# List of action films of the 2000s
The action films of the 2000s are the action-genre feature films released between 2000 and 2009, a decade in which the genre moved from the wire-work and bullet-time of the post-*Matrix* era toward gritty handheld realism, rising digital production, and a wave of pan-Asian and Hong Kong influences reaching mainstream Western audiences. Critics' surveys of the decade repeatedly place [Ang Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/ang-lee)'s *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* (2000), [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott)'s *Black Hawk Down* (2001), *Casino Royale* (2006), and *The Bourne Ultimatum* (2007) among the genre's most celebrated entries of the period.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Defining releases | *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* (2000), *Black Hawk Down* (2001), *Hero* (2002), *Kill Bill* (2003–2004), *Casino Royale* (2006), *The Bourne Ultimatum* (2007)[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) |
| Box office anchors (2000) | *X-Men* earned $157,299,717 and *Charlie's Angels* $122,802,761 at the domestic box office[3](https://thenumbers.com/market/2000/genre/Action) |
| Decade closer | *Avatar* (2009) earned $750 million domestically plus another $2 billion internationally[4](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/avatar-fire-ash-3-d/685370/) |
| Signature style shift | The Bourne series popularized shaky cam and quick cutting, displacing the *Matrix*-era look of black leather, slow motion, wire work, and CGI choreography[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) • [5](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/best-action-movies-bourne-identity-john-wick-blue-ruin) |
| Production shift | *Star Wars: Attack of the Clones* (16 May 2002) was the first big-budget Hollywood film shot using digital cameras[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-digital-films) |
| Transnational rise | After *Crouching Tiger*, pan-Asian action films including *Hero* (2002), *Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior*, *Kung Fu Hustle* (2004), *Red Cliff* (2008), and *13 Assassins* reached American audiences[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) |
| Superhero beginnings | *X-Men* (2000) set the stage for the superhero genre's later dominance; *Iron Man* (2008) began the Marvel series that came to dominate ticket sales[7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/25-years-later-these-5-movies-from-2000-are-still-amazing) • [8](https://uark.pressbooks.pub/massmedialandscape/chapter/movies/) |
## The genre at the turn of the decade
The 2000s opened with the era of the muscle-bound 1980s and 1990s action star already over, according to a GamesRadar retrospective of the decade's greatest films.[9](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/movies/the-35-greatest-2000s-action-movies/) The immediate stylistic inheritance was *The Matrix* (1999), whose influence, one detailed decade survey notes, was strongly felt until 2003: black leather costumes, slow motion, wire work, and CGI-assisted fight choreography.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) Hong Kong choreographer [Yuen Woo-ping](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuen-woo-ping), whose wire work had shaped that film's suspended kung fu sequences, stood behind the era's most imitated fighting style.[10](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/history-cgi/)
**Gladiator's wave.** Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning epic *Gladiator*, released at the turn of the millennium, helped start a wave of historical action movies that ran through the decade; its hero Maximus, played by [Russell Crowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-crowe) against [Joaquin Phoenix](https://www.edgepedia.org/joaquin-phoenix)'s Commodus, became one of the period's defining characters.[11](https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/best-action-movie-every-year-2000s) • [12](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g37260832/2000s-movies/)
## Style wars: realism, shaky cam, and digital production
The decade's most consequential stylistic turn came with *The Bourne Identity* (2002), directed by [Doug Liman](https://www.edgepedia.org/doug-liman) and starring [Matt Damon](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-damon) as an amnesia-riddled CIA agent, which [The Week](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-week) describes as genre-redefining.[5](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/best-action-movies-bourne-identity-john-wick-blue-ruin) Its success, and Paul Greengrass's extreme application of the same approach in the commercially stronger sequel *The Bourne Supremacy*, produced what the decade survey calls a new school of thought built on shaky camera work and quick cuts, even as it warns that overused shake renders the proceedings unwatchable.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
Practical craft remained central to the decade's best-regarded action. *Troy* (2004) staged its Achilles/Hector skirmish without stunt doubles, [William Friedkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-friedkin)'s *The Hunted* (2003) featured what the same survey calls perhaps one of the best knife duels ever put on celluloid, and [Donnie Yen](https://www.edgepedia.org/donnie-yen)'s *Flashpoint* (2007) brought mixed martial arts fights to the big screen for the first time in his now classic form.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) [Tony Jaa](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-jaa)'s one-take stairwell fight in *Tom-Yum-Goong* (2005) later became a touchstone for the corridor-fight sequences of films such as *The Raid*.[13](https://www.bafta.org/stories/focus-on-stunt-performance/)
