Top 30 Ranked

The Greatest Action Movies of 2022

Unforgettable Blockbusters and High Octane Thrills

Explore the best action cinema with our ultimate guide to the year's top adrenaline-fueled releases, superhero epics, and pulse-pounding adventures.

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About 2022 Action Movies

In the long view of cinematic history, 2022 might be remembered as the year the action genre finally stopped trying to imitate the interconnected sprawl of comic book universes and remembered how to be its own visceral, independent animal. For nearly a decade, the genre had felt slightly stagnant, dominated by green screens and the weight of massive intellectual properties that prioritized plot over choreography. But 2022 broke that mold by delivering a series of films that felt tactile, dangerous, and startlingly sincere.

The most obvious triumph of the year was Top Gun: Maverick. It was a film that shouldn't have worked on paper, a decades-late sequel to a relic of the eighties. Instead, it became a global phenomenon by rejecting the digital safety net. Joseph Kosinski and Tom Cruise prioritized real g-forces and practical aerial photography, creating a sense of physical stakes that audiences had clearly been starving for. It reminded us that the best action filmmaking is an exercise in clarity. You knew where every plane was, you felt the vibration of the engines, and you understood the geography of the mission. It was a masterclass in tension.

While Cruise was reclaiming the skies, over in India, S.S. Rajamouli was redefining the scale of the epic with RRR. This was a film that made Hollywood blockbusters look timid by comparison. It embraced a maximalist philosophy where every sequence was a crescendo. Whether it was a dance-off that felt as kinetic as a fistfight or a climax involving motorcycles and tigers, RRR was a reminder that action can be joyous and mythic. It bridged the gap between historical drama and superhero fantasy with more heart and imagination than anything coming out of the major domestic studios at the time.

On the grittier side of the spectrum, 2022 gave us the relentless efficiency of the Northman. Robert Eggers applied his obsessive attention to detail to the Viking revenge saga, resulting in some of the most brutal and grounded combat sequences in years. There was a weight to the weapons and a mud-caked reality to the violence that felt like a direct counter-argument to the weightless, bloodless battles of modern fantasy.

Even the smaller, more experimental entries found a way to innovate. Everything Everywhere All at Once utilized the vocabulary of Hong Kong action cinema to tell a story about taxes and family trauma. The fight choreography was inventive and funny, using everyday objects and absurd scenarios to prove that you do not need a hundred-million-dollar budget to create memorable set pieces. It was high-concept filmmaking that never lost its grip on the fundamental thrill of a well-timed punch.

By the time the credits rolled on 2022, the landscape of the genre looked healthier than it had in years. The success of these films proved that audiences are willing to show up for craft, whether that means real jets, intricate wires, or historical accuracy. The genre moved away from the assembly line and back toward the vision of the individual director. It was a year of spectacle with a soul, and it set a high bar for everything that has followed. Even if 2022 was just a brief snapshot in time, it was a moment when action movies felt vital, dangerous, and utterly essential again.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
30
2022 Action in The Killer (2022)
The Killer
2022

While his girlfriend is away on a trip, retired assassin Bang Ui-kang is tasked with looking after her friend's 17-year-old daughter. After a street attack, Bang Ui-kang becomes embroiled in a murder investigation and dangerous trafficking gang.

Action
Crime
1h 35m
Choi Jae-hoon
Jang Hyuk, Lee Seo-young, Bang Eun-jeong, Bruce Khan
29
2022 Action in The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh Part 1 (2022)
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh Part 1
2022

Tristan, the son of Meliodas and Elizabeth, inherits the power of the Goddess Clan and can heal people’s wounds and injuries, but he often ends up hurting others due to his inability to control his Demon Clan power. To protect his family, Tristan heads to Edinburgh Castle and meets a host of new friends along the way.

Animation
Fantasy
52m
Bob Shirohata
Ayumu Murase, Sora Amamiya, Yohei Azakami, Jun Fukuyama
28
2022 Action in RRR (2022)
RRR
2022

A fictional history of two legendary revolutionaries' journey away from home before they began fighting for their country in the 1920s.

Action
Adventure
3h 5m
S. S. Rajamouli
N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Olivia Morris, Ray Stevenson

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27
2022 Action in Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind
2022

Hellbent on taking over Earthrealm, Kano viciously attacks town after town with the aid of three cold-blooded Black Dragon mercenaries. Those who don’t submit are annihilated but one young man won’t bend the knee to Kano: Kenshi.

Animation
Action
1h 22m
Rick Morales
Manny Jacinto, David Wenham, Artt Butler, Yuri Lowenthal
26
2022 Action in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022)
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
2022

The Red Ribbon Army, an evil organization that was once destroyed by Goku in the past, has been reformed by a group of people who have created new and mightier Androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, and seek vengeance against Goku and his family.

