonds with Elwood (Christopher Abbott), his next-door neighbor at the motel, and suddenly finds himself entwined in a dangerous situation that seemingly impacts every person in the close-knit community. Full of twists and turns, Sweet Virginia is downright nerve-wracking during certain sequences and it features some incredible dialogue delivered by an all-star ensemble.

A buddy-action comedy set in the 1970s written and directed by Shane Black? Sign me up.

Starring Ryan Gosling as a hapless private investigator named Holland March and Russell Crowe as a slap-happy enforcer named Jackson Healy, The Nice Guys follows the two of them as they are forced to work together to determine what happened to a missing woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley). The job isn’t as simple as it seems though, as seemingly all of Los Angeles’ shadiest individuals are also hunting for Amelia and making things difficult for the titular Nice Guys trying to piece everything together. Tense and hilarious in equal measures, The Nice Guys is one of those rare films that just delivers on every level and even leaves the audience wanting more.

Lord of the Flies for the child soldier generation, Alejandro Lanes’ Monos follows eight teenage guerilla soldiers who are stationed on a remote mountaintop and tasked with monitoring a prisoner of war. Isolated from the rest of the world- and the war that ravages the unspecified Latin American country- the young soldiers become increasingly animalistic and cult-like as they cultivate intense social bonds with one another. A shockingly twisted film that shows just how brutal people can become, Monos is beautifully crafted and absolutely worth seeing for anyone who enjoys stories about what intense situations can do to people’s psychiatric states.

Directed and written by Scott Cooper, Hostiles follows Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), a veteran who fought in the American-Indian Wars, as he is tasked with escorting a Cheyenne Indian Chief named Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family back home to Montana from New Mexico. Set in 1892, Hostiles has a wonderful ensemble that elevates the film as each character deals with their own emotional journey. The film is beautifully shot and takes advantage of the wide-open spaces to create some breathtaking action sequences that perfectly show the scale and intensity of what battles during this time looked and felt like.

Sure, The Princess Bride is a family drama that is suitable for all ages, but it is also a wonderfully paced adventure film that includes some fantastic action. Directed by Rob Reiner and written by William Goldman, the author of the novel the movie is based on, The Princess Bride follows Westley (Cary Elwes) as he embarks on an epic hero’s journey to reunite with and ultimately rescue his true love, Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright). Full of sword fights and Rodents of Unusual Size, The Princess Bride perfectly balances the film’s tense, action-packed sequences with moments of levity and wonderful lines from the stacked ensemble cast.

Co-starring John C. Reilley and Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Sisters Brothers, an aging bounty-hunting duo with a less than positive reputation, The Sisters Brothers is an intense and wonderfully acted film full of fantastic action sequences and quippy monologues. French director Jacques Audiard's first English-language film, this Western tale follows the brothers as they travel across the American frontier and get on each other’s nerves as they search for an alchemist named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) whose newest invention has the potential to completely uproot the gold-rush. Things don’t go quite as they should though for the Sisters Brothers, and the duo is forced to use their minds and quick fingers to survive this twist-filled adventure.

Set in the futuristic city of Neo-Tokyo, Akira is one of the most critically acclaimed and beautifully animated anime films of all time. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, who also wrote the original manga and screenplay for the film, Akira follows Shotaro Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang, as he tries to rescue his friend Tetsuo from a shadowy government organization that is known for performing parapsychological experiments on children. Things quickly go haywire as Tetsuo develops powerful abilities he can’t fully control and a number of different powerful forces in the city emerge to try and take advantage of the chaotic situation. Otomo chose to leave certain story elements and characters out of the anime, so anyone who watches the film and is left wanting more should check out the original manga to check out the full saga!

Directed by Gareth Evans, The Raid 2 is an Indonesian action film that heavily showcases the fighting style known as pencak silat. Picking up where the first film left off, The Raid 2 follows special agent Rama (Iko Uwais) as he goes undercover to investigate and expose the corrupt relationship between police officials and Jakarta’s criminal organizations. Unfortunately, Hulu doesn’t have The Raid for people who want to see the franchise’s first film but trust me when I say that The Raid 2 is one of the most intense, tightly choreographed action films that has ever been released and it can absolutely be enjoyed without having seen the first one.