Explosions, Guns, and Punches, Oh My. The Best Action of 2023

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A good action sequence is genuinely impressive to watch, as it can be as expansive as explosions crashing across the screen or more intimate, like a duel between two people. This gives the best action scenes such a range, and in 2023, we were given some unique spectacles.

For me, the best action scenes excel in every element, whether that be live actions, special effects, digital effects, or animation, and bring every facet to shine. It is also the category that looks at some of the department’s people don’t often fully understand, like stunt coordination or the 2nd unit.

2023 was the year of action. From personal punch-ups to climatic brawls, we got it all and more.

Our Highly Commended in 2023 are Bring Him To Me, Extraction 2, Godzilla Minus One,  Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant & The Killer

Our Best TV Action in 2023 are Ahsoka: Season 1, The Last of Us: Season 1, Letterkenny: Season 12, The Night Agent: Season 1 & Twisted Metal: Season 1

So, without further ado, these are the moments of action that awed us in 2023. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the films in question.

The Nominees Are –

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Reacher: New York’s Finest – TV Review

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TL;DR – There comes a point when you are on the run where it is time to start fighting back.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

A pissed off Reacher.

As we start heading towards the pointy end of the season, there comes a moment when things have to start hitting the rubber. You can only prolong the inevitable so long before you start losing the tension. This week, we can see the start of that shift happening as the team decides not to play defensive anymore.

So to set the scene, at the end of Burial, we discovered just how brutal these people are as they use a tripwire IED to kill a sniper. Their opposition is trying to erase everyone from existence, even the people working for them. Now they see the lengths their opposition is going to. Well, it is time to take the battle back to them. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: I Plunge to My Death – TV Review

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TL;DR – A more contained story that brings with it strengths and weaknesses.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

The Gateway Arch

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –

When you have a ticking timebomb with regard to your quest, you need to start moving it. Indeed, our team has to make it across the continental USA in a couple of days, or all is lost. I just hope you don’t have a wave of upset monsters and feuding gods chasing after you.

So to set the scene, after tangling with the Medusa in We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium, the gang  Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri). Decide to hop on a train to make up some missed time. But things start looking dire when their train cabin is trashed while they are out to breakfast. Good thing there is a friendly lady (Suzanne Cryer) that can help … right … ? We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Joy Ride – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that is both crass, hilarious, and heartfelt, all in equal measure.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film.

The gang on a motorbike.

Joy Ride Review –

In the last run, before we do our best of 2023 lists, I wanted to try films that I knew I would enjoy and just missed, but also those that don’t fit into his category. There was a point in the year when it looked like everyone was putting out mature comedies again. Some were great, others not so much. So, I didn’t give much thought to Joy Ride during its short theatrical ride in Australia, and I think that might have been a mistake.

So to set the scene, it is 1998, and the Chen family has just moved into a new and very white neighbourhood called White Hills. But when Lolo Chen (Ashley Park) found Audrey Sullivan (Sherry Cola), there was an instant connection, a best friend connection that stayed with them all their lives, well up to this point. Audrey is going back to China for the first time, and she is taking Lolo with her as a translator. Lolo wants to see if they can find Audrey’s birth mother while they are there, but Audrey is just focused on her job because if she nails it, she will be moving out of White Hills. But throw in the complications of Lolo’s cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Audrey’s college roommate Kat Huang (Stephanie Hsu), and her business meeting with Chao (Ronny Chieng) happening in a club, and things soon start falling apart.  

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Talk To Me – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A completely fraught film that captivates and terrifies you in equal measures.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Mia holds the hand.

Talk To Me Review –

As I do this final wrap-up of 2023, there is one film that I tried to see multiple times, but life or odd showing times always got in the way. I knew I could not do my end-of-year lists without seeing it, so I was happy to see it had slipped onto Netflix while I had my back turned.

So to set the scene, there is a part roaring in a suburban house, but cutting a swath through the gathering is Cole (Ari McCarthy) looking for his brother Duckett (Sunny Johnson). Cole is concerned but is shocked when he finds Duckett under the influence of something. Trying to get him to safety, he confronts all the partygoers filming the pair out of amusement when Duckett pulls a knife from the counter and stabs Cole in front of the gathering. Later, Mia (Sophie Wilde) is still reeling on the anniversary of their mother’s death when she takes her friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and Jade’s Brother Riley (Joe Bird) to a party where the kids are playing a new game, Talk To Me. It is a porcelain hand covered in words that, if you say the right words, you can see a visage of the other side and let them into your body. Just don’t let them stay more than 90 seconds.