Underneath the aesthetics, the medium itself changed. *Attack of the Clones*, released 16 May 2002, was the first big-budget Hollywood film shot using digital cameras, a line in the sand that preceded digital overtaking 35 mm cinematography as the industry standard just 11 years later.[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-digital-films) By the late 2000s, CGI was increasingly replacing practical stunts in blockbuster cinema, according to BAFTA's stunt-performance retrospective.[13](https://www.bafta.org/stories/focus-on-stunt-performance/)
## Transnational action cinema
The highest-recommended action film of 2000 by Rotten Tomatoes' formula was Ang Lee's *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, and in its wake came a rise in taste for pan-Asian action movies brought to America: [Jet Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/jet-li)'s *Hero* (2002), Tony Jaa's *Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior*, Stephen Chow's *Kung Fu Hustle* (2004), [John Woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-woo)'s *Red Cliff* (2008), and [Takashi Miike](https://www.edgepedia.org/takashi-miike)'s *13 Assassins*.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) Critics hailed Jaa's athletic performance in *Ong-Bak* with comparisons to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/)
Hong Kong cinema remained a defining force. *Hero* was the most expensive Chinese film in history by 2002, and Jet Li's *Unleashed* (2005) was, in the decade survey's judgment, easily his best English-speaking film.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) A scholarly study of post-handover Hong Kong action cinema (1997–2007) records that some Hong Kong filmmakers were invited to work on Hollywood pictures, and that films such as *Infernal Affairs* were remade into Hollywood versions that achieved box office success and awards recognition.[14](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ac.20.2.114_1) [Park Chan-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-chan-wook)'s *Oldboy* is credited with kicking off a golden era of Korean cinema and putting South Korean films on a global stage.[12](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g37260832/2000s-movies/)
## Franchises, reboots, and superheroes
The decade both launched and remade long-running franchises. *The Fast and the Furious* (2001) was, as ComicBook.com puts it, a fairly simple cops and robbers film that kicked off a franchise still running a quarter century later.[15](https://comicbook.com/movies/list/the-greatest-action-movie-from-every-year-of-the-2000s-so-far/) On the reboot side, 2006 and 2007 brought the best of Bond and Bourne: the 007 reboot *Casino Royale*, with Daniel Craig's moodier Bond facing Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre in a deadly high-stakes poker game, and *The Bourne Ultimatum*.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [12](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g37260832/2000s-movies/) The decade survey notes that films of the period tried to reboot beloved franchises with more emotionally complex heroes and villains debating moral dilemmas in an increasingly complex mythology.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
Superhero action gathered momentum across the decade. *X-Men* (2000), a commercial anchor of its release year with a $157,299,717 domestic gross, set the stage for the juggernaut the superhero genre would become, and *Iron Man* (2008) began the Marvel series that went on to dominate ticket sales for well over a decade.[3](https://thenumbers.com/market/2000/genre/Action) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/25-years-later-these-5-movies-from-2000-are-still-amazing) • [8](https://uark.pressbooks.pub/massmedialandscape/chapter/movies/) Quentin Tarantino's *Kill Bill* two-part marathon (2003–2004) stood outside the franchise system while shaping the decade's martial-arts-inflected revenge film, and Tarantino and Rodriguez's *Grindhouse* project paid homage to 1960s and 1970s exploitation double features.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) • [16](https://www.moodmovielist.com/movies?sort=critics-rating&type=Action&year=2000-2010)
## Notable films by year
The following selection draws on critics' year-by-year surveys and the decade retrospective literature.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) • [11](https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/best-action-movie-every-year-2000s)
- **2000**: *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*; *X-Men*; *Gladiator*, which launched the decade's historical-epic wave[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [3](https://thenumbers.com/market/2000/genre/Action)
- **2001**: *Black Hawk Down*; *The Fast and the Furious*, start of a 25-year franchise[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [15](https://comicbook.com/movies/list/the-greatest-action-movie-from-every-year-of-the-2000s-so-far/)
- **2002**: *The Bourne Identity*; *Hero*; *Attack of the Clones*, first big-budget digital-camera production[5](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/best-action-movies-bourne-identity-john-wick-blue-ruin) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) • [6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-digital-films)
