Top 30 Ranked

The Greatest Action Movies of 2023

Unstoppable Thrills and High Octane Blockbusters

Explore the ultimate guide to the year's top action hits. From epic sequels to sci-fi spectacles, discover the best stunt-filled cinema releases.

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About 2023 Action Movies

In the rearview mirror, 2023 looks like the year the action genre finally decided to stop apologizing for its own excesses. For nearly a decade, the blockbuster landscape was dominated by the digital weightlessness of superhero cinema, where stakes were often measured in multiverses and pixels rather than sweat and geography. But last year felt like a hard pivot back toward the visceral. It was a year defined by practical gravity, aging icons proving their mettle, and a global expansion of what we consider a premier action spectacle.

The conversation naturally begins and ends with John Wick: Chapter 4. Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves managed to do something almost unheard of in modern franchise filmmaking by making a fourth entry that felt like a creative peak rather than a cash grab. It was a sprawling, three hour opera of tactical brilliance that treated stunt work like high art. The sequence at the Arc de Triomphe and the painterly, top down dragon breath shotgun fight through a Parisian apartment set a new high bar for choreography. It reminded us that when you have a lead actor willing to put in the work and a director who understands how to frame a wide shot, you do not need a hundred million dollars of CGI to create awe.

While Wick was perfecting the urban gunfight, Tom Cruise was busy reminding us why he remains the last of the true daredevils. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One might have suffered slightly from being a setup for a sequel, but its commitment to practical stunt work remained unparalleled. The much discussed motorcycle jump off a cliff was more than just a marketing beat. It was a manifesto for a dying breed of cinema that demands real bodies in real spaces.

However, the most exciting part of 2023 was not just the return of the legends, but the rise of the international challengers. Sisu, out of Finland, offered a lean and mean alternative to the bloated runtimes of American spectacles. It was a grindhouse throwback that felt fresh because of its sheer efficiency. Then there was Godzilla Minus One. While technically a monster movie, its action set pieces possessed a terrifying sense of scale and consequence that outshined almost every domestic disaster movie of the last decade. It proved that tension is built through character stakes, not just the size of the explosions.

Even on streaming platforms, the quality stayed surprisingly high. Extraction 2 took the blueprint of the first film and amplified it with a twenty one minute long take that moved from a prison riot to a high speed train chase without blinking. It confirmed that Sam Hargrave is one of the most gifted action stylists currently working.

The landscape of 2023 showed a genre in transition. The era of the anonymous, green screen action scene is losing its grip on the audience. People are craving the texture of a real punch, the screech of actual tires, and the visible effort of a human being performing a feat of athleticism. It was a year where the stunt performers finally started getting their long overdue flowers. If this trend of prioritizing physical filmmaking over digital clutter continues, the future of the action genre looks remarkably bright and delightfully dangerous.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

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30
2023 Action in Gran Turismo (2023)
Gran Turismo
2023

The ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.

Adventure
Action
2h 15m
Neill Blomkamp
29
2023 Action in Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023)
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant
2023

During the war in Afghanistan, a local interpreter risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of grueling terrain.

War
Action
Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Sean Sagar, Jason Wong
28
2023 Action in Dogman (2023)
Dogman
2023

A boy, bruised by life, finds his salvation through the love of his dogs.

Action
Drama
1h 55m
Luc Besson
Caleb Landry Jones, Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick

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27
2023 Action in Nimona (2023)
Nimona
2023

A knight framed for a tragic crime teams with a scrappy, shape-shifting teen to prove his innocence.

Animation
Family
1h 39m
Troy Quane
Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy
26
2023 Action in Sound of Freedom (2023)
Sound of Freedom
2023

The story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent, who quits his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers.

Action
Drama
2h 11m
Alejandro Monteverde
Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp, Gerardo Taracena
25
2023 Action in Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (2023)
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King
2023

As a lionhearted boy who can't wield magic strives for the title of Wizard King, four banished Wizard Kings of yore return to crush the Clover Kingdom.

Animation
Fantasy
1h 53m
Ayataka Tanemura
Gakuto Kajiwara, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Junichi Suwabe, Kana Yuuki
24
2023 Action in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
2023

Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying "Shazam!", are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters of Atlas, who they must stop from using a weapon that could destroy the world.

