The 17 Best Action Movies of 2026 (So Far): Uncover the Hidden Adrenaline Hits That’ll Supercharge Your Movie Nights!
Ah, summer’s here — that glorious stretch where the grills ignite, the beers chill, and the screen lights up with explosions that rival the midday sun. Isn’t it wild how action movies somehow become the soundtrack to these long, sun-soaked days? There’s a certain magic to sweating it out poolside while watching heroes defy death, villains get their comeuppance, and cars fly through the air like they’ve got a death wish. And this year, 2026 has served up a buffet of adrenaline-pumping spectacles that don’t just entertain—they redefine what explosive entertainment means. From heart-pounding chase scenes to jaw-dropping fight choreography, filmmakers have truly raised the bar in ways that will keep us talking long after the credits roll. So, ready to dive into the hottest action flicks that are shaping up to be this summer’s ultimate thrill ride? Buckle up. LEARN MORE
8 min readIt’s summertime, friends. ‘Tis the season for grilling, cold beers, pool dips, and movies that really explode. While action films are good for literally any time of the year—there’s a reason why we rewatch Die Hard during Christmas—there’s something about the heat and never-ending sunshine that makes action our favorite kind of movie to watch until Labor Day. This year, filmmakers in both Hollywood and abroad have unleashed high-octane mayhem we’ll be talking about for years to come.
Off the rip, The Furious is the greatest action movie we’ve seen in all of 2026. Bar none. Director Kenji Tanigaki has honed his skills as an action choreographer and director in both Hong Kong and Japan for over twenty years, and The Furious—his third feature as director—is the culmination of all his blood, sweat, and tears. (For a proper primer, seek out Tanigaki’s previous work in movies like Raging Fire from 2021 and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In and The Prosecutor, both from 2024.)
But The Furious isn’t the only dish of pipin’ hot action in 2026. The year started strong with The Rip, a new Ben Affleck/Matt Damon joint where crooked cops fighting over a big stash of cash can be just as suspenseful as car chases and gunfire. Mortal Kombat II is a vast improvement over its 2021 predecessor, while gritty mid-budget fare like Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice were festival favorites before they arrived on streaming. And any time Jason Statham and Bob Odenkirk show up in a new movie kicking ass, we’re seated.
The summer isn’t over and there’s still plenty of the year left to go. We await with bated breath Christopher Nolan’s next big-screen epic, The Odyssey, and the potential renaissance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday—to reinvigorate our love for heroes. For now, these are the movies that has us at Esquire sitting on the edge of our seats. —Eric Francisco
The Furious
Consider the bar raised. The Furious lives up to its title as one of the hardest-hitting movies of the year, maybe even the decade. This Hong Kong barnburner from Japanese auteur Kenji Tanigaki stars Xie Miao as a deaf and mute father who teams up with an investigative journalist (Joe Taslim) to hunt down the human traffickers who kidnapped his daughter. Comparisons to The Raid just ain’t good enough; The Furious is a once-in-a-generation achievement that needs to be seen to be believed. —E.F.
Motor City
Silence is golden in Motor City. Set in 1970s Detroit, Alan Ritchson plays a convict who goes after the crime lord who stole away his fiancée (Shailene Woodley). Notably, the movie features next to no dialogue, allowing all the action to really speak for itself. Following its premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Motor City revs into theaters on July 24. —E.F.
Coming soon to theaters
Mortal Kombat II
Johnny Cage has entered the game. Mortal Kombat II, a direct sequel to the COVID-era streaming hit, introduces Karl Urban and Adeline Rudolph as series staples Johnny Cage and Princess Kitana, respectively, who both represent Earth against Shao Kahn in a deadly mystical tournament. Sure, Mortal Kombat II bends over backwards to make excuses for its 2021 predecessor’s missteps—and this franchise continues to misuse its A-plus talent, namely Ludi Lin, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada—but the movie gets the series on really solid footing. Count us in for Mortal Kombat III. —E.F.
Over Your Dead Body
When you said “till death do us part” in your marriage vows, did that include mutual intent to murder? Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone helms this comedic action-thriller in which Jason Segel plays a man who plots to kill his wife (Samara Weaving) at their rural cabin—unaware of her own plans to do the same. But their night takes a turn when they meet a gang of escaped violent convicts. Samara Weaving is on a roll these days, and Over Your Dead Body shows her comedic chops alongside Segel. —E.F.
Masters of the Universe
It may be a decade late, but Masters of the Universe still has the power as one of the finest popcorn fantasy films in recent memory. Based on the classic 1980s toys and meme-worthy Saturday morning cartoon, Nicholas Galitzine stars as Adam, the exiled Prince of Eternia, who returns to his home world to rediscover his heritage and confront the evil warlord Skeletor (Jared Leto). Masters of the Universe didn’t outmuscle the box office, but its new home on Prime Video might give it enough of a second life for nostalgic ‘80s babies to see a sequel. —E.F.
In theaters now
Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026)
This spy thriller became the highest-grossing Indian film in North America ever after it premiered in March, and it’s easy to see why. The Indian film market is probably the only entertainment industry that aims to produce even more big-budgeted, jingoist action films than the U.S.—and the Dhurandhar sequel is no exception. The film follows an undercover Indian intelligence agent who investigates criminal syndicates in Pakistan, blending in real-world geopolitical events such as the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Politics-wise… well, that’s another story entirely. The film is also nearly four hours long. But the action set pieces? Top notch. —J.R.