- **2003**: *Kill Bill* (part one); *The Hunted*[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
- **2004**: *Kill Bill* (part two); *Kung Fu Hustle*; *Troy*[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
- **2005**: *A History of Violence*; *Unleashed*; *Tom-Yum-Goong*[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) • [13](https://www.bafta.org/stories/focus-on-stunt-performance/)
- **2006**: *Casino Royale*; *Miami Vice*, which grew into a cult classic; *V for Vendetta*[12](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g37260832/2000s-movies/) • [9](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/movies/the-35-greatest-2000s-action-movies/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
- **2007**: *The Bourne Ultimatum*; *Flashpoint*[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
- **2008**: *Red Cliff*; *Iron Man*[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [8](https://uark.pressbooks.pub/massmedialandscape/chapter/movies/)
- **2009**: *Black Dynamite*, a blaxploitation tribute; *Avatar*, which closed the decade with $750 million domestic and $2 billion international grosses[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [4](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/avatar-fire-ash-3-d/685370/)
## What changed over the decade
Three movements run through the period. First, the dominant look shifted twice: from the *Matrix*-influenced wire-work aesthetic, which held until roughly 2003, to the Bourne-derived handheld realism that the same survey treats as the decade's lasting imprint on action staging.[2](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s) Second, production technology turned digital, beginning with *Attack of the Clones* in 2002 and culminating in *Avatar* (2009), whose commercial success prompted the industry to rearrange itself around 3-D exhibition.[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-digital-films) • [4](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/avatar-fire-ash-3-d/685370/) Third, the genre's center of gravity internationalized: pan-Asian martial arts cinema, Hong Kong imports and remakes, and Korean titles entered mainstream Western viewership, a shift visible both in critics' year-by-year picks and in Hollywood's own casting of Hong Kong-trained choreographers and stars.[1](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/) • [14](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ac.20.2.114_1)
The decade also produced a large middle tier of commercial films that did not endure as landmarks, from the *Transporter* series with Jason Statham to the box office bomb *Sahara* (2005), whose bombastic set pieces and Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, and Steve Zahn performances are still periodically reevaluated.[17](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/forgettable-action-flicks-in-the-2000s-some-still-worth-checking-out)
## References
1. [25 Best Action Movies: The Highest-Rated of Each Year Since 1998, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/25-best-action-movies-since-1998/)
2. [Dissecting Action: The 2000s, Film Mining 101](https://www.filmmining101.com/articles/dissecting-action-the-2000s)
3. [Domestic Box Office Performance for Action Movies in 2000, The Numbers](https://thenumbers.com/market/2000/genre/Action)
4. [The Future of Film Is Behind Us, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/avatar-fire-ash-3-d/685370/)
5. [The 8 Best Action Movies of the 21st Century, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/film/best-action-movies-bourne-identity-john-wick-blue-ruin)
6. [10 Great Early Digital Films, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-digital-films)
7. [25 Years Later, These 5 Movies from 2000 Are Still Amazing, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/movies/25-years-later-these-5-movies-from-2000-are-still-amazing)
8. [Movies – The Mass Media Landscape, University of Arkansas Pressbooks](https://uark.pressbooks.pub/massmedialandscape/chapter/movies/)
9. [The 35 Greatest 2000s Action Movies, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/movies/the-35-greatest-2000s-action-movies/)
10. [A History of CGI in the Movies, Empire](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/history-cgi/)
11. [The Best Action Movie From Every Year in the 2000s, Mental Floss](https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/movies/best-action-movie-every-year-2000s)
12. [The 70 Best 2000s Movies, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g37260832/2000s-movies/)
13. [Focus on… Stunt Performance, BAFTA](https://www.bafta.org/stories/focus-on-stunt-performance/)
14. [A Study of the Post-Handover Hong Kong Action Cinema 1997–2007, Intellect](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ac.20.2.114_1)
15. [The Greatest Action Movie From Every Year of the 2000s So Far, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/movies/list/the-greatest-action-movie-from-every-year-of-the-2000s-so-far/)
16. [Critically Acclaimed Action Movies of 2000s, MoodMovieList](https://www.moodmovielist.com/movies?sort=critics-rating&type=Action&year=2000-2010)
17. [Forgettable Action Flicks in the 2000s That Are Still Worth Checking Out, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/forgettable-action-flicks-in-the-2000s-some-still-worth-checking-out)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › National and regional cinemas by year › Genre and era list systems › Action and adventure film lists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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