The action genre has had troubles in recent years, with the biggest blockbusters shifting from traditional action towards the superhero genre instead. Without the box office driving the release of more action movies, it has been harder for big-budget ones to get made as frequently.
In spite of this, there are a number of action movies that managed to make a splash both domestically and overseas throughout the course of 2022. From Santa Claus to the epics of Indian filmmaking, there is no end to the strange and glorious action movies that came out in 2022.
8 Violent Night
David Harbour has always been the man to call for an unconventional action hero, as shown by his roles in Stranger Things and Black Widow. However, despite all of that, nobody expected to see him playing a version of Santa Claus that goes after a gang of robbers on Christmas Eve.
That is exactly what Violent Night was about though, and the movie managed to play as an incredibly humorous take on other Christmas movies like Die Hard and Home Alone. It also treats viewers to some truly incredible fight scenes and Home Alone-inspired boobytraps at the same time.
7 RRR
While Indian cinema has often been the subject of comedy and light-hearted humor over seriously excellent works of cinema, RRR has blended everything that has made Indian cinema great over the years with an epic style that created a huge and tonally unique piece of filmmaking.
Set in the 1920s, RRR is a three-hour epic that features a fictional friendship between two real-life Indian revolutionaries. Featuring a lot of tigers, musical numbers, incredible action sequences, and an insane title (RRR stands for Ridiculous Riveting Rampage), this movie is an incredible watch. Better still, it is currently available on Netflix for those looking for a chance to witness it for themselves.
6 The Gray Man
Netflix has tried a number of times to come up with its own franchises, based particularly in the realms of action as they look to create blockbusters of its own for the age of streaming. Bringing in Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, two of the great Hollywood stars of today, to face off against each other was inspiring.
While fans and critics were left somewhat polarized by The Gray Man, the general consensus seems to be that it did a great job of bringing blockbuster action to the small screen. A great cast, excellent action scenes and a huge sense of inspired fun made this one of the best action movies of 2022.
5 Top Gun: Maverick
An obvious case for one of the best 2022 action movies is Top Gun: Maverick. Not only is this the highest-grossing movie of the entire year, not to mention one of the favorites for best picture at the Oscars, but it also contains some of the most thrilling action sequences in the history of cinema.
Maverick’s return to teaching at the Top Gun Academy begins with the thrilling test flight that almost takes him out of this world, and ends with his intense aerial dogfight battles against “the enemy” which were the epitome of what action scenes should be and should do to an audience. No movie released in 2022 so perfectly fits the definition of “edge-of-your-seat thrills” quite like this one.
4 The Woman King
Viola Davis led this very different sort of action movie, based on the true African warrior women known as the Agojie. They protected the kingdom of Dahomey, and Viola stars as a General in the middle of training the next generation of warriors while uncovering more about her own past.
The movie handles many difficult and surprising topics with aplomb as well as delivering some excellently choreographed and large-scale action scenes. While some accused The Woman King of historical distortion, it is a hugely enjoyable feature and goes down as one of the best action movies of 2022.
3 Bullet Train
Brad Pitt isn’t quite on Tom Cruise’s level for the sheer number of action movies he's starred in, but he really isn’t far off. His major offering in 2022 was Bullet Train, a movie with an ensemble cast, plenty of action, and possibly one of the strangest tones in movie history.
An action-comedy, Bullet Train featured a number of deadly assassins and operatives landing on the same train due to the turbulent machinations of a crime lord. Featuring hilarious cameos, a lot of luck, and some truly great fight scenes, Bullet Train is a memorably weird movie that most viewers should enjoy.
2 Ambulance
Ambulance is a Michael Bay movie, so it is no surprise that it features plenty of action. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a pair of adoptive brothers who try to commit a major robbery and are forced to take a policeman and paramedic hostage as they try to escape in an ambulance.
The movie is a fast-paced thrill ride and while it keeps things light in the backstory department, there is more character work than in many Michael Bay movies. This was due to him having to film the movie during the COVID Pandemic and therefore having to work with a smaller budget and scale than he is typically accustomed to.
1 Prey
Prey was one of the surprise hits of 2022. Not only was it a Predator movie, none of which has been massively beloved since the original, but it was also one that was released exclusively on Disney Plus. This made many suspect that the gore of previous entries would be toned down or the budget would be too small to make an impact.
All of these assumptions were proven incorrect and the movie was a roaring success. It features Amber Midthunder as Naru, a young Comanche warrior who runs into an early Predator while attempting to become a hunter for her tribe. Everything about the movie, from the script to the cinematography, worked perfectly and made this an easy choice as one of the very best action movies of 2022.