Most action comedies are more activity than comedy, or more comedy than action. It'due south rare that an entry in this subgenre brings out the best in both of its components, just there are some that strike the residue.

Both action and one-act accept the capacity to exist the most entertaining genres in cinema, so action comedies take the potential to fire on all cylinders with the entertainment factor, only few of them have the sumptuous combination of heady action and hysterical one-act. Here are the best activeness comedies that blend the genres perfectly.

Updated Nov. 25, 2021 by Colin McCormick: There'southward something well-nigh the combination of action and one-act that consistently draws audiences. The all-time activity comedy movies feature intense and pulse-pounding action sequences simply to break the tension with well-placed jokes, and the exhilarating back-and-along gives audiences a huge blitz. The genre continues to grow, and there are ever new examples of action comedy movies that combine the genres well. If audiences are looking for some thrills to go along with their laughs and vice versa, there are enough more wonderfully balanced action-comedies to bank check out.

Red (2010)

  • Available to stream on FuboTV and IndieFlix

Bruce Willis is 1 of the most iconic activity moving-picture show stars of all time, but it's a lot of fun to meet him riffing on his ain tough-guy persona in movies similar Red. In information technology, Willis plays a retired CIA agent who becomes targeted past the government.

Willis is joined by some other great actors similar Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich, each playing badass spies who may be past their prime but notwithstanding kick plenty of butt. In that location are some great action moments, including a fun fight between Willis and Karl Urban. Malkovich is hilariously eccentric in a scene-stealing part.

The Other Guys (2010)

  • Available to rent on Apple tree Telly

The pairing of Volition Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg seems bizarre, just it works so well for the hilarious buddy-cop action comedy flick The Other Guys. Ferrell and Wahlberg play disrespected cops who team up to solve a massive case.

Manager Adam McKay delivers some fun activeness moments generally cheers to Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson every bit a pair of hilariously clichéd cops. But the two leads besides make for a hilarious team, with Wahlberg showing off his surprising comedic chops.

The Suicide Squad (2021)

  • Available to hire on Apple TV

While James Gunn's Guardians of the Milky way movies do good from his irreverent sense of humor, The Suicide Squad feels like the outcome of Gunn being allowed to comprehend his wildest ideas. The R-rated comic book flick follows a group of supervillains forced into a dangerous mission together.

Gunn took inspiration from adventure movies like The Muddied Dozen while too injecting the movie with his night sense of sense of humor. The result is one of the bloodiest, funniest, and most outrageous comic book movies e'er made, too equally one of the best action comedy movies.

Spy (2015)

  • Bachelor to rent on Apple TV

Few people would have envisioned Melissa McCarthy every bit an action star, but she pulls it off wonderfully in Spy while besides remaining her usually hilarious self. McCarthy plays a desk worker at a spy bureau who is put into the field on a mission.

The picture has a fun time playing confronting audition expectations with its casting. McCarthy is very impressive in the movie'south fight sequences while Jason Statham delivers the funniest operation in the movie as an over-the-peak and dim-witted superspy.

True Lies (1994)

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is another legendary action star who is fun to meet in a slightly sillier role. In James Cameron'due south Truthful Lies, Schwarzenegger plays a government agent who hides his dangerous life from his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) only for those ii worlds to collide.

Given that it is Schwarzenegger and Cameron teaming upwards over again, information technology should be no surprise that the movie delivers some genuinely amazing activity scenes. Only the marital storyline is also surprisingly hilarious, with Schwarzenegger and Curtis delivering terrific comedic performances.

21 Leap Street (2012)

  • Bachelor to stream on Netflix

When Jonah Hill took on the task of writing and starring in a movie reboot of 21 Jump Street, an onetime cop evidence about underground officers infiltrating a high school, he set out to combine the wacky antics of John Hughes' high school comedies with the loftier-octane thrills of Michael Bay'due south action movies.

Thanks to Colina's hilarious on-screen chemistry with his co-star Channing Tatum and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bringing a distinctive visual flair to the movie, that curious vision was realized. The sequel, aptly titled 22 Jump Street, is also well worth a watch.

