We’re nine months into 2025, which means we still have a quarter of the year to be graced with more exciting action movies. And even if we didn’t have that extra chunk of time, we would still have a very solid year for the genre. Even some of the disappointments, like The Old Guard 2 and The Accountant 2, managed to deliver at least one memorable set piece. Will any of 2025’s remaining actioners deliver the same? The Toxic Avenger and Caught Stealing certainly look like they will deliver, as do Tron: Ares, Predator: Badlands, The Running Man, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and, especially, Mortal Kombat II.
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We’re looking at the best of the best when it comes to 2025 movie action sequences. They didn’t have to come from straightforward action movies, meaning genre-blenders were equally subject to inclusion. To that point, streaming movies counted just as much as theatrical releases.
10) Discord vs. Andy in The Old Guard 2
The inferior critical reception compared to that of the original film has put a sliver of doubt in The Old Guard becoming a trilogy, but at the very least, The Old Guard 2 is capped off with an exciting battle of the blades. Specifically, between Charlize Theron’s Andy vs. Uma Thurman’s original immortal, Discord.
This fight is particularly memorable because of the location. It takes place at night on a helipad towards the top of a skyscraper. We know that, with one wrong step, Andy could plummet off the side of the building. And, since she’s immortal again, it wouldn’t even kill her — it would just be incredibly painful. But better than all that is the fact that seeing Uma Thurman wield a sword really feels like a callback to Kill Bill, which surely was intentional.
Stream The Old Guard 2 on Netflix.
9) The Rescue Mission in The Accountant 2
The Accountant 2 is a disappointment compared to the original film, and that admittedly does extend to its final set piece. But that’s more because Christian Wolff’s (Ben Affleck) storming of Lamar Blackburn’s (John Lithgow) compound in the original film was so great as opposed to The Accountant 2‘s Christian and Brax (Jon Bernthal) team-up being lame.
At the end of the film, Brax and Christian, who have spent the whole film reconnecting, combine forces to rescue a child. There’s a lot of automatic rifle firing, ducking for cover, shattered glass, and quips. There’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s fun.
Stream The Accountant 2 on Prime Video.
8) Comer’s Safehouse in Heads of State
For the most part, Amazon’s underrated action-comedy movie Heads of State is more comedy than action. It’s mostly an excuse for Idris Elba and John Cena to again display the chemistry they had in The Suicide Squad. However, it doesn’t short the audience on bombastic set pieces.
The highlight is the assassins’ attack on CIA officer Marty Comer’s safehouse, which he opens to Cena’s President Will Derringer and Elba’s Prime Minister Sam Clarke. It’s a sequence that isn’t far off from something out of a John Wick movie, but what helps it stand out is the enthusiasm Jack Quaid (more on him later) imbues in Comer.
Stream Heads of State on Prime Video.
7) Biplane Hang in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
It’s not the apex of the franchise, but Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a suitable send-off for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. This has always been a franchise peppered with fantastic action sequences. The helicopter chase in the original film, the bridge part in the third, the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the bathroom fight in Mission: Impossible – Fallout — they’re all highly memorable (and quite a few of them were fully brought to life by Cruise himself).
Fallout remains the best of the franchise when it comes to action scenes (and perhaps the top of the franchise in general), but The Final Reckoning delivers as well. Hunt’s narrow escape from the submarine is top-notch, but it’s his dangling from a biplane flown by his archenemy that takes the win for this list’s purpose. Though, admittedly, it’s very silly when that archenemy just kind of smacks his groin and face on the vertical fin, almost to the point it deflates the entire sequence. Almost.
Rent Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning on Amazon Video.
6) Rescuing Bob From Himself in Thunderbolts*
From the title change marketing strategy to Disney+ removing the characters’ weapons from their hands in the marketing for its streaming debut, it seems as though Disney wasn’t quite sure what to do with Thunderbolts*. The marketing can’t be fully blamed for its underperformance at the box office, however, as it also fell victim to the general MCU fatigue that is currently plaguing the saga. And it’s a shame, too, because it’s actually one of Phase Five’s highlights.