The Death of Robin Hood
This isn’t the first time Hugh Jackman has played a famously violent hero in their older age. From Pig director Michael Sarnoski comes The Death of Robin Hood, in which Jackman stars as the former outlaw Robin Hood living in self-imposed exile. After being nursed back to health at a peaceful priory, Jackman looks after them while wrestling with the ghosts of his past. The Death of Robin Hood is lighter on action than most other traditional action movies, but the few action set-pieces it does have hit even harder as a result. —E.F.
In theaters now
Normal
With Better Call Saul behind him, Bob Odenkirk is growing into a niche of playing unsuspectingly badass middle-aged men. Free Fire and High Rise director Ben Wheatley helms this muscular small-town actioner in which Odenkirk plays the new sheriff of a snowy, sleepy Midwestern town. When a bank robbery goes belly-up, Odenkirk’s Sheriff Ulysses learns that the town of Normal, Minnesota, is anything but normal. If you loved Nobody, you’re going to love Normal. —E.F.
The Bluff (2026)
Pirates of the Caribbean fans won’t find another tale of Jack Sparrow vs. Davy Jones in The Bluff’s adventures on the high seas, but the swashbuckling action flick produced by the Russo Brothers and starring Karl Urban (perfect casting) is the next best thing. The ARR-rated adventure—you know, because pirates—was the first time Urban picked up a blade since Lord of the Rings, as the actor told Esquire in an exclusive interview. “To reconnect with that skill set was a lot of fun,” he said. “Every kid wants to play pirates, and this project delivered in spades.” —Josh Rosenberg
They Will Kill You
It’s got thrills, chills, and Zazie Beetz kicking ass. Beetz stars as a former convict who answers a housekeeper ad for a New York City high-rise populated by wealthy residents and haunted by unexplainable disappearances. She quickly finds herself fighting for her life against a Satanic cult. A sleek soup made up of Ready or Not and The Menu, They Will Kill You doesn’t do anything terribly new but takes advantage of a locked-in Beetz who throws down with the best of them. —E.F.
Blades of the Guardians
Wuxia cinema is BACK, baby! In the early 2000s, Hong Kong filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping put his stamp on Hollywood through his work on films like The Matrix, Kill Bill, and international hits like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Grandmaster. This year, Yuen unleashed his latest directorial feature, Blades of the Guardians, adapted from the Chinese comic book Biao Ren. Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, Zhang Jin, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Jet Li lead this all-star cast about a bounty hunter in medieval China who must escort a wanted man through the desert to the capital city. A big-screen epic of the highest order, Blades of the Guardians will sweep you off your feet. —E.F.
Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice
It’s a great time to be James Marsden. He’s perpetually on TV—Your Friends & Neighbors season 2 premieres right as Paradise ends—and he’s even about to rejoin the Marvel universe in Avengers: Doomsday. But before then, he’s starring in Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, a Hulu crime comedy where it’s actually not so great to be Marsden.
In the new film, he plays a hit man named Mike who is attempting to leave the business (James Wick?) when he’s framed for murder. He’s sleeping with loan shark Nick’s (Vince Vaughn) wife Alice (Eiza González), so Nick tricks him into pullin off one last job. Turns out, the man he’s sent to kill is none other than Nick himself. How? Well, Nick is involved in time travel shenanigans and now he’s involved the whole love triangle. I don’t know if it’s a film that works without the powerhouse combo of Marsden and Vaughn, but thankfully we don’t need to imagine that future. —J.R.
The Rip
One of the best movies of the year came early at the cold snap of January: the Netflix thriller The Rip. Hollywood BFFs Matt Damon and Ben Affleck co-star as Miami cops whose raid of a cartel house goes sideways as they each suspect one another of stealing millions. The Rip is a gritty, star-studded action flick of the kind you just don’t see these days. No ironic winks or invincible superheroes here. Just good old-fashioned grit and grime. —E.F.
Shelter
Jason Statham action films are starting to blend in my mind. There are the famous ones where he’s a driver who can kill you, the two recent ones where he’s a beekeeper who can kill you, and seemingly a billion more wherein he’s some sort of trained mercenary who holds a different job. In Shelter, he’s a lighthouse keeper who, of course, is a former government assassin. But when his past catches up with him, this thriller from the Angel Has Fallen director is all about the action. —J.R.
The Wrecking Crew
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are a dynamic duo in The Wrecking Crew, written by Your Friends & Neighbors creator Jonathan Tropper. The two brawny stars play estranged brothers who reunite to solve their father’s murder—and figure out what the Japanese yakuza have to do with it—while repairing their long-broken brotherly bond. The Wrecking Crew packs a lot of muscle, but it’s strongest where it counts the most: in the heart. —E.F.
Pretty Lethal
No, this isn’t that John Wick spin-off from last year. But Pretty Lethal is actually, ahem, on point. (Thank you, thank you.) In this Prime Video release, a troupe of bickering ballerinas must rely on their unlikely training, and each other, to survive one bloody night against a small army of killers. Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika, Maddie Ziegler, and Uma Thurman lead this female-fronted ballet of violence.—E.F.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)
It’s been eight long years since Samara Weaving’s Grace lived through her wedding nightmare in Ready or Not. But her problems aren’t over. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come sees Weaving return as Grace, who teams up with her estranged sister (played by Kathryn Newton) and engages in a new fight for survival. This time, they’re up against multiple families in a bloodthirsty hunt for power. —E.F.
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