Today we will talk about the winners in the categories "Blockbuster of the Year" и "Action Series of the Year", as well as why this or that title deserves to be in the place chosen by our readers.
Blockbuster 2020
A nomination for which, perhaps, 2020 was the most difficult year. For obvious reasons, almost all major blockbusters have been postponed by a year or even two. Rarely of the planned big-budget action films reached the audience in cinemas, so people turned their attention to streaming services, the main of which, of course, was Netflix.
Tyler Rake: Rescue Mission (dir. Sam Hargrave) (42%, 52 votes)
"Evacuation" (that's what the film is called in the original) has already become best action movie according to those who voted as part of summing up the results of action cinema over the past year, and now a film by a former stuntman, and now an action director and director Sam Hargrave won a gold medal in the field of expensive blockbusters.
And this is taking into account the fact that the film's budget was only $65 million. If you look closely, the action movie just lacks a little more scope, the equivalent of which could be an increased budget, but "Tyler Rake" That's not what they're criticizing for. People didn’t have enough story, plot, script tricks that kept the audience’s interest at the TV screen.
But as they say, there are minimal complaints about the design of action scenes and their implementation. This is because the talented Hargrave sees action scenes as dynamic, long, without interruptions for editing and without using a twitching camera as an element of these very scenes. Hence it seems that the action in "Evacuation" filmed both expensively and richly at the same time. The main character performed Chris Hemsworth shoots from any type of weapon, participates in car chases, fights hand-to-hand and using an army knife, and his constant backup Bobby Holland Hungton without sparing himself he makes unimaginable falls.
Until the real blockbuster "Tyler Rake" far: there is not enough scale and financing, but, making allowance for the poor cinema for this “genre”, we can say that the action movie gave the viewer what he expects from such a movie - a spectacle! And we are sure that the Hollywood bosses will tell you Sam Hargrave Marvel level project "Avengers", he would have found where and how to roam.
Bad Boys for Life (dir. Adil El Arbi, Bilal Fallah) (22%, 28 votes)
But here we have a film with a budget of 90 million dollars, which managed to “jump” onto the movie train going into the Covid swamp, since the premiere took place at the very beginning of 2020.
Despite the fact that the duology "Bad guys" considered one of the best buddy cop comedies, no one expected a sequel 17 years later. But it just so happens that we live in an era of nostalgia and such “comebacks” have become part of the trend. The film is no longer being filmed Michael Bay, and the main characters, the arrogant cops Mike and Marcus, are already “over the counter,” as, in fact, are the actors playing them. And if Will Smith at 52 years old he is still stately and fit, then at Martin Lawrence, as they say, you can’t look at it without tears.
It’s curious, but the authors themselves understood perfectly well that the genre of new "Bad Boys" more reminiscent of the subgenre of action films “pensioners are back in business”, which is why the thought of old age and retirement is a red thread throughout the entire action film. The film should have been driven by young characters, but the action is still built around two elderly cops.
And since we’re talking about this, the “retirement” line did not affect the action. And this is good, because we can watch the very action scenes from which all the action films that spit on the laws of physics, like the franchise, later grew "Fast and the Furious". A minimum of computer graphics, a maximum of chases, explosions and all kinds of shootouts in the spirit of the first two films by the author Michael Bay.
If so "Bad Boys for Life" not the best action movie of the past year, it is definitely the brightest. Let's not pay attention to the silly plot and decrepit humor, but simply award the action movie second place in this category!
Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan) (15%, 19 votes)
Last August, as soon as cinemas were given a relaxation and 50% occupancy of the halls was allowed, another project burst into film distribution, which at that time was a scorched field Christopher Nolan called "Argument". It was risky to send a film with a budget of over $200 million into such conditions, but the studio bosses did it. Needless to say, at the box office "Argument" performed very mediocre? But that’s not what we’re interested in, is it?
