There’s been enough time between the 2000s and now to consider the decade as kind of old school. It might be hard to admit such a thing, but media from the 2000s is now as old as media from the 1980s was during the 2000s. Time is ruthless in its forward march, but hey, sometimes it’s fun (in a bittersweet way) to get nostalgic about things, and 2000s movies are continually becoming fair targets for such a thing.
There were a ton of action movies released during the decade in question, with many not finding quite the level of love they arguably deserve in the many years that have passed since their release.Some of the following movies are a little over-hated, and others are relatively obscure, but all can be classified as underrated in some sense, and for anyone who’s a fan of the action genre, they’re well worth your time.
10’Curse of the Golden Flower' (2006)
Director: Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimoudirected several great martial arts movies throughout the 2000s, with 2002’sHerobeing perhaps the most well-known, and deservedly so. 2004’sHouse of Flying Daggersalso gets a good deal of love, and succeeds just as well as a romance/melodrama, being as compelling asHerowhileintentionally not being quite as action-packed.
2006’sCurse of the Golden Floweris similarly striking in the visual sense, and will likely appeal to anyone who liked those other two films, though it’s not quite as well-known for whatever reason. It builds up a complex conflict within the family of a powerful emperor, with everything building until an inevitably satisfying and explosive climax.Curse of the Golden Flowermightnot be as narratively strong as Zhang’s other martial arts movies, but it looks just as amazing, and does end up delivering when it comes to the action sequences.
Curse of the Golden Flower
Watch on Tubi
9’Azumi' (2003)
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura
Not always, but often, you canrely on samurai movies to deliver great action. The genre seemed to thrive the most during the 1950s and 1960s, but it’s not one that’s ever gone away entirely, with 21st-century releases likeAzumiultimately showing that the humble samurai film still has legs (it helps to havea director likeRyûhei Kitamurabehind the whole thing).
Azumicenters on a group of orphans who’ve been raised as brutally efficient assassins from a young age, and the consequences that unfold after one of them, the titular Azumi, is tasked with taking out various warlords. The film may have a historical setting, but the reality depicted is heightened. It’s inevitably for the best, whenit means having plenty of over-the-top and incredibly exciting action set pieces.
Buy on Amazon
8'2 Fast 2 Furious' (2003)
Director: John Singleton
Haters be damned:2 Fast 2 Furiousis peak, as far asThe Fast and the Furiousmovies go. This 2003 movie gets criticized a bit because of its silly name and its lack ofVin Diesel(it’s the only movie in the long-running series –outside a solitary spin-off– that he doesn’t appear in), but it’s honestly so much fun as an action movie, at least if you’re in the mood for something a bit stupid.
2 Fast 2 Furioushints atwhere the series would end up going; essentially, away from street racing and increasingly towards wild action and over-the-top drama that’s admirable for its cheesiness. It’s a time capsule of the early 2000s in every way, and honestly, it’s much better directed than some of the other early movies in the series.John Singletonwas probably over-qualified, but he did a great job behind the camera on this one.
2 Fast 2 Furious
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7’Godzilla: Final Wars' (2004)
You could honestly calleveryGodzillamovie released during the 2000s underrated, to some extent. The series was going through something of a slump during itsMillennium Era, leading to a halt in JapaneseGodzillafilms for about a decade, following 2004. AftertheMonsterVersebegan in America, things roared back to life with 2016’sShin Godzilla, and then2023’sGodzilla Minus Onewas even bigger… but that’s all getting a bit carried away.
Thefilm intended to celebrate the titular character’s 50th anniversary,Godzilla: Final Wars, is a masterpiece ofstupid, explosive, ridiculous, and endlessly entertaining action. Filmmaker Ryûhei Kitamura went just as wild with the kaiju genre as he’d gotten with the samurai genre in the previous year’sAzumi, and the resulting film – which sees Godzilla take on most of his prior foes in a series of one-sided rematches – is a sight to behold.
Godzilla: Final Wars
Watch on Amazon
6’JCVD' (2008)
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Jean-Claude Van Dammehas had a fascinating career as an action movie star,starting out inlow-grade but charming 1980s moviesand then becoming more of a star by the 1990s. He never went out of style entirely, and was arguably thebest part of the bestExpendablesmovie, but his career has fluctuated to some extent, with 2008’sJCVDacknowledging this by having the star play a fictionalized version of himself.
