Action films of all types and budgets are coming out left and right. With all the streaming services, direct-to-VOD, and smaller theater runs, films that may not even have gotten greenlit at all years ago are making it to our eyeballs fairly easily. With so many titles coming, which ones should everyone look forward to? Here are five action films that are coming out relatively soon that we’re looking forward to.
Plane (2023)
The latest Gerard Butler action film, Plane, is about a pilot (Butler) who must land his plane due to weather and ends up in a war zone along with his crew and passengers. In terms of who is involved besides Butler, the cast includes Mike Colter, Yoson An, Daniela Pineda, Paul Ben-Victor, and a slew of others. The film is directed by Jean-François Richet who directed the excellent Mesrine: Killer instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1, two films that show skills for drama and action. The film here is written by Charles Cumming for whom this is a first feature and J.P. Davis who previous penned the recently released The Contractor starring Chris Pine. As for Butler as an action star? Well, 300 was quite interesting, Law Abiding Citizen was fun, and Den of Thieves was one of the most overly long, uneven, Heat-wannabes in a long time, so he’s all over the place. Overall, this team has an interesting group of talent here, including folks with established careers and folks that are sure to bring a new perspective. Will this be a hit or a miss? We’ll see come 2023.
Violent Night (2022)
A Christmas action movie? YES! Finally another holiday-themed action movie. The universe needs more of those and having a badass Santa Claus at the center of it all is exactly what some of us need to get our butts in movie theater seats. Violent Night is all about Santa Claus coming to save a family after mercenaries storm their home and wreak havoc. That being said, the trailer makes it look like something won’t be as it seems. The main selling point here, beyond a badass Santa, is the fact that said Santa is played by David Harbour and he looks to be having a blast. His take on Santa seems to be just right for the film. While his Hellboy movie was pretty bad, he was hardly to blame and did his best. Harbour has a great track record for going all out when needed and holding back when the film calls for it. Rounding out the cast as Beverly D’Angelo (who is familiar with the holidays on film), John Leguizamo, and Cam Gigandet who has a had a bunch of mid-range action films come out in the last few years. Here, the film is directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Wirkola is better known for the Dead Snow films, the Netflix- Noomi Rapace film What Happened to Monday, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. The man is familiar with action and isn’t afraid of what could be viewed a bit of a nonsensical set-up. Casey and Miller are better know for the Sonic the Hedgehog films and 12 Deadly Days, another Holiday film with some violent tendencies. Violent Night looks like a winner for sure and considering it’s been since The Long Kiss Goodnight since we’ve had a good, fun action Holiday film, bring it on!
Havoc (2023)
Tom Hardy and Timothy Olyphant. That’s it, that’s the pitch. Do we really need to say more? Ok, so the film is about a drug deal going sideways and leading to the search for a politician’s son, some corruption and of course a conspiracy. This one, besides the top listed names, is from writer-director Gareth Evans who action fans know for The Raid movies, which if you not seen them… well – you’re missing out. Once those those required action viewings are done, you’ll know exactly why fans of Evans’ work can’t wait for this one. 2023 cannot come soon enough here.
Extraction 2 (2023)
A Netflix film worth paying attention to, this one is clearly a sequel, and it brings back Chris Hemsworth to the part of Tyler Rake. Working with him on screen here are Daniel Bernhardt (a regular of mid-range action films) Golshifteh Farahani, and Tinatin Dalakishvili. The talent behind the camera includes director Sam Hargrave who directed the first one and is a well-established stunt coordinator as well as Joe Russo of Marvel fame. This one, like the first, screams theatrical release, yet is not getting one. This is top tier talent in a streaming release and given how fun the first one was, this one is a film to look forward to. Another 2023 release that is highly anticipated.
Savage Salvation (2022)
De Niro in a non-massive, mid-budget action film may seem sad to some, but could actually be kind of cool. Here he is joined by John Malkovich, Jack Huston, and Willa Fitzgerald. The cast is for sure interesting and given that Malkovich seems to pick films either out of a hat or based on how much fun he’ll have doing them, there’s a high chance of a lot of fun action here. The cast should be more than enough to entice anyone, but let’s take a quick look at the story and the minds behind the film as well. The premise here is a basic revenge film where a former addict looks to get some payback on the folks he holds responsible for his lovee’s death. This one is directed by Randall Emmett who is usually a producer with only one directing credit before this with the 2021 film Midnight in the Switchgrass (which was terrible), so what he does here with a cast this stacked will be interesting to see. The script for Savage Salvation comes courtesy of Adam Taylor Barker for whom this is a first feature and Chris Sivertson who has done the excellent The Lost, the ok Brawler, and the questionable I Know Who Killed Me, so his resume is varied in style and quality to say the least.
What do you think of the above titles? Worth a watch? Which ones are you looking forward to in the next few months?