Recommended Female-Led Action Movies, Vol. Two

This is an additional series of female-led action films I found out about. The majority of the films are considered modern action films with a fun pop look to a social commentary.

The Hunt (2020)

This is more of a satire about the relationship the American left wing has with the presumed right wing people, and vice versa. The violent descent into anarchy was over the firing of the rich, well-known CEO who sent out an insensitive tweet that a certain group of people believed. The story seems like it’s partly a commentary about internet culture and the divided population in modern American culture.

Memorable action scene: The fight against Crystal May and Athena in the kitchen.

G.I. Jane (1997)

A fictional story about the first woman undergoing special operations training for the fictionalized version of the Navy Seals to prove that the division was not gender neutral. It was one of those all-American military movies that glamorized military values and military intervention in foreign policy. The feminist part of the film was a hook for the film that hadn’t been done before. After all that, Demi Moore was still asked about how she had to cut her long hair for the role. The film is grittier than most would remember with bloody mouths, gruelling fights and that bluish-steel colour grade that makes things look more harsh.

Memorable action scene: The training scenes when she fights against her cadets instead of the fight between her and master chief.

Becky (2020)

A troubled middle school girl, Becky, goes to her family cabin in the woods, where her widowed father announces that he will be marrying his girlfriend, expanding his family to include her and her young son. Meanwhile, a neo-nazi group with his tall intimidating lackeys just broke out of prison to look for a wartime heirloom in the area. Becky is violent, and so is this film. It’s a film that could be categorized as a modern-day grindhouse film with over-the-top violence. The film has a very simple story with a lot of action elements that work.

Memorable action scene: The fight against the 7ft lackey.

Run Lola Run (2000)

This is a time loop film that contains four different outcomes. Lola must help her boyfriend within 15 minutes, who has just robbed a bank. Therefore, she runs everywhere. I did a more in-depth review while ago.

Memorable action scene: The last running scene.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Based on the graphic novel, The Coldest City, this action film has a double agent during the Cold War era fighting for records from the opposing side. It has a gritty, harsh look.

Memorable action scene: The hallway fight.

Charlie’s Angels (2000)

A live-action comedy based on the 1970s TV series of the same name. The film is bright, colourful, fun, with a great soundtrack. There are action scenes that look like they’re performed by the actresses themselves. The action scenes do look choreographed with camera angles and cuts to add adrenaline to the scenes.

Memorable action scene: The lighter fight.

Death Proof and Planet Terror (2007)

These films are meant to be watched back-to-back like a double feature. They were created in the style of grindhouse films you might have seen in a drive-thru. Death Proof has a grittier style with the stunts on screen performed by a stunt actress throughout the film. Planet Terror is more of a shoot ’em up action film that looks more like a B-movie.

Memorable action scene: Planet Terror: The gun leg scene. Death Proof: Fighting the bad guy on the windsheild.

The Fifth Element (1997)

A very stylized action film based on a graphic novel. It’s more of a cult classic that has equal amounts of Bruce Willis (Korben Dallas) and Milla Jovovich (Leeloo) fighting baddies with hand combat and arms. The story is out there. It’s about the end of the world prophecy of a meteor hitting Earth, unless we align the elements of Earth together to stop the annihilation. The set and costume designs are uniquely 90s and gritty for a science fiction summer blockbuster.

Memorable action scene: When Leeloo fights during the opera solo.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

The original title is called Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow, but it was shortened to be just Edge of Tomorrow because of marketing issues overseas with the title being too long. The film is a time loop movie with a captain stuck to defeat a enemy repeatedly dying and coming back to life until his task is complete. What I find unique about the film is how much it looked like a video game brought to life on screen.

Memorable action scene: In a field fight.

Underworld (2003)

The start of an action film franchise that doesn’t get discussed as much as it used to about a vampire fighting a clan of werewolves after the attempted murder of their leader/sire. The film has a late 90s, early 2000s goth industrial look with everything looking blue and dark, heavy metal emo music and everyone in black in some way. The lead assassin vampire, Selene, dressed in a PVC cat suit, fights renegade werewolves and nosy humans in her mission to find the attempted murderer. The action film has combat scenes and action scenes enhanced by actors on a wire and computer imagery.

Memorable action scene:

Catfight (2016)

This is an unconventional action film with no real bad guy or save-the-world rhetoric. It’s about two middle-aged women fighting over a petty argument they always had when they were younger, but never got over. It actually has a lot of funny scenes and good fights between Anne Heche and Sandra Oh. The reason why anyone would fight each other like this is realistic, based on seeing road squabbles between angry adults.

Memorable action scene:

V for Vendetta (2003)

Another film based on a graphic novel about government overreach and anarchy. This film started a resurgence to know more in Guy Fawkes and the masks of Guy Fawkes that some internet vigilantes use to conceal their identities. The film is an in-depth drama that, as a female journalist living in an oppressive regime, gets informed about the atrocities her government conducts against their citizens from the mysterious person named V. It’s a bit like 1984 but stayed true to the graphic novel.

Memorable action scene:

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (1999)

This film brought the story genre of Wuxia into mainstream moviegoers’ minds in the late 90s. A lot of the fighting featured a lot of women performing elegant fighting scenes.

Memorable action scene:

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

The world building of the assassin world is nothing really new, with secret hospitals, weapon lairs and intel. This film was released around the same time John Wick was released, with a more comedic tone. The action scenes have a buildup of tension within the story.

Memorable action scene: When her arms become numb, but has to fight three foes.