That shouldn’t be surprising, considering the titleJCVD, but the film itself is genuinely very interesting, following Van Damme as he attempts to escape from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, only to get entangled in a series of dramatic/violent events back in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium. It’s entertaining, funny, meta, and action-packed, withJCVDfeeling wholly unique as a film, and being up there with the very best movies Jean-Claude Van Damme has ever starred in (the man plays himself well).
5’Red Cliff' (2008)
Director: John Woo
Even thoughJohn Woois a definitive action movie director, he’s also so prolific that certain movies in his filmography tend to get a little buried, especially the ones that don’t involvespectacular and over-the-top gunfights.Red Cliffis a two-part epic that plainly demonstrates Woo’s range as a filmmaker, as the entire saga – lasting almost five hours in duration – features some incredible battle sequences.
The first movie is particularly good and particularly action-packed, with 2009’sRed Cliff IIbeing necessary from a narrative perspective, but not quite as impressive on the action front. Anyone who loves seeing some large-scale historical battles play out on screen owes it to themselves to check out bothRed CliffandRed Cliff II, becauseno other film of John Woo’s proves quite as big or grand in scope as either of these.
Watch on Hulu
4’Versus' (2000)
What’s this? Another Ryûhei Kitamura film? Absolutely, because the guy was on fire throughout the early 2000s, andVersuswas the film that laid the groundwork for later efforts likeAzumiandGodzilla: Final Wars. Those movies were pretty extreme in the number of genres they attempted to belong to simultaneously, but in that regard, are nonetheless eclipsed byVersus.
This is a zombie movie, a fantasy film, an action/adventure romp, and a thriller all in one. On top of all that,Versusalso gets by with what feels like a fairly modest budget, and is kind of like a feature-length version of the movies pre-teen boys tended to make in the 2000s when they first got their hands on a digital camera, only professionally made. It’s a spectacular, over-the-top, and relentless spectacle, and one of the most distinctive action movies of its decade.
Rent on Apple TV
3’Fearless' (2006)
Director: Ronny Yu
Jet Liis amongthe greatest martial arts actors of all time, with 2006’sFearlessbeing one of his more underrated films. It deliverseverything you’d want out of a martial arts movie, being loosely inspired by the dramatic life ofHuo Yuan Jia, who was a martial artist from China who became well-known for taking on numerous foreign opponents in public fights throughout the late 19th century and into the early 20th century.
Fearless isn’t quite a biopic, but it takes the life of its central figure and uses it as an excuse to allow Jet Li to take part in plenty of spectacular fight scenes. The actual story ofFearlessmight bea little ham-fisted and melodramatic at times, but all the big action set pieces soar, and Li proves immensely charismatic and likable in the central role.
Fearless (2006)
Huo Yuan Jia became the most famous martial arts fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness, defining the true spirit of martial arts and also inspiring his nation. The son of a great fighter who didn’t wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, Huo resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win.
Director: Kim Jee-woon
Plenty of Westerns feature shootouts and various other exciting scenes that admittedly contain action, but not every Western can also be called an action movie in the traditional sense. Thankfully, for those who prefer action movies over Westerns, films likeThe Good, The Bad, The Weirdexist, withthis 2008 movie being a unique Western and debatably one ofthe best action movies ever made.
It takes the central premise ofThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and does generally wilder things with it, focusing on three untrustworthy people who nevertheless have to form an uneasy alliance if they want to find some hidden treasure.The Good, The Bad, The Weirdkicks off with a bang and never lets up, being relentless in all the right ways and proving amazingly entertaining for its 2+ hour runtime.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird
Watch on AMC+
1’Redline' (2009)
Director: Takeshi Koike
Redlineisan all-time great anime movie, but is also notorious for being overlooked and not exactly finding an audience upon its initial release. It has a sci-fi premise (and is one of manynotable science fiction movies from 2009), but also contains plenty of action, centering on an intergalactic car racing tournament that puts its competitors in incredible danger, which they accept for the opportunity to be considered the universe’s best racer.
Honestly, it’s a perfect movie for anyone who likes anime and believes the pod-racing sequence fromThe Phantom Menaceis that film’s best scene.The quality of animation on offer inRedlineis spectacular, and might well need to be seen to be believed. It’s a visceral, exciting, and non-stop movie, and even if it came out at the tail end of the 2000s, it might well be that decade’s most underrated action movie.