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Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Moments of interest in the middle of a sea of mess.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Gas Giant.

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire Review –

Before we begin our best of 2023 list, there are a handful of movies that I want to catch up on, one of them being this new Science Fiction magnum opus from Zack Snyder. Snyder has always been at least an interesting director because he has a clear visual style, and that has worked for him in the past. The question is if this will work for him today?

So to set the scene, there is a large empire that spans across space, reaching out and conquering all they could find from the Motherworld. That is until assassins kill the King (Cary Elwes) and Queen (Rhian Rees) in a coup d’etat. There is a power vacuum filled by a Regent (Fra Fee) who sent his ships out to the edge of his domain to make sure no plant picks this moment to rebel against them. On the backwater moon of Veldt, things are proceeding as they always do until the ship commanded by Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) appears in orbit over their settlement. While some in the town see an opportunity, Kora (Sofia Boutella) knows the reality: they are here to take, and take, and take.

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PAX Australia & Melbourne 2023 Day 5 – Explore-It

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TL;DR – We dip our toes into what Melbourne has to offer a little more with round 2.

Disclosure – I paid for all products featured or mentioned here.

PAX 23 Logo. Image Credit: Brian MacNamara.

PAX Australia & Melbourne 2023 Day 5 –

It was the final day in Melbourne, but unlike last year, I had my flight positioned for the end of the day, so I had some time to explore the city more, which is when I found the most depressing garden in Melbourne.

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Reacher: Burial – TV Review

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TL;DR – Bookended by two fantastic action sequences, it shows that Reacher is peak-Dad Show Energy, but also more than that.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

The American flag over a coffin.

Reacher Review –

Last week, we dived into the first half of Reacher’s Second Season, and it was fantastic. It hit the same energy of the first season, with the added bonus of getting the team back together. With all of that energy behind it, I wondered if its central premise could hold up to the end because righteous Reacher might need to get dirty.

So to set the scene, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) has stayed behind in New York with O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) to help his family bug out and move to safety as they turn their focus on New Age Technologies. This company seems to be having a bad case of wanting to kill them all. Meanwhile, Neagley (Maria Sten) and Dixson (Serinda Swan) have made it to Denver, Colorado, to see just what is going on in the software division of this new missile company when bullets start flying. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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NCIS: Sydney – Blonde Ambition & Full Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – They may have saved the best for last with a banger of a season finale.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The surf off Sydney.

Well, we have come to the end of the first season of NCIS: Sydney. It has been an odd season, with moments of highs and also a lot of frustrations. However, things started to coalesce towards the end, and I wondered if the show could stick the landing.   

So to set the scene, we open at a kids birthday party where a deeply bad clown is performing for the kids, but things turn sinister when the clown steals the birthday boy. Meanwhile, they have the secretive woman Anna (Georgina Haig) they captured in Bunker Down, who has been a thorn in everyone’s side since Gone Fission. The team is wondering why Anna feels so secure even though she is in handcuffs and locked to a desk when the call comes in that the child that was stolen was JD’s (Todd Lasance). We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Tetris – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An absolute fun blast of a film that might not match entirely with history, but it wears all of its influences on its sleeve.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this film.

Soviet Military Parade.

Tetris Review –

I think, like most people, I rolled my eyes when I heard that there was going to be a Tetris film. That is because I thought they were going to try and turn it into some sort of Battleship situation. I am not sure that we were ready for a dramatized retelling of how the worldwide video game rights made it out of the Soviet Union or for how good the story would be.  

So to set the scene, it is 1988, a precarious time in world history. The Cold War was rapidly coming to a peaceful end, and the first big computer boom was in full swing. It is in this world that Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) of Bullet-Proof Software sees someone selling Tetris at the Consumer Electronics Expo in Las Vegas. The problem is that Henk does not have the money to buy the game, let alone license it for Japan, which means that he must sweat-talk his Banker (Rick Yune) into letting him do what he has already done. Because a deal with Nintendo only comes around once in a blue moon, all he must do is bet the house … literally.   

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