It’s always a good time to watch an action movie, especially on rainy spring days or hot summer nights. They can get you ready to tackle a busy day or help you wind down after a long night. The best action movies combine a gripping plot with lots of fights, car chase,s and dramatic scenes. They feature a talented cast of actors, too.
All three action movies on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in June fit the bill. There’s an action comedy, a British crime film, and an action thriller starring an actor who has been sorely underrated in the genre.
Black Dynamite (2009)
A blaxploitation action comedy, Black Dynamite centers around the titular character played by Michael Jai White, a former CIA agent with a dual focus: he wants to clean up the drug-riddled streets of his community, but is also out to avenge his brother’s death. Presented like both an homage to and parody of action and blaxploitation movies from the 1970s, Black Dynamite is set in that era as well.
With stories involving clandestine organizations, government conspiracies, secrets, lies, romance, a bit of kung fu, and even the presence of ghosts, Black Dynamite combines high action with plenty of laughs. The movie is a love letter to more serious films of its ilk, but it’s also a clever film in its own right that takes you down an exciting, sometimes odd path to get to the explosive end.
Stream Black Dynamite on Amazon Prime Video.
Layer Cake (2004)
Daniel Craig might be known to many as James Bond, but before that role, he picked up a gun in this British crime movie based on the J.J. Connolly novel of the same name. But this time, he’s on the wrong side of the law. Craig is XXXX, an unnamed cocaine distributor in London who carries himself like a legitimate businessman. Ready to retire, XXXX is pulled back into the dark criminal underworld when mob boss Jimmy (Kenneth Cranham) needs him to pull off two last big jobs: find the kidnapped daughter of one of his associates and handle a big drug purchase deal.
XXXX gets more than he bargained for when trying to tie up these loose ends to move on with his life. What proceeds from there is a dangerous, violent game involving powerful war criminals, assassins, thieves, and betrayal. There are a lot of layers (pun intended) to Layer Cake, but as you peel back each one, you’ll become more and more engrossed in the interweaving plot.
Stream Layer Cake on Amazon Prime Video.
Nobody (2020)
Bob Odenkirk is one of the most underrated and versatile actors of this generation. Beyond his hilarious performance in Breaking Bad as the slimy Saul Goodman, along with his even more nuanced portrayal of the character in the prequel series Better Call Saul, he also had a scene-stealing role as the antagonistic Uncle Lee in a season 2 flashback episode of The Bear. Nobody shines a spotlight on Odenkirk and his ability to tackle serious, not to mention physically demanding roles.
In this action thriller, he’s Hutch Mansell, an ordinary office worker and family man. For all intents and purposes, he’s a nobody. Or is he? It turns out, Hutch (as viewers might be able to guess from the first shocking fight scene) has a dark and violent past. Certain circumstances result in him having to harness these old skills as Hutch gets caught up in a dangerous situation.
Nobody proves that Odenkirk has real potential to be an action star. He shines in the against-type role, and the movie itself is surprisingly good. The Screen Scene’s Scott Phillips says he found himself both laughing and marveling at the tremendous fight choreography. “Nobody,” he adds, “offer a lot of wit to go with its gore.” The movie is available to watch on Amazon Freevee, so you don’t even need a subscription (but you will have to watch with ads even if you have the Amazon Prime Video ad-free tier).
Stream Nobody on Amazon Prime Video.
