A "John Wick"-inspired action-comedy, Angelina Jolie fending off deadly assassins, and the story of a real life outlaw. Max is loaded with some seriously underrated action films right now.
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00:00A John Wick-inspired action comedy, Angelina Jolie fending off deadly assassins, and the
00:06story of a real-life outlaw, Max is loaded with some seriously underrated action films
00:12right now.
00:14Many films on this list were met with a fairly harsh critical reception upon their release.
00:19Maybe they would be met with more warmth now, in an era oversaturated with $100 million
00:24CGI-reliant intellectual property projects.
00:28Regardless, these same movies are often worth watching because of the cast involved, as
00:33is the case with the 2014 crime drama American Heist.
00:37The adaptation of the 1950s classic The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery stars Hayden Christensen
00:43as James, a down-on-his-luck criminal who owes the sum of his meager life to his brother
00:48and fellow criminal, Frank.
00:50When Frank is released from prison, he forces James to turn his back on his normal, law-abiding
00:55life and his girlfriend, Emily, to once again become a criminal.
01:00Despite the emotional and moral complexity inherent in the film's premise, the general
01:04consensus among critics is that the script is simply too generic to deliver on this promise.
01:10This sentiment, combined with the film's low budget and extremely limited theatrical release,
01:15is likely why many viewers have probably never heard of this film before.
01:19In hindsight, however, the joint talents of Christensen, Adrian Brody, and Jordana Brewster
01:25make it a unique viewing experience that shows often-overlooked actors, elevating a story
01:31beyond what it might have been without them.
01:35In science fiction comedy Attack the Block, John Boyega stars as Moses, a low-level street
01:41criminal whose life is changed when he tries to exploit an alien invasion.
01:46Playing opposite him as his victim-turned-ally is Jodie Whittaker, who later went on to star
01:51in three seasons of Doctor Who as the titular British sci-fi icon.
01:56But unlike American Heist, there's much more to enjoy about this film than its stars.
02:01Despite bombing at the worldwide box office, Attack the Block was released to critical
02:05acclaim.
02:06It is arguably the most widely beloved film on this list, and yet it has failed to achieve
02:12anything close to the same sort of cultural prevalence as, for example, the sci-fi action
02:17comedies of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy.
02:20This may change in the near future, as Boyega and Cornish are set to reunite for a sequel
02:25that's currently in development.
02:27If some of the entries on this list already are a bit too modern in their settings for
02:33your taste, you may want to travel back to the age of pistols, horses, and outlaws found
02:39in Blackthorn.
02:40It stars the late stage and screen legend, Sam Shepard, as a fictionalized version of
02:45the real-life Old West outlaw, Butch Cassidy.
02:49The story begins with Shepard's Cassidy, now in his 60s and living as James Blackthorn.
02:54Having survived two decades in Bolivia, the aging criminal is trying to recover his stolen
02:59wealth so that he could return to America to mourn the death of the Sundance Kid's lover,
03:04Etta Place.
03:06Blackthorn drew positive reviews from critics, but in the U.S., it failed to make a major
03:11impression.
03:13For viewers who like to see the action genre rooted in grounded speculative fiction, Max
03:18is currently streaming the 2014 crime thriller Brick Mansions.
03:22The film takes place in the then-not-too-distant future of 2018.
03:27A section of Detroit, Michigan, is so besieged by violent crime that the government decides
03:32to build a massive wall around it in order to keep the situation contained.
03:37Fast & Furious star Paul Walker plays a familiar role here, as an undercover police officer
03:42who attempts to infiltrate a volatile criminal underworld by ingratiating himself to an outlaw
03:47with a good heart.
03:49Tragically, Walker died in a car accident just months before the film was released.
03:53With regard to his upcoming projects at the time of his death, the impending debut of
03:57Brick Mansions was almost entirely overshadowed by speculation as to whether or not Walker
04:03had finished shooting Furious 7 before his passing.
04:06Thanks.
04:07Thanks for that.
04:09That's great.
04:10Wow.
04:11The film itself was also likely hurt by a tower of poor reviews, which largely criticized
04:17the plot for being incredibly ridiculous.
04:20That being the case, there are still plenty of people that enjoy or even prefer action
04:24films that are heavy on combat and light on logic, especially when the premise mostly
04:29serves to facilitate spectacle while reflecting real-world issues.
04:35Directed by Rick Roman-Waugh, Greenland Film follows a family as they and the rest of the
04:40world learn that a supposedly harmless meteor shower will make unexpected contact with Earth,
04:45wiping out much of the planet's population.
04:48When patriarch John Garrity learns that there is a bunker in Greenland capable of protecting
04:53him and his family from the event, he decides to risk everything to get them to safety.
04:57While most disaster films tend to depict a group of people merely experiencing and attempting
05:03to survive some unpredictable event, the clear objective at the center of Greenland's story
05:08paves the way for more direct conflict.
05:10This, by extension, results in more personal sequences of action and combat than one would
05:16normally expect from a movie where the enemy is a bunch of rocks flying through space.
05:21Unfortunately, the film's release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with distributors
05:26eventually settling for a video-on-demand release in December of 2020.
05:30Even so, Greenland wound up killing it on Amazon Prime Video, earning positive reviews
05:35and becoming one of several pandemic-era sleeper hits.
05:39Fresh off of Key & Peele, comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele co-star in this riff
05:45on John Wick, in which a stolen cat named Keanu drags the duo into a complex criminal
05:51underworld.
05:52However, despite many fans and entertainment outlets interpreting the film in this way,
05:57based on its trailers and marketing, Keanu actually has nothing to do with John Wick
06:01whatsoever.
06:02Keanu!