Comedy
Action
2h 10m
David F. Sandberg
Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler
23
2023 Action in Kill Shot (2023)
Kill Shot
2023

Posing as hunters, a group of terrorists are in search of $100 million that was stolen and lost in a plane crash en route from Afghanistan.

Action
1h 33m
Ari Novak
Rachel Cook, Rib Hillis, Rob MacDonald, Mara Ohara
22
2023 Action in Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
2023

Special agent Orson Fortune and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order.

Action
Comedy
21

After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse's very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.

Animation
Action
2h 20m
Justin K. Thompson
Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez
20
2023 Action in Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire
2023

When the ruthless forces of the Motherworld threaten a quiet farming village on a distant moon, a mysterious outsider becomes its best hope for survival.

Science Fiction
Action
Sofia Boutella, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, Djimon Hounsou
19
2023 Action in Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Meg 2: The Trench
2023

An exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean of a daring research team spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

Action
Science Fiction
1h 56m
Ben Wheatley
Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy
18
2023 Action in Blue Beetle (2023)
Blue Beetle
2023

Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab.

Action
Science Fiction
2h 8m
Ángel Manuel Soto
Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Susan Sarandon, Raoul Max Trujillo
17
2023 Action in The Flash (2023)
The Flash
2023

When his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry Allen becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. In order to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry's only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

Action
Science Fiction
2h 24m
Andy Muschietti
Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Keaton, Michael Shannon
16
2023 Action in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
2023

Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father's death. Wielding the Black Trident's power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Arthur (Aquaman) forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom.

Action
Adventure
Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park
15
2023 Action in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
2023

Super-Hero partners Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne, along with with Hope's parents Janet van Dyne and Hank Pym, and Scott's daughter Cassie Lang, find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.

14
2023 Action in The Marvels (2023)
The Marvels
2023

When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, Carol's powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol's estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe.

Science Fiction
Adventure
1h 45m
Nia DaCosta
Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson
13
2023 Action in The Creator (2023)
The Creator
2023

Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and mankind itself.

Science Fiction
Action
2h 14m
Gareth Edwards
John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney
12
2023 Action in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
2023

Finding himself in a new era, and approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Adventure
Action
2h 35m
James Mangold
Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook
11
2023 Action in Heart of Stone (2023)
Heart of Stone
2023

An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable — and dangerous — weapon.

Action
Crime
2h 2m
Tom Harper
Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Sophie Okonedo
10
2023 Action in Ghosted (2023)
Ghosted
2023

Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie—but then makes the shocking discovery that she's a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.

Action
Comedy
1h 57m
Dexter Fletcher
Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Mike Moh
Why it ranks

Blending high-gloss romantic chemistry with a global espionage backdrop, the film operates with a sleek, aerodynamic energy that keeps its set pieces light on their feet. Its charm lies in the subversion of traditional gender roles within the spy archetype, wrapped in a bright and playful visual shell.

9
2023 Action in Plane (2023)
Plane
2023

After a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in a war zone, a fearless pilot finds himself between the agendas of multiple militias planning to take the plane and its passengers hostage.

Action
Adventure
1h 47m
Jean-François Richet
Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Tony Goldwyn, Yoson An
Why it ranks

This mid-budget marvel triumphs through its lean script and a refreshing commitment to a survivalist pulp sensibility. It avoids over-inflated stakes in favor of tight geography and two-fisted momentum, proving that a clear objective and a charismatic lead remain the bedrock of the genre.

8
2023 Action in The Equalizer 3 (2023)
The Equalizer 3
2023

Robert McCall finds himself at home in Southern Italy but he discovers his friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia.

Action
Thriller
Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman
Why it ranks

Denzel Washington brings a chilling, methodical stillness to this lean Italian thriller that plays more like a slasher film for the righteous. The action is impactful because of its restraint, punctuated by sudden bursts of calculated savagery that emphasize the terrifying efficiency of the protagonist.

7
2023 Action in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
2023

Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

Science Fiction
Adventure
2h 30m
James Gunn
Why it ranks

James Gunn concludes his trilogy with a hallucinogenic blast of cosmic creativity where the action serves as a direct conduit for high-stakes emotional payoff. The hallway fight sequence alone stands as a definitive highlight of the year, blending seamless camerawork with a chaotic, balletic use of diverse power sets.