The film, one way or another, became a real event. As often happens with Nolan's films, "Arguments" two opposing “armies” appeared: some who consider the film to be brilliant and something “fresh”, and others who draw attention to the complete failure of the most fantastic content of the film, as well as to the frankly weak script.
Unfortunately, unlike "Bad Boys for Life", in this case it is difficult to consider the action in isolation from the events taking place, since it is tightly tied to the main “trick” of this movie - time inversion.
Even though the action scenes in "Tenet" not much, they all look at a fairly high level. This is not least due to the fact that Nolan categorically abandoned a large number of computer effects, replacing them with visual effects. And if a plane needs to be blown up in the shot, then Christopher’s team takes... and blows up a real plane! And if you need to play out a scene of fighting between inverted people and non-inverted people, then rest assured, Nolan and his directors have something to show.
In addition, the film has two (actually one, but from different points of view) hand-to-hand combat, which are performed with virtually no computer effects, but they look truly impossible. A permanent stunt double was responsible for their design and production. Keanu Reeves – stuntman and action director from the 87Eleven team Jackson Speedell (“Bad Blood”, “Captain America: Civil War”). Truly, the battle turned out to be unusual, intense and interesting.
Traditionally, Nolan’s new film left no one indifferent, and people will continue to talk about it until the author’s next creation. By the way, for you "Argument" How? Have you come in? Write about it in the comments. Well, we “hang” a bronze medal on this film!
Action or martial arts series 2020
The past year has not been particularly encouraging with action series, but throughout the entire period of time, here and there interesting titles were released, in which much attention was paid to the action component. In general, it can’t help but rejoice that interest in action films in the TV format is now growing among studio bosses. Did you have any doubts about first place? Of course no!
Warrior (Season 2) (32%, 30 votes)
The charm of the series "Warrior" based on the script developments of the legendary Bruce Lee again influenced the fact that it received the title of best action series in our voting, as in Last year. Then we talked about what attracts the viewer to the series, but the fact is that the second season openly follows the established patterns of the first, trying not to turn anywhere.
The focus is again on the Chinese emigrant Ah Sahm, around whom serious passions unfold: intrigue, betrayal, forbidden love, revenge and the desire to prove to himself and everyone else that he truly is a great warrior, even in the setting of Chinatown at the end of the 19th century. The plot atmosphere of the second season is much darker than the first. Around the next turn, each of the bright secondary characters will receive a sudden “punch in the gut” that will influence the formation of their behavior towards the end of the series.
Some characters have more personal arcs, the most interesting of which, in our opinion, is the line of the leader of the Irish workers, played by the charismatic Dean Jagger. In addition, the viewer still waited for a full-fledged fight between him and the main character performed by Andrew Koji. This fight, by the way, was included in the list of nominees in the category "Best Screen Fight of the Year".
Spectacular fights in the second season "Warrior" basically enough. In addition to the already mentioned battle, we can highlight a brawl between the characters Joe Taslima и Dustin Nguyen, as well as a massive battle between the Irish and the Chinese in the penultimate episode, where Koji, as if remembering whose original plan the series was based on, grabs the nunchaku and wields the weapon very well, not forgetting to scratch his nose and get into _that very_ stance. Also brutal and tough look are the fight scenes involving season two newcomer Hong, played by Tang Chen.
Despite the fact that the visual part of the series evokes only positive emotions, the plot twists and the overall story are quite interesting, and the characters, despite the general blandness, have received development, "Warrior" closed after the second season. Streaming service Cinemax not satisfied with the ratings. However, both seasons of the series, as well as the rights to it, were sold to the streaming service HBO Max, so a small glimmer of hope still smolders. Moreover, the authors prudently left the groundwork for the continuation of the story.
Gangs of London (27%, 25 votes)
When fans of Indonesian hits "Raid" и "Raid 2" found out that the director of the duology Gareth Evans launches his own British series into production, joy knew no bounds. Everyone thought that the series would be a hurricane and brutal action with a minimum of history. But fall!
