Considering that action/martial arts movies is the biggest exporting product of Asian cinema towards the US market, it is no surprise that the biggest industries of the continent and particularly S. Korea has turned extensively towards this path, as it eloquently highlighted in this list. Indonesia continues on the legacy of “Raid” with Malaysia following in the same brutal martial arts direction. The surprise this year, however, comes both from the Philippines, with “Leonor” being a mashup of genres that also entail impressive action in 70s style, and Kuwait, with the abundance of money the Arabic countries are able to spend at the moment ending up in a Hollywood level action movie, courtesy of Zeyad ( Z ) Alhusaini, who even managed to cast Ron Perlman in it. Lastly, the tribute to Michelle Yeoh's career (among a million other things) that is “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the splatter-level action film that is “Project Wolf Hunting” conclude one of the most impressive years for the particular category.
Without further ado, here are the 15 best Asian action/martial arts films of 2022, in reverse order. Some films may be premiered in 2021, but since they mostly circulated in 2022 we decided to include them.
15. Ben and Jody (Angga Dwimas Sasongko, Indonesia)
The moment the