In 2021, Ana de Armas blew us away with her action moves in No Time to Die. This weekend, Armas is finally getting to headline her own action movie, Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff that even features Keanu Reeves.
Unsurprisingly, Ballerina delivers all of the action we could have ever wanted, and Armas seems poised for even greater stardom.
If you liked Ballerina, then you’re going to love these three action movies after watching the John Wick spinoff.
The connecting theme of this list is that all three movies feature female action heroes. And it’s a positive sign for the genre that we didn’t have to look far to find these films.
If we were ranking Charlize Theron‘s action films, then Atomic Blonde would be pretty high on the list. In this late Cold War spy action thriller, Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an M16 on a mission to East Germany to recover stolen intelligence from the men who murdered another agent.
Most of the fights that Lorraine has in this movie are with men, and they are absolutely brutal. One of the reasons why Atomic Blonde stands out is that Lorraine pays a physical price for all of the hand-to-hand battles she’s in. This may be a very stylized film, but the action is top-notch.
Atomic Blonde is available for rent or purchase at Prime Video.
‘Peppermint’ (2018)Jennifer Garner had her John Wick moment in Peppermint, and all of her action experience from Alias and even Daredevil and Elektra probably helped prepare her for this. Garner plays Riley North, a banker who is happily married to Chris (Jeff Hephner) and proudly raising their daughter, Carly (Cailey Fleming). When a drug lord named Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba) sends out a hit on Chris for something he didn’t even do, only Riley is left alive.
When Diego escapes justice, Riley vows revenge for the loss of her husband and child. And she’s willing to take a destructive journey over several years just to settle the score.
Peppermint is streaming on AMC+.
‘The Long Kiss Goodnight’ (1996)
Genna Davis wasn’t the first female action star, but she was definitely a pioneer in The Long Kiss Goodnight. The film was written by Shane Black, so of course it takes place during Christmas. Davis plays Samantha Caine, but she knows full well that isn’t her real name. Eight years ago, Samantha was found badly injured and she never regained her memory.
None of the private investigators that Samantha hires can tell her who she really is. So she finds a life for herself as a school teacher and the wife of Hal (Tom Amandes), and as the mother of Caitlin (Yvonne Zima). One Christmas, private investigator Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson) finally finds a lead about Samantha. And he’s not the only one, because Samantha’s enemies are also close to tracking her down.
The Long Kiss Goodnight is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