6
2023 Action in Expend4bles (2023)
Expend4bles
2023

Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.

Action
Adventure
1h 43m
Scott Waugh
Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren
Why it ranks

Returning to the gritty, R-rated texture of old-school ensemble violence, this entry finds its footing by spotlighting brutal close-quarters choreography. It serves as a stripped-down reminder of the visceral satisfaction found in practical blood-squibs and unapologetic genre archetypes.

5
2023 Action in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
2023

When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, Optimus Prime and the Autobots must team up with a powerful faction known as the Maximals. With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, humans Noah and Elena will do whatever it takes to help the Transformers as they engage in the ultimate battle to save Earth.

Science Fiction
Adventure
2h 7m
Steven Caple Jr.
Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman
Why it ranks

By infusing the mechanical carnage with a surprisingly soulful nineties aesthetic, this soft reboot restores a sense of tactile weight and legible geography to its massive metal skirmishes. The result is a vibrant, rhythmic brawler that prioritizes character-driven combat over cluttered visual noise.

4
2023 Action in Extraction 2 (2023)
Extraction 2
2023

Back from the brink of death, highly skilled commando Tyler Rake takes on another dangerous mission: saving the imprisoned family of a ruthless gangster.

Action
Thriller
2h 2m
Sam Hargrave
Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Tornike Gogrichiani
Why it ranks

The sequel redefines the modern extraction subgenre with its staggering twenty-one minute continuous shot that feels less like a gimmick and more like a visceral immersive experience. Sam Hargrave utilizes his stuntman background to craft bone-crunching sequences characterized by surgical precision and claustrophobic intensity.

3
2023 Action in Fast X (2023)
2023

Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they've ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who's fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.

Action
Crime
2h 22m
Louis Leterrier
Why it ranks

Embracing a delightful brand of self-aware maximalism, this installment thrives on the sheer gravitational pull of Jason Momoa’s chaotic energy. It succeeds by leaning into the franchise's logic-defying absurdity with polished craftsmanship and a genuine commitment to escalating its signature vehicular mayhem.

2
2023 Action in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
2023

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the world's fate at stake and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan must consider that nothing can matter more than his mission—not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Action
Thriller
2h 44m
Christopher McQuarrie
Why it ranks

Tom Cruise continues his crusade for analog spectacle in a digital age, delivering a masterclass in escalating tension and practical death-defiance. The film distinguishes itself through a sophisticated sense of rhythm and scale that makes contemporary blockbusters look stationary by comparison.

1
2023 Action in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
John Wick: Chapter 4
2023

With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

Action
Thriller
2h 50m
Chad Stahelski
Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Ian McShane
Why it ranks

A towering achievement in kinetic operatics, this final chapter elevates stunt coordination to high art through its relentless, impeccably choreographed geometric violence. Chad Stahelski pushes the boundaries of practical set pieces, transforming every frame into a neon-soaked masterpiece of physical storytelling.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), directed by Chad Stahelski, showcases Keanu Reeves as the relentless assassin John Wick, with breathtaking choreography and a gripping storyline that elevates the franchise's signature style.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One delivers high-octane thrills and complex espionage, continuing Tom Cruise's legacy of performing impressive practical stunts that anchor the film's exciting narrative.

2023 action films emphasize practical effects and real-world stunts over CGI-heavy spectacles, with established stars like those in The Equalizer 3 and Extraction 2 demonstrating grit and physicality, marking a return to tangible, visceral storytelling in the genre.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), directed by Steven Caple Jr., fuses intense robot battles with adventurous storytelling, pushing the action genre into new sci-fi territories while entertaining fans with visually dynamic sequences.

Yes, several highly anticipated sequels dominate 2023's action scene, including Fast X, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, continuing beloved franchises with fresh stories and action-packed set-pieces.

The 2023 action movies showcase a global variety of settings, from urban crime scenes in The Equalizer 3 to exotic locales in Extraction 2 and sprawling cosmic landscapes in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, broadening the genre's narrative scope.

Ghosted (2023) uniquely mixes action with comedy and romance, offering a lighter, entertaining take on the genre, contrasting with more intense thrillers such as Heart of Stone or Expend4bles.
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