As if all the Kenergy last year wasn’t enough, Ryan Gosling is back in all his magnificence this year in David Leitch’s The Fall Guy – a comedic love letter to the nameless stuntmen who take the hit with a thumbs up for audiences to sit awestruck at the star actor’s action sequences.
Now, this girlie grew up in a household that consumed action films and action comedies like oxygen (thanks Dad!), and I couldn’t help but be overjoyed at all the Kill Bill and Jason Bourne references. Add to that the glorious Emily Blunt as the lead actress, and my Barbenheimer heart can finally rest in peace.
In the meantime, if you’re looking to binge on some action comedies in the same vein as The Fall Guy, here is a list of my favourites that haven’t been mentioned in the film.
The Nice Guys
Of course, this had to be my first recommendation. In this neo-noir action comedy, Holland March (Ryan Gosling) plays a private detective who teams up with a hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl in ’70s Los Angeles. This pairing and the movie is an underrated gem, and if slapstick action films are your thing, this is definitely the movie you should watch after The Fall Guy.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood
The first film that The Fall Guy reminded me of was Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. This 2019 movie revolves around actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his body double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), and their efforts to regain their spotlight in 1960s Hollywood. Though it doesn’t have as many action sequences as most action movies do, the few that it does have are quite cool if you ask me (it’s a Tarantino film, duh!). And bonus points if the meta elements of The Fall Guy were your thing; you got plenty of it here too (pro tip: just read about the Manson murders beforehand if you don’t know about it).
Where to watch: Jio Cinema
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
What happens if you put Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in an action movie? Banter. Lots and lots of it. Reynolds plays a UK-based private bodyguard Michael Bryce, who has been tasked with protecting Darius Kincaid (Jackson), an imprisoned hitman headed to the International Court of Justice to testify against East European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman). Add Salma Hayek to the mix, and now you have the recipe for a slick buddy-action movie with a hilarious star cast that will leave you laughing for hours.
Where to watch: Netflix
Men In Black
No mention of action comedies is complete without a mention of the Men In Black Series. This Barry Sonnenfeld classic is a perfect science fiction twist to the buddy-cop action comedy trope. Will Smith plays James, a police officer who is hired by Lee Jones’ Agent K into a top-secret organisation to investigate a series of criminal activities related to alien life forms secretly living on Earth. This movie is as nineties as it can get; the aliens are cool in a campy sort of way, and all the jokes land well and are perfectly balanced with the action sequences.
Where to watch: Netflix, Sony Liv
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
A little while before Robert Downey Jr. donned the suit for Iron Man, he played a small-time thief pretending to be an actor in this excellently written tongue-in-cheek black comedy. His character, Harry Lockhart gets entangled in a murder investigation after he befriends a private detective Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) and the rest of the movie is a clever attempt (with INCREDIBLE execution) at them trying to get out of this loop. If neo-noir films are your thing, this tribute to the genre should definitely be on your watchlist.
Where to watch: Jio Cinema
The Suicide Squad (2021)
I may be the only one, but the glittery fight scene in the club after Colt gets drugged reminded me of the later half of this Harley Quinn fight scene from The Suicide Squad. Gruesome, witty and endlessly funny, James Gunn’s take on DC’s motley crew of unlikely heroes (or anti-heroes, whichever way you see it) redeemed the Suicide Squad of the bad rep that the 2016 film earned, and shot John Cena’s Peacemaker to astronomical levels of fame.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Deadpool
Deadpool is one of the best anti-hero films based on a comic character, and Ryan Reynolds was born for the lead role. Director Tim Miller’s debut film delves into the origin story of Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth, and dives five fingers deep into comedy, irony and pop-culture gags. Deadpool is as meta as a superhero movie can get, and in an era where every Marvel movie was almost the same (but better than what we have now), the film was the dose of fresh air everybody welcomed happily. Just don’t watch it with your kids.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar
Kingsman: The Secret Service
I saved my favourite for the last. If The Fall Guy is a tribute to the stunt actors of the film industry, Kingsman is an ode to spy films, and in all the best ways possible. Taron Egerton plays Eggsy Unwin, a young unemployed man who has been recruited into a secret spy organisation by Harry Hart (Colin Firth). Eggsy must now prove himself to become a spy and take down Valentine Richmond (Samuel L. Jackson), a billionaire who plans to fight climate change by wiping out most of the human population. The movie is funny, the action sequences have some amazing camera work, and most of all, it is the definition of cool suave.
Where to watch: Disney+ Hotstar
