15 Best Action Comedies Ever Made

The intersection of chaos and humor is the breeding ground of action comedies. It’s not an organic genre; a less informed person might think it shouldn’t work. Well, it does. Action comedies have a flair for relentless explosions, chase sequences, and high-rise jumps; all rolled in with sweet, sweet humor.

Filmmakers have been fusing punchlines and bullets for decades. They strive to find rhythm in chaos, while extracting comedy from danger. Be it a buddy-cop duo bickering mid-car chase, a meta antihero cracking jokes while killing the bad guys, or a sullen landlady in a rundown alley taking on gangsters, they have one thing in common amongst themselves—comedy isn’t how they escape from the tension; that’s how they survive it.

15 Best Action Comedies

Here are our picks of the 15 best action comedies ever made.

1. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Written by: Daniel Petrie Jr. | Directed by: Martin Brest

Detroit detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) comes to Beverly Hills to investigate his friend’s murder. His streetwise charm comes paired with a strong predisposition for getting into trouble. His heavy-handed style clashes with Beverly Hills’ sophisticated police force. Result? A serious criminal case turns into comedic havoc.

The film’s hilarious premise and Murphy’s improvisational craft made Beverly Hills Cop an instant fan favorite. With absolute ease and powerful screen presence, he made every action sequence a comedy routine. Ever since, the film’s sleek energy has maintained its status as a cultural landmark of the ‘80s.

2. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Written by: Gary Goldman & David Z. Weinstein | Directed by: John Carpenter

While trying to rescue his friend’s fiancée in Chinatown, San Francisco, a truck driver, Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), inadvertently gets caught up in a paranormal turf war.

Russell’s macho buffoon serves as both the hero and a punchline in this film that has, since its release, become a cult favorite. This beautifully unhinged comedy is packed with a kung-fu and fantasy mashup. Aside from being chaotic and funny, it is quite self-aware and far ahead of its time when it comes to poking fun at the American bluster.

3. Lethal Weapon (1987)

Written by: Shane Black | Directed by: Richard Donner

There is a dangerous drug case that needs to be investigated. The already dicey stakes are further raised when a burned-out cop (Danny Glover) and a reckless, suicidal partner (Mel Gibson) are assigned to the case.

Lethal Weapon is one of the earliest buddy-cop action comedies. The movie could have ended up being just wisecracks and gunfire, but thanks to its sharp dialogue, explosive character dynamics, and the real emotional beats, the movie became the benchmark that all action comedies try to meet from time to time.

4. Midnight Run (1988)

Written by: George Gallo | Directed by: Martin Brest

A bounty hunter (Robert De Niro) captures a wanted accountant (Charles Grodin) and goes on a cross-country trip to transport him, while the mobsters and the FBI chase them.

This is an all-in-one mix of an action-comedy, road movie, and a chase film. The film superbly blends De Niro’s disgruntled character with Grodin’s dry humor with perfect timing and gives us sweetly chaotic chemistry.

5. Rush Hour (1998)

Written by: Jim Kouf & Ross LaManna | Directed by: Brett Ratner

A Hong Kong detective (Jackie Chan) and a loudmouth LAPD cop (Chris Tucker) reluctantly team up to rescue the kidnapped little daughter of the Chinese ambassador.

Upon release, the film became an instant hit and has maintained its status ever since. The credit goes entirely to the hilarious concoction of Chan’s always-so-reliable acrobatic stunts and Tucker’s unstoppable mouth. What we get is a kinetic, cross-cultural blast that never stops being fun.

6. Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Written by: Stephen Chow | Directed by: Stephen Chow

A downtrodden Pigsty alley, a city caught up between rival crime gangs, and characters that are as skilled as Kung-fu warriors as they are downright clowns.

Kung Fu Hustle is practically a live-action cartoon. It’s full of innovative action and innovative absurdity, yet it has a poetic quality. Chow’s direction (and performance) turns every chase into a choreographed hilarity and every punch into slapstick gold.

7. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Written by: Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg | Directed by: Edgar Wright

An eccentric and perfectionist London cop (Simon Pegg) is assigned a case that takes him to a remote, quiet village that is hiding some sinister secrets.

