Explosions, Guns, and Punches, Oh My. The Best Action of 2024

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 2024, 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.

2024 was the year that action dominated both the big and small screen, so much so it was hard to get this category down to a shortlist, given how many good examples we got. However, power through I must, and here we go with the rich and varied world of action.  

Our Highly Commended Films in 2024 are: A Quiet Place: Day One, Civil War, Deadpool & Wolverine, Dune: Part Two, The Fall Guy, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Jackpot!, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Sixty Minutes & Thelma

Our Highly Commended TV in 2024 are: Black Doves, Citadel Honey Bunny, Dune Prophecy, Fallout, The Gentlemen, Halo, Reacher, Shōgun & X-Men ’97

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Rebel Ridge – Movie Review

TL;DR – A fascinating exploration of how easy it is to twist and abuse power when no one is willing to stand up to it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Terry is thrown onto the road.

Rebel Ridge Review

My professional background is in International Relations, and at the core of much of that is the idea of power. How do you keep power? How do you use power? How can you counter those with power? This can often be found in the exploration of the Melian Dialogue, where “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must”. A touchstone for our setting today. However, what happens if someone comes in to mess with that power?    

So, to set the scene, Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) was riding his bike one day with his music blaring when, unbeknownst to him, the police were tailing him. One sideswipe later, and being pushed to the ground while injured, Terry is arrested, and the money he was bringing to bail out his cousin was ‘confiscated’ by the police. Civil forfeiture: All the police need to do is have a suspicion that the money is an illegal gain, and they can take it, and the Shelby Springs Police Department did just that. Now Terry is on a ticking clock because if his cousin gets sent to state prison, he will be killed.    

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