"Gangs of London" is a dark crime drama about a sense of duty, family ties, love and self-sacrifice. Moreover, in fact, there are no clearly positive characters in this story. Everyone goes to their goal over the corpses, without being embarrassed at all. But Gareth, as a screenwriter and showrunner, manages to present events in such a way that a feeling of empathy arises for the notorious scoundrels.
The sophisticated style and pretentious British, almost gothic gloom do not overwhelm the viewer, but emphasize the tragedy of the events. It is not surprising that the style of action scenes for such a story is chosen to be as “dirty” and bloody as possible. Those of the heroes who find themselves in a mess do everything in order to survive. The action scenes capture this atmosphere perfectly. And we’re not just talking about hand-to-hand combat, which is replete with cruelty and uncompromisingness, but also scenes of shootings, the apotheosis of which occurs in the fifth episode of the series. By the way, he directed it himself Gareth Evans.
Yes, the crime story itself is far from fresh and there are plenty of plot holes and stupid actions of the heroes, but it’s difficult to find something as stylish and harsh in this format. "Banshee"? "Peaky Blinders"? Maybe, but "Gangs of London" we will remember, award silver, and look forward to the second season.
The Mandalorian (Season 2) (16%, 15 votes)
Summing up action movies for 2019, a hit from Disney+ "The Mandalorian" received 14 votes, but the “threshold for entry” into the top three was no less than 20. Either this time the story about the famous space mercenary was lucky, or there was trouble with the competitors...
Second season "The Mandalorian" - these are the next eight episodes about the adventures of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Mando, who saves and seeks refuge for Baby Yoda (in the second season, his real name was revealed - Grogu). Unlike other similar series, the story "The Mandalorian" follows exclusively a couple of main characters, occasionally weaving in certain “guest” characters into the narrative.
Like the first season, the second season has a lot of fan service, which, however, will only be of interest to serious fans of the universe "Star Wars". The atmosphere and setting are also reminiscent of old westerns and samurai cinema of the 40s-60s: the same unhurried narration, the dominance of long shots, long shots... This simultaneously attracts the viewer, who “reads” all the references, and repels those who are not in the spirit of such deep bows in side of genres that are not interesting to them.
What will undoubtedly please fans of action films is that there is noticeably more action in the second season. And this applies not only to shootouts and all kinds of fantastic chases. Two well-known fans of the Jedi saga appear in the series: Ahsoka Tano and... let's not spoil it! These, of course, include fencing scenes involving lightsabers. Their style matches the general setting of samurai cinema, but this does not make them any less spectacular.
So, we are glad to finally meet you on the list of winners "The Mandalorian"! We hope that the third season will compete for the title of best series of 2021, even despite the fact that they were fired from the project for political reasons Gina Carano.
Home » Movie News »
Tags: Extraction, gangs of london, Netflix, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Warrior, Bobby Holland Hanton, Gareth Evans, Dustin Nguyen, Jackson Speedell, Gina Carano, Joe Taslim, results of action cinema 2020, Chris Hemsworth, soap opera, Sam Hargrave, Will Smith, Andrew Koji
Tags: Extraction, gangs of london, Netflix, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Warrior, Bobby Holland Hanton, Gareth Evans, Dustin Nguyen, Jackson Speedell, Gina Carano, Joe Taslim, results of action cinema 2020, Chris Hemsworth, soap opera, Sam Hargrave, Will Smith, Andrew Koji
The times have come when the use of natural props for filming has become some kind of incredible achievement that needs to be talked about. Previously, blowing up a real plane, house, car was a common thing, if there was money.
VKontakteUser34,
Now it's cheaper to draw it. Everything is clear here - they save money.
I started watching Argument twice, both times I quit after 15 minutes and switched to another film. It's hard to walk without desire.
Are there separate fights from “Tenet” somewhere? To be honest, it’s really boring for me to watch this entire blockbuster, but this description of “impossible” fights is intriguing.
Wave,
Everything is on YouTube ->