Animation
Science Fiction
1h 40m
Tetsuro Kodama
Masako Nozawa, Toshio Furukawa, Yuko Minaguchi, Hiroshi Kamiya
25
2022 Action in Interceptor (2022)
Interceptor
2022

A U.S. Army Captain uses her years of tactical training to save humanity from sixteen nuclear missiles launched at the U.S. as a violent attack threatens her remote missile interceptor station.

Action
Thriller
1h 38m
Matthew Reilly
Elsa Pataky, Luke Bracey, Aaron Glenane, Belinda Jombwe
24
2022 Action in Secret Headquarters (2022)
Secret Headquarters
2022

While hanging out after school, Charlie and his friends discover the headquarters of the world’s most powerful superhero hidden beneath his home. When villains attack, they must team up to defend the headquarters and save the world.

Action
Adventure
1h 44m
Ariel Schulman
Owen Wilson, Michael Peña, Walker Scobell, Momona Tamada
23
2022 Action in Day Shift (2022)
Day Shift
2022

An LA vampire hunter has a week to come up with the cash to pay for his kid's tuition and braces. Trying to make a living these days just might kill him.

Action
Fantasy
1h 53m
J.J. Perry
Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good
22
2022 Action in Beast (2022)
Beast
2022

A recently widowed man and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their journey of healing soon turns into a fight for survival when a bloodthirsty lion starts to stalk them.

Thriller
Action
1h 32m
Baltasar Kormákur
Idris Elba, Leah Sava Jeffries, Iyana Halley, Sharlto Copley
21
2022 Action in The Lost City (2022)
The Lost City
2022

Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to the ancient city's lost treasure that featured in her latest story. Alan, determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, sets off to rescue her.

Action
Adventure
1h 52m
Aaron Nee
20
2022 Action in The Contractor (2022)
The Contractor
2022

After being involuntarily discharged from the U.S. Special Forces, James Harper decides to support his family by joining a private contracting organization alongside his best friend and under the command of a fellow veteran. Overseas on a covert mission, Harper must evade those trying to kill him while making his way back home.

Action
Thriller
1h 43m
Tarik Saleh
Chris Pine, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs
19
2022 Action in Memory (2022)
Memory
2022

Alex, an assassin-for-hire, finds that he's become a target after he refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization. With the crime syndicate and FBI in hot pursuit, Alex has the skills to stay ahead, except for one thing: he is struggling with severe memory loss, affecting his every move. Alex must question his every action and whom he can ultimately trust.

Action
Thriller
1h 54m
Martin Campbell
Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, Harold Torres
18
2022 Action in The 355 (2022)
The 355
2022

A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.

Action
Adventure
2h 2m
Simon Kinberg
17
2022 Action in Moonfall (2022)
Moonfall
2022

A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.

Science Fiction
Adventure
2h 11m
Roland Emmerich
Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer
16
2022 Action in Prey (2022)
Prey
2022

When danger threatens her camp, the fierce and highly skilled Comanche warrior Naru sets out to protect her people. But the prey she stalks turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal.

Thriller
Action
1h 40m
Dan Trachtenberg
Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp
15
2022 Action in Ambulance (2022)
Ambulance
2022

Decorated veteran Will Sharp, desperate for money to cover his wife's medical bills, asks for help from his adoptive brother Danny. A charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history: $32 million.

Thriller
Action
Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt
14
2022 Action in The Gray Man (2022)
The Gray Man
2022

When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.

Action
Thriller
2h 9m
Joe Russo
13
2022 Action in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder
2022

After his retirement is interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods, Thor Odinson enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who now wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. Together they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

12
2022 Action in Black Adam (2022)
Black Adam
2022

Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Action
Adventure
2h 5m
Jaume Collet-Serra
Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi
11
2022 Action in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
2022

Doctor Strange, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

Fantasy
Action
Benedict Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor
10
2022 Action in Morbius (2022)
Morbius
2022

Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Michael Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.

Action
Science Fiction
1h 45m
Daniel Espinosa
Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris
Why it ranks

Daniel Espinosa utilizes a jagged, gothic visual palette to illustrate the predatory speed of its titular anti-hero. The result is a creature-feature hybrid that emphasizes blurred motion and supernatural ferocity within the confines of a modern urban thriller.

9

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Action
Adventure
Why it ranks

James Cameron redefines the boundaries of digital immersion with unparalleled underwater fluid dynamics and oceanic warfare. The sheer technical ambition of its final act provides a sensory overload that feels like a glimpse into the future of the medium.

8
2022 Action in Samaritan (2022)
Samaritan
2022

Thirteen year old Sam Cleary suspects that his mysteriously reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith is actually the legendary vigilante Samaritan, who was reported dead 25 years ago. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.

Science Fiction
Crime
1h 42m
Julius Avery
Javon Walton, Sylvester Stallone, Dascha Polanco, Moisés Arias
Why it ranks

Sylvester Stallone brings a weathered, blue-collar grit to the superhero genre in a film that favors bone-crunching impact over glossy digital effects. This is a stripped-back, deconstructionist take on the vigilante mythos defined by its raw physical presence.