Kindergarten Cop (1990)

  • Available to stream on FuboTV, Showtime, DIRECTV and Spectrum On Demand

Comedy is not necessarily one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's strengths as a performer, only he has given brilliant comic performances when he's leaned into the cocky-parodying element of his comedic vehicles.

Ivan Reitman's Kindergarten Cop is a prime number instance, as he plays a tough-as-nails detective who begins working as a kindergarten instructor in lodge to catch a drug dealer who is suspected to be in contact with his ex-wife and son.

The Homo From U.N.C.50.Eastward. (2015)

  • Available to stream on Tubi Boob tube

Guy Ritchie's film adaptation of the classic The Human being from U.Due north.C.L.E. TV show did a neat job of both recapturing the zany spirit of the original series and keeping up with the nonstop thrills of modern action picture palace.

Having been overlooked for the role of James Bond in favor of Daniel Craig, Henry Cavill relishes the consolation prize that is the role of Napoleon Solo in this movie.

Bad Boys (1995)

  • Bachelor to stream on HBO Max and Spectrum On Need

After he got his outset directing music videos but before he could command nine-figure budgets to create deafening displays of "Bayhem," Michael Bay helmed the showtime installment in the Bad Boys franchise.

The second one was bigger and bolder, and the third one was much better-received than anyone expected when it hit theaters earlier this year, but the first movie is still the all-time, capturing the unique comic energy created past Will Smith and Martin Lawrence'due south unparalleled chemistry.

Kingsman: The Hush-hush Service (2014)

  • Available to stream on fubo Goggle box, FXNow, DIRECTV and Spectrum On Demand

Matthew Vaughn brought an R-rated comic sensibility to the familiar tropes of spy movies when he adapted Marking Millar'south Kingsman comics for the big screen. Kingsman is a Bond movie by way of the Deadpool school of cocky-enlightened zaniness.

Colin Firth is a compelling lead as Harry Hart, an uber-skilled admirer spy who'south twice as polite and 3 times every bit violent equally 007, while Taron Egerton'southward portrayal of rookie Eggsy is infinitely lovable. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson delightfully hams it up as the villain, Valentine.

Free Fire (2016)

  • Available to stream on fubo TV, Showtime, Hoopla, Kanopy, DIRECTV and Spectrum On Demand

Ben Wheatley's Free Fire uses narrative simplicity to its advantage. Set in Boston in the '70s, the motion-picture show is about an arms deal gone wrong that culminates in an intense gunfight. In that location's no pesky plot getting in the manner of the visceral action and fun comedy.

This movie is carried past its cast, which is filled with such greats as Brie Larson, Cillian Tater, and Sharlto Copley, while Wheatley'due south stiff command of unconventional filmmaking techniques makes Gratuitous Fire feel unique.

Pineapple Limited (2008)

  • Available to stream on Netflix

As the story of a witness to a mob hit going on the run, Pineapple Express establishes itself every bit an action-packed thrill-ride early. And since that witness is a stoner, there'south also a salubrious dose of humor in the setup.

Seth Rogen and James Franco are hilarious in the lead roles, with such supporting players as Danny McBride and Craig Robinson backing them up, so the cast takes care of the one-act. Thank you to managing director David Gordon Green and his cinematographer Tim Orr, the activity is shot spectacularly.

48 Hrs. (1982)

  • Available to stream on Paramouth Plus

Widely best-selling as the first entry in the buddy cop genre, Walter Hill's48 Hrs. has a 50/50 split of exciting activity fix pieces and hilarious back-and-forth between the characters.

Nick Nolte is a gruff comic foil for his zany co-star Eddie Potato in the movie, which tells the story of a no-nonsense cop (Nolte) who reluctantly lets a criminal (Potato) out of jail for 48 hours to help him rail down his former partner-in-crime. They're the ultimate mismatched buddy cop pairing.

Big Trouble In Picayune Mainland china (1986)

  • Available to stream on Starz and Spectrum On Need

Following the martial arts movie wave of the 1970s, the '80s brought on a new era for the genre that was marked by increasingly weird activity and a backdrop of the occult. Big Trouble in Little China was perhaps the wackiest take on this.

