A good Action sequence is something that is truly amazing 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 2019 we were given some truly amazing spectacles.
For me, the best action scenes are those that 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.
So without further ado, these are the moments of action that awed us in 2019. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banners to see the reviews of each film.
TL;DR – A film that soars when it is in the banter/action grove but falters when it needs to move the story forward.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There are multiple mid-credit scenes as well as an end credit scene
Review –
To be honest, if I have a blind spot in
modern cinema it is the Fast and Furious
franchise. When the films started to come out, I didn’t really jell with the
super-serious machismo in what was an inherently silly premise. This looked to
be the way for all the films but when The
Fate of the Furious came out two years ago, I thought I would
give it another watch. Well about the time they used a car to take out a submarine
I realised that they had finally realised just how silly it all was and had
leaned into it, and that is something I can get behind. That being said, a spin-off
the film is still a bit of a gamble, but given how well the director and
cinematographer are at actions filmmaking, I walked in being quietly optimistic
and with the action, I was not let down.
So to set the scene, two years since the last adventure and Luke Hobbs (Dwayne
Johnson) is enjoying his life as a DSS agent and a father to his daughter Sam (Eliana
Su’a). However, at that moment in London, an MI6 team is taking out a band of
mercenaries that have a manufactured virus and who are about to sell it on the
black market. After a clinical takedown of the gang, all is right but then a mysterious
figure (Idris Elba) arrives and single handily kills all of the MI6 bar Hattie
(Vanessa Kirby) the lead agent. Fearing the virus would get into the hands of
evil people Hattie injects herself with the virus to hold on to it while she
escapes. The MI6 think she has turned rogue and the CIA, MI6, and the criminal
organisation are now hunting her. The only chance she has is if Luke teams up
with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and well that has disaster written all over
it.
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