The movie, filled with fast cuts, witty wordplay, and ridiculous violence, is a parody as well as homage to the genre. Wright’s incisive direction turns the film’s small-town chaos into an action symphony that is as ridiculous as it is clever.

8. Tropic Thunder (2008)

Written by: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux & Etan Cohen | Directed by: Ben Stiller

A few spoiled actors, including action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) and eccentric method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), are filming a war movie. However, when their director's whimsical plans go sideways, everyone gets caught up in a real conflict.

There is satire, and then there is satire on steroids. You can guess which category Tropic Thunder falls in. Stiller takes this opportunity to make fun of the big egos in Hollywood as well as war clichés with explosions, mayhem, and some of the most brilliantly ridiculous performances ever put on screen.

9. The Other Guys (2010)

Written by: Adam McKay & Chris Henchy | Directed by: Adam McKay

Two bumbling, yet mismatched, NYPD detectives, Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), get involved with a financial conspiracy case that is way above their skill level. Yet they continue to pursue it in hopes of their hero moment.

What starts as a bureaucratic slumber, director McKay quickly turns into wild slapstick. The comedy hits home because it mocks everything that action-comedies usually take seriously, such as tough-guy swagger and dramatic shootouts.

10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Written by: Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright | Directed by: Edgar Wright

Toronto musician Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) falls in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but realizes he will have to fight Ramona’s seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to date her. His idyllic life soon turns into a video game-like battleground.

It’s a comic book fever-dream that combines martial arts, romance, and video game gore into a snazzy extravaganza. Wright’s hold on writing, direction, and editing make this film a genre-defying classic.

11. 21 Jump Street (2012)

Written by: Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill | Directed by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum), both ineffective police officers, go undercover in high school to bust a synthetic drug ring. The gig turns out to be more than they bargained for when the school’s social dynamic begins to unravel their teenage insecurities.

A reboot of the television series of the same name, 21 Jump Street, transforms old clichés into jokes. Even amidst the chaos, it remains self-aware and surprisingly emotional. This is one of those movies that elevate ridiculousness to the level of art.

12. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Written by: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn | Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

A streetwise chap with no finesse, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), is enlisted in a covert spy agency made of exceptionally well-groomed and well-behaved agents. Quite a misfit, Eggsy strives to prove his loyalty, bravery, and capacity to withstand the ridiculously stylish combat, while also getting entangled in a high-stakes global threat.

This is essentially a tale of espionage, but Vaughn transforms it into a slow-motion combat spectacle filled with sly humor. It’s a James Bond parody that surpasses Bond in style, violence, and unabashed coolness.

13. Deadpool (2016)

Written by: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick | Directed by: Tim Miller

After a rogue experiment, mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is disfigured but also becomes almost impossible to kill. He rips through villains while narrating his story and making fun of every superhero cliché that there is.

One of the rare kinds in the world of superheroes—meta, obscene, and strangely self-aware—Deadpool was an instant success; much credit goes to the innovative storytelling and Reynolds’ charismatic style of breaking the fourth wall.

14. The Nice Guys (2016)

Written by: Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozzi | Directed by: Shane Black

Tough-guy enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and private investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) encounter each other while investigating a missing-person case in 1970s LA. Their reluctant and bumbling collaboration, mixed with clumsy detective work, leads them into a vast conspiracy with menacing characters and preposterous circumstances.

Black’s script is brilliant, chaotic, and hilarious. The mismatched combination of Crowe’s stoicism and Gosling’s physical comedy puts this noir into a perfect cocktail of action and absurdity.

15. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (2022)

Written by: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert | Directed by: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

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A stressed-out laundromat owner, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), learn she can enter countless alternate-universe versions of herself to foil a threat that can destroy the multiverse. She tries to keep her life together while juggling a variety of realities, including tax issues, family conflicts, and cosmic chaos.

The movie is practically the next step in the genre. It reimagines the action-comedy formula for the current generation of audience. It is wild, emotional, and hilariously strange. Beneath its kung-fu chaos lies a profoundly human tale of love, regret, and absurdity.