7
2022 Action in Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Jurassic World Dominion
2022

Four years after Isla Nublar was destroyed, dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

Adventure
Action
2h 27m
Colin Trevorrow
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill
Why it ranks

Trading slow-burn tension for a globe-trotting spy thriller aesthetic, this installment peaks during a blistering motorcycle chase through the streets of Malta. It repositions prehistoric predators as catalysts for urban mayhem and relentless pursuit sequences.

6
2022 Action in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Everything Everywhere All at Once
2022

An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.

Action
Adventure
2h 20m
Daniel Scheinert
Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong
Why it ranks

The Daniels reimagine martial arts through a kaleidoscopic lens of multiversal absurdity, proving that conceptual ingenuity can elevate hand-to-hand combat into pure fine art. Every fight sequence is a frenetic explosion of imagination and technical precision.

5
2022 Action in Uncharted (2022)
Uncharted
2022

A young street-smart, Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan embark on a dangerous pursuit of “the greatest treasure never found” while also tracking clues that may lead to Nathan’s long-lost brother.

Action
Adventure
1h 56m
Ruben Fleischer
Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle
Why it ranks

Capturing the swashbuckling spirit of classic adventure serials, this adaptation excels when it leans into vertigo-inducing heights and gravity-defying cargo plane skirmishes. It offers a breezy, high-octane spectacle that prioritizes momentum above all else.

4
2022 Action in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2022

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

Action
Adventure
2h 42m
Ryan Coogler
Why it ranks

Ryan Coogler balances profound grief with tactful, heavy-hitting set pieces that emphasize the tactical weight of Vibranium-age warfare. The film’s action resonates through its emotional stakes and striking environmental storytelling.

3
2022 Action in Bullet Train (2022)
Bullet Train
2022

Unlucky assassin Ladybug is determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug's latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe—all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives—on the world's fastest train.

Action
Comedy
2h 6m
David Leitch
Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry
Why it ranks

David Leitch transforms a confined locomotive into a neon-soaked playground of slapstick violence and inventive close-quarters combat. It is a stylish, hyper-kinetic exercise in rhythmic pacing and choreographed chaos.

2
2022 Action in The Woman King (2022)
The Woman King
2022

The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, and General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.

Action
Drama
2h 15m
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim
Why it ranks

Gina Prince-Bythewood orchestrates a breathtaking fusion of historical epic and muscular choreography, anchored by Viola Davis’s commanding physicality. The battle sequences pulse with a rhythmic, grounded intensity rarely seen in modern period pieces.

1

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.

Action
Drama
2h 11m
Joseph Kosinski
Why it ranks

A masterclass in practical stunt work that revitalizes the blockbuster through visceral, high-G cockpit cinematography and a relentless commitment to kinetic realism. Tom Cruise delivers a soaring testament to the enduring power of big-screen spectacle.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

Several 2022 action films spotlight strong female leads, notably 'The Woman King' directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, which explores themes of empowerment and history. Additionally, 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' offers a unique multiverse adventure led by Michelle Yeoh, blending action with vibrant storytelling.

In 2022, action movies including 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' and 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' started balancing superhero spectacle with more grounded, visceral storytelling. The year marked a shift from heavily CGI-dependent narratives to films that emphasize choreography and character-driven action sequences.

Directors like Joseph Kosinski ('Top Gun: Maverick'), David Leitch ('Bullet Train'), and Michael Bay ('Ambulance') brought distinct styles to 2022 action cinema, ranging from high-flying aerial drama to fast-paced thriller comedy and explosive, intense sequences. Their diverse approaches underscored the genre's revitalization that year.

'Bullet Train' mixes action with comedy and thriller elements, delivering a fast-paced ride filled with humor and suspense. 'Thor: Love and Thunder' combines fantasy, action, and comedy, while 'The Woman King' integrates action with historical and war film themes to provide layered narratives.

Yes, 'Top Gun: Maverick' is celebrated for its authentic aerial stunts and minimal use of CGI, delivering a visceral flight experience. Similarly, 'The Gray Man' focuses on intense, grounded action sequences showcasing meticulous choreography over visual effects.

Several 2022 action titles such as 'Jurassic World Dominion,' 'Avatar: The Way of Water,' and 'Black Adam' incorporate science fiction to expand their world-building and spectacle. These films balance thrilling action with advanced visual effects to create immersive futuristic environments.

Ensemble casts feature prominently in films like 'Bullet Train' and 'The Gray Man,' where multiple characters drive dynamic, interconnected storylines. This approach enhances complexity and allows for diverse character interactions within action-packed narratives.

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' explores legacy and cultural identity, enriching the superhero narrative with emotional depth. 'Morbius' and 'Black Adam' introduce unique antiheroes and mythologies, broadening the scope and tone of conventional superhero fare in 2022.
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