What’s great about Thunderbolts* is, while it was marketed as a big event film (which it is to a degree), what it is even more is an intimate tale of struggling with depression. When Yelena and crew enter the Void’s world to rescue Bob, it is a big sequence, but it feels truly dangerous for the protagonists because they’re really just stuck in a place where they’re subjected to the lashing out of one conflicted mind.
Stream Thunderbolts* on Disney+.
5) The Boat Fight in Nobody 2
There aren’t many movies out there that merge vacationing and action, but Nobody 2 pulls it off. Some of the novelty of seeing Bob Odenkirk play an action hero has worn off, but it’s every bit as exciting an adventure as the original film.
All of this applies to the best action scene of each film, respectively. Sure, the third-act shootouts in both films are solid, but it’s really the smaller-scale fight towards the middle of each one that’s the highlight. It was the bus fight in the original where Odenkirk fans knew for sure he could pull this type of role off. Now that we already know that, the sequel had to deliver some spin on that marketable sequence and those behind the film did so by sandwiching Hutch and a group of gangsters on another small vehicle: a duck boat. It’s silly and perfectly in line with the sequel’s lighter tone.
Nobody 2 is now playing in theaters.
4) Levon vs. Dutch’s Biker Gang in A Working Man
While it’s not quite as solid as his financial smash previous collaboration with director David Ayer, The Beekeeper, A Working Man is another win for Jason Statham. Ayer’s gritty style and Statham’s stoic line deliveries are a match made in action movie heaven.
The final third is basically one extended, dimly lit sequence of Statham’s Levon Cade taking on a hyper-violent, mafia-connected biker gang. He goes up against a lot of foes and, as might be expected, ends up the only one who walks away. When it comes to a Statham movie, we’d expect nothing less.
Stream A Working Man on MGM+.
3) Kaiju Bash in Superman
Fortunately, Superman was enough of a critical and commercial success to ensure that the DCU can move forward as James Gunn and Peter Safran planned. Its in-medias-res structure was a brilliant way to just throw audiences into this whole (mostly) new cinematic universe and hit the ground running.
The first time we see Superman, in fact, is in an action sequence. Specifically, one involving him and the “Hammer of Boravia” which, spoiler alert, is actually a Superman copy. That sequence (and the later one with his revealed copy) is fun, but the highlight must be his taking on a fully grown kaiju. Only Gunn could deliver a kaiju in a Superman movie.
Rent Superman on Amazon Video.
2) Nathan vs. Zeno in Novocaine
After getting his exposure increased via the original The Hunger Games, Jack Quaid broke through big with Amazon’s The Boys. The latter project also allowed him to show off his charm just as well as he was able to show off his leading man capability. And, when it comes to choices to make his big-screen, leading man debut, it’s hard to imagine a better choice than Novocaine.
Quaid’s Nathan Caine can’t feel pain, so every action sequence shows him with a certain advantage. However, he can still die, which he nearly does when he goes head-to-head with massive tattoo artist Zeno. It’s a bone-crunching action sequence, with a certain squirm factor given how Caine slams his fists in shattered glass and uses it to give his punches a little extra edge.
Stream Novocaine on Paramount+.
1) Eve vs. All of Hallstatt in Ballerina
It may have lost Lionsgate a ton of money, but Ballerina is nonetheless a worthy expansion of the John Wick cinematic saga. Narratively it’s a little hollower than the Wick mainline films and Keanu Reeves’s presence, while always welcome, feels more like a distraction than something that’s actually necessary, but Ana de Armas knocks the role of Eve Macarro out of the park, and what amounts to the entire second half of the film is one big, long, great action sequence.
As the film progresses, Eve’s goal goes from revenge to rescuing a kidnapped child. Fortunately for Eve, those two goals are actually merged. Her target is the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), and he’s both the man who killed her father and the man who is holding the child. Unfortunately for Eve, he’s the head of a town (specifically, Hallstatt, Austria) chock-full of assassins just like her. It’s one lengthy set piece and it’s extremely exciting, with de Armas displaying even more acrobatic capability than Reeves. Not to mention, Eve makes great use of a ton of grenades, a pair of ice skates, and a flamethrower.
Rent Ballerina on Amazon Video.
What have been your favorite action sequences of 2025? Let us know in the comments below!
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