Kurt Russell stars as truck commuter Jack Burton, who helps his all-time friend Wang Chi to save his fiancée, who has been trapped in the subconscious underworld beneath Chinatown past an ancient sorcerer. Russell hilariously subverts his usual tough-guy persona, instead playing an incompetent, pratfalling loser who is completely unprepared for combat situations.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

  • Available to stream on Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime Video

Since his parents were actors, Ben Stiller grew upward on moving-picture show sets, and he once noticed that the cast of a war picture show treated their experience like they'd actually been in a war zone and seen active gainsay. Then when Stiller became a filmmaker in his ain right, he made a hysterical satire nigh actors starring in a war picture.

Thanks to Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Jack Blackness, and their supporting cast (including an infinitely hilarious turn by Tom Cruise as a ruthless, giant-handed studio executive), Tropic Thunder is never more than than a few seconds away from a express mirth-out-loud moment, and there's plenty of activeness to kicking.

Rumble In The Bronx (1995)

  • Available to stream on Kanopy and FILMRISE

Jackie Chan is a hugely influential activity star who mixes superb fighting styles with the psychical comedy of Buster Keaton. Chan has woven these two things together on the screen brilliantly in everything from the Police Story saga to The Tuxedo.

The motion-picture show that got Chan noticed by Hollywood was Rumble in the Bronx, in which he plays a Hong Kong cop who travels to New York and falls in with a local gang as he plots to bring downwardly a nefarious crime syndicate.

The Dainty Guys (2016)

  • Available to stream on Hulu

Shane Black'south The Overnice Guys deserved a lot more than attending from moviegoers than it got. Thanks to Captain America: Ceremonious State of war and Me Earlier Y'all, information technology was buried at multiplexes in 2016, but it'due south one of the most fiercely original movies in years.

It's a noir-tinged, '70s-set buddy cop story starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a pair of mismatched individual optics who are forced to work together. Gosling and Crowe take hilarious chemistry; it would be bang-up to see them reunited in a sequel.

Midnight Run (1988)

  • Available to stream on Netlfix, Peacock and Peacock Premium

Martin Brest's Midnight Run is substantially Planes, Trains and Automobiles with guns. Robert De Niro stars equally a bounty hunter named Jack Walsh who brings in a mob accountant named Jonathan Mardukas, played past Charles Grodin, while evading the feds, the mob, and his closest rival.

De Niro and Grodin are perfectly cast, with the former brilliantly tackling his beginning comedic function and the latter supplying his usual pitch-perfect commitment to each line.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

  • Bachelor to stream on HBO Max, HBO, Max Go and Spectrum On Demand

Sylvester Stallone was initially attached to star in Beverly Hills Cop and wrote a draft of the script as a nighttime, dramatic action thriller. When the producers decided to requite it a comedic bending, Stallone dropped out and reused some of his ideas in Cobra, while Eddie Murphy came aboard Beverly Hills Cop and brought his unbridled comic energy forth with him.

Director Martin Brest has a handle on the plot, ensuring that it'due south always moving forward with palpable momentum, while White potato makes the most of his first starring role with a barrage of ad-libbed hilarity.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

  • Bachelor to stream on Max Go, DIRECTV and Spectrum On Demand

Edgar Wright'southward Hot Fuzz is ostensibly a parody of the conventions of buddy cop movies, only it's as well a prime number example of 1. Simon Pegg stars as a large-city cop transferred to a minor town, while Nick Frost is the bumbling local cop he's partnered upwardly with. Together, they uncover a widespread conspiracy in a boondocks with a low criminal offense rate contrasted with a suspiciously high accident rate.

Wright is one of the few comedy filmmakers who actually bothers to apply framing and editing to add to the sense of humour, and he has a strong handle on directing thrilling action, too.

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Ben Sherlock (3618 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He's currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You tin take hold of him performing standup at odd pubs around the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland that will give him stage fourth dimension. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resource, and BabbleTop.

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