06:04Peele and director Peter Atencio had been working on Keanu before John Wick was released
06:09in 2014, when they found out of films starring Keanu Reeves and featuring beloved pets and
06:15vicious criminals was being made.
06:17They even wondered if their idea had somehow been taken from them.
06:20In reality, the two films are barely the result of parallel thought, sharing little in common
06:25beyond very broad aspects.
06:28Even though Borderlands turned out to be a boring slog through the wasteland, video game
06:33adaptations have a pretty good track record these days.
06:36Based on EA's racing franchise Need for Speed, features a rare performance from Aaron Paul,
06:41who has mostly steered clear of leading man roles ever since Breaking Bad ended in 2015.
06:47In this film, he stars as a washed-up race car driver whose unique skill set helps him
06:52profit from and ultimately seek vengeance within a dark criminal underworld.
06:57Though it was far from the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time, the movie
07:01did bring in a tidy $200 million at the global box office against a budget of $66 million,
07:08with almost 80 percent of its haul coming from overseas markets.
07:11This has even led to some speculation that, despite bad reviews, we may yet see a Need
07:17for Speed 2.
07:19Tell is one of the shortest and simplest movies on this list, which would make it the perfect
07:24option for anyone looking to turn their brain off for a quick cinematic adventure.
07:29It stars Milo Ventimiglia as the title character Ethan Tell, a not-so-quick-witted robber who
07:34hopes to turn his fortunes around by stealing a fortune of his own.
07:39Unfortunately, his mark just so happens to be Ray, played by Jason Lee, a powerful criminal
07:45in his own right who also happens to be the brother of Tell's wife, Beverly, played by
07:49Katie Sackhoff.
07:51It's essentially a low-budget Quentin Tarantino-flavored action thriller, bolstered by a cast of mostly
07:57sitcom actors giving their all to play against type.
08:00In addition to Ventimiglia, Lee, and Sackhoff, Tell features Faison Love and The Office alum
08:07Oscar Nunez.
08:08If watching this grab-bag of talent chase each other around with guns sounds like a
08:12stupid good time to you, it's more than worth taking a chance on it.
08:17Though delays and theater restrictions due to COVID-19 played a massive role in preventing
08:22Those Who Wish Me Dead from finding an audience, Warner Bros.' decision to release all of its
08:272021 films in theaters, and on the streamer formerly known as HBO Max, also played a role.
08:33While this did help subscribers eager to see Angelina Jolie's action-packed collaboration
08:38with Yellowstone architect Taylor Sheridan, it also may have buried the film by presenting
08:43it as just another option in the studio's vast library of films and television shows.
08:49Theatrically, it had one of the worst box office openings in history, at the time outmatched
08:54in its financial underperformance only by the pre-COVID Blake Lively thriller, The Rhythm Section.
09:00I need your help to find the ones who did this.
09:02I've got nothing to lose."
09:04Suffice it to say, Those Who Wish Me Dead never managed to find the wider audience it
09:09might have enjoyed any other year, which is a shame as it was one of the best action films
09:14to come out in 2021.
09:16It features Jolie as a firefighter haunted by her work, who finds herself caught in the
09:20Montana wilderness, stuck between a deadly group of assassins and their targets.
09:25The visual and dramatic scale of this film can't be overstated, to the extent that you
09:30may find yourself wishing you could have experienced this explosive story on a massive screen.
09:35But as is true for every film on this list, it's better to find the film now in the wilderness
09:40that is Max's streaming library than to miss out on seeing it for good.
09:45Shane Acker's science fiction epic Nine is an animated feature that combines the grim,
09:51techno-dystopian themes of The Matrix with the whimsical and dark fantasy elements of
09:56a Tim Burton film.
09:58It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where civilization has been entirely wiped out by
10:02monstrous machines created by an advanced artificial intelligence.
10:07Amidst this chaos, however, the same scientist who originally invented the AI managed to
10:12also create nine ragdolls called stitchpunks.
10:16Each one is imbued with sentience via a piece of the scientist's soul, and together they
10:21are tasked with overthrowing the machines.
10:24Nine was a bit of a tough sell when it was first released, as it was a high-concept animated
10:29fantasy film directed squarely at older teens and adults, rather than children.
10:35Acker originally crafted it as a short film and had hoped to expand upon it further in
10:40sequels, thereby offering alternatives to the decidedly light and family-friendly features
10:45offered by Pixar and DreamWorks.
10:47Unfortunately, the initial reception to Nine was mixed, and it effectively bombed at the
10:52box office.
10:54The film was still praised almost universally for its unique visuals and commitment to tone,
10:59and for fans of action movies specifically, it has some of the most ambitious action sequences
11:04of any CGI animated film ever made.
11:08If you're looking for a movie night option that packs in plenty of high-stakes action
11:13while still entertaining the entire family, Max is also currently streaming the 2003 spy
11:19flick Agent Cody Banks.
11:21Starring Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Munez and Disney Channel star Hilary Duff, it riffs
11:26on the classic secret agent tropes of the James Bond franchise by mashing them together
11:31with a teen comedy.
11:32"-Need any help?"
11:34"-No, I'm fine."
11:39Cody is a high schooler who has a double life as a secret agent working for the CIA.
11:44With a criminal mastermind on the loose and the fate of the world predictably on the line,
11:49the young spy must infiltrate an elite preparatory school and gain the trust of Duff's Natalie.
11:55Agent Cody Banks mostly flew under the radar, failing to make a noticeable impact with regard
12:00to either box office numbers or critical reception.
12:04Many reviewers felt that the film didn't meet the standard for a major theatrical release,
12:08instead evoking a tone more similar to a Disney Channel original movie.
12:13That said, it's a brisk 100-minute film that's just too plucky and charming to truly hate,
12:19and packs a bit of an extra punch compared to other teen comedies.