These are the guys who don’t flinch at explosions. Let’s take a look at the biggest and best action movies of 2015, covering every significant release (good and bad) to give you the full lowdown. Be warned: the year starts off poorly (as is typical for Jan-Feb action releases), but things pick up. These are the 2015 action movies worth your consideration, and worth avoiding… I’ll update titles with a Netflix icon when they become available to watch there.

– JANUARY –
Taken 3
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen
Director: Olivier Megaton
Released: 9 January 2015 (U.S. Dates)

When ex-government operative Bryan Mills (Neeson) is framed for murdering his ex-wife (Janssen) in L.A. he goes on the run, using his particular set of skills to find the true killer and protect his daughter… While the first film was a modern action classic, the second was a flat rerun. This makes the mistake of rehiring the second film’s director. It’s also a shame this goes the route of killing Bryan’s almost-reconciled ex-wife, as he worked hard to keep her alive for the entire second film. That being said, this is Neeson, the reining master of the gruff action film (pocketing $20 million to return) and seeing him going up against the LAPD and FBI ‘Fugitive’-style gives it a different flavour. Critic reviews have been disappointing all round, while the public generally view it as rubbish, but kinda fun rubbish. [Critics (via Rotten Tomatoes): 10%] [Public (via IMDB): 6.0] – Mediocre

Blackhat
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany, Tang Wei
Director: Michael Mann
Released: 16 January 2015

When a hacker’s old code is used to infiltrate a prominent financial target, he is released from prison and offered a deal to work with the joint FBI/Chinese government task force tracking down the person responsible. But the guilty party is already causing chaos elsewhere, including shutting down the cooling facility at a nuclear power plant. This cat-and-mouse international heist-actioner travels to Chicago, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Jakarta. Unfortunately this is not the ‘Heat’ of cybercrime. Buff superhunk Chris Hemsworth is poorly cast as a master hacker. Director Michael Mann promised envelope-pushing camera-work, but it’s just his usual. And it sports character work even worse than ‘Public Enemies’ and ‘Miami Vice’. Hollywood just doesn’t do hacking well and this is further proof. Dull. [Critics: 34%] [Public: 5.4] – Mediocre

Wild Card
Starring: Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci, Sofia Vergara, Milo Ventimiglia, Jason Alexander
Director: Simon West
Released: 30 January 2015

A Las Vegas bodyguard with a gambling problem (Statham) helps an old friend get revenge on a sadistic thug (Ventimiglia) after she is beaten by him. He then finds out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss (Tucci). Now he’s playing blackjack to win enough cash to leave Vegas for good, fast, but his plans may go awry… Remake of the so-so 1986 Burt Reynolds-starrer ‘Heat’. That was written by the legendary William Goldman, adapted from his novel, the man responsible for the likes of ‘Misery’, ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘All the President’s Men’ but more recently ‘Dreamcatcher’. He’s writing the screenplay for this remake, his first production in 11 years. This has a decent cast too but it still looks interchangeable with Statham’s other very missable recent action outings: ‘Parker’, ‘Homefront’, ‘Safe’, and ‘The Mechanic’. Although this will lean more towards crime-drama, with only a handful of action scenes. The director worked with Statham on ‘The Expendables 2’ and ‘The Mechanic’. Reviews and public reaction has been poor. It’s for hardcore Statham fans only. [Critics: 30%] [Public: 5.6] – Mediocre

– FEBRUARY –
Jupiter Ascending
Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne
Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Released: 6 February 2015

In a universe where humans are near the bottom of the evolutionary ladder, an unlucky Russian immigrant (Kunis) who cleans toilets for a living is saved from assassination by an interplanetary warrior (Tatum, playing a half-albino with wolf and human DNA). As he takes her across the solar system, to a world beneath the clouds of Saturn, he reveals she is really an heiress of intergalactic nobility. Soon she will have to make a stand to protect the inhabitants of Earth from an ancient and destructive industry… The Wachowskis return to their ‘Matrix’ roots with another story of an average person plucked from obscurity and told they’re “The One”. However ‘Jupiter Ascending’ is a confusing first-draft mess of a movie that makes you ponder who on Earth thought spending $170m on this material was a good idea. Tatum doesn’t do anything beyond stoic acrobat and Kunis is charmless as a heroine who simply has a royal title handed to her and then is repeatedly rescued. Inevitable Razzie-winner Redmayne is unrestrainedly campy and ridiculous as the whispering villain. The gravity boot action is mildly inventive and there are some great visuals of the planet Jupiter, but just… don’t. [Critics: 26%] [Public: 5.4] – Mediocre

Kingsman: The Secret Service
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Sam Jackson, Michael Caine
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Released: 13 February 2015

Veteran British secret agent Harry Hart (Firth), member of the mysterious Kingsman, sees potential in the rebellious young son of a deceased friend (newcomer Egerton) so recruits and trains him to become an agent. At the same time, a twisted technological genius (Jackson) steps up and threatens the world, which puts the Kingsman on alert to stop him… Based on the acclaimed comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, and just like his previous Millar adaptation, ‘Kick-Ass’, director Matthew Vaughn (‘X-Men: First Class’) co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman. ‘Kingsman’ is the first great action movie of 2015, providing style, humour, and well-made energetic thrills for those wanting a twist on the James Bond tale (with a bit of ‘Men in Black’ cadet training thrown in). [Critics: 75%] [Public: 7.8] – Excellent

More 2015 Action Movies (FEBRUARY) >

Action Movies 2015

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