Sometimes a viewer just wants excitement. They don’t want to cry at a romantic drama or a historical drama. They don’t want to sing along with Wicked. And, when it comes to horror, their definition of excitement is not feeling fear. What they want is some good old-fashioned action. And, while it’s tough to call the 2010s “old” as much as just “quasi-recent,” these 2010s movies are certainly packed to the gills with good old-fashioned enthralling set-pieces. And, because of that, it doesn’t matter if you’ve seen them before, you’ll still enjoy them again after once more pressing play (or again inserting the Blu-ray into your Playstation 5).
We did leave off superhero movies, however. That could be its own list. The same goes for action comedies like The Other Guys. You’re rewatching that for the jokes and light tone, not for any of its action.
7) Machete
image courtesy of 20th century fox
The sequel, Machete Kills, is way too much, to the point it’s overwhelming right off the bat, but Robert Rodriguez’s first Machete is still a great time. Its reality is certainly heightened, but we don’t have disguise-swapping assassins or Mel Gibson in an X-34 Landspeeder from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Instead, we get Danny Trejo being a machete-toting James Bond getting dragged into a fight with some unscrupulous, immigration-despising politicians. It’s a relatively simple political thriller with some wacky stuff thrown in for good measure. It’s a great mixture of a few genre film references, a serious topic, and scenes where a man uses another man’s intestines to escape a building.
6) Fast Five
image courtesy of universal pictures
Fast Five was the movie that took a successful, but still somewhat niche, franchise and made it even more widely appealing. Just look at the box office jump from the fourth film to the fifth.
It took already-charming characters and put them in the middle of a bombastic heist scenario. It wasn’t the first time the franchise had touched upon heists, of course, but the Fast Five finale was undoubtedly bigger and more invigorating. It’s just an exciting movie that rarely slows down and, when it does, it’s just fun to spend time with the crew as they bond or poke fun at one another.
Stream Fast Five on TNT.
5) Dredd
There are several reasons Dredd is easy to sit down and watch repeatedly (for those who have seen it even once, anyway). For one, it’s not very long. Given how intense it is, it couldn’t be particularly long without being overwhelming.
Then there are the trio of performances by Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, and Lena Headey, each of which couldn’t be any better. But perhaps the main reason is that it’s not a particularly deep movie. You can have it on in the background and look away every now and then without losing any crucial information. That sounds like a slight against it, but it isn’t. This is just a rollercoaster that makes you pull G’s until the credits roll, it doesn’t necessarily want you to do much thinking while everything is going on.
Stream Dredd on HBO Max.
4) Skyfall
Image Courtesy of Eon Productions
Quantum of Solace is not particularly rewatchable because the script comes across as a hodgepodge of watered down versions of scenes that worked way better in other, earlier Bond movie. Skyfall is rewatchable because its script is incredibly well-formed and feels rooted in a purpose.
That purpose is to advance both the franchise and the characters, namely Bond and M. This is the movie where their complicated boss-employee relationship is expanded to feel incredibly human. Add slam-bang action sequences and genuinely stunning cinematography and it’s quite easy to watch Skyfall four or five times.
3) Edge of Tomorrow
image courtesy of warner bros.
One would think that time loop movies, with their inherently repetitive nature, wouldn’t be conducive to rewatches. But the inverse is actually more in line with reality.
Time loop movies like Edge of Tomorrow function as vignettes where the stories are all very similar but contain micro-changes from one to the next. The character continues to learn and adapt. It allows the overall movie to feel consistently feel fresh…especially when it involves two of the most likable blockbuster stars fighting in a human vs. alien war.
2) John Wick (All Three Released in the 2010s)
image courtesy of lionsgate
All four John Wick movies are highly rewatchable. And, to a certain extent, so is the underrated Ballerina. But only three of them were released in the 2010s, so that’s why we’re only including three of them here.
What makes this world so easy to continuously dip toes back into is just how gradually fleshed-out it is. Seriously, what action franchise has built its world better than John Wick? Well, maybe Mad Max. Speaking of which….
Stream the first three John Wick movies on HBO Max.
1) Mad Max: Fury Road
image courtesy of warner bros.
It’s rare that the fourth installment of a saga is the best one, but that is exactly the case when it comes to George Miller’s Mad Max saga. Mad Max: Fury Road is a classic, unquestionably the best action film of the 2010s and the best movie of summer 2015 by a country mile.
Fury Road is so fast paced and action-packed it actively rewards multiple viewings. The good thing is that the action is coherent, so it’s not as if you miss things the first time. It’s just that you want to see all the car carnage again and again. It’s also so rewatchable because of its impressive world-building. You find yourself dragged into this desert hellscape. The only thing keeping you in your seat is just how hard you’re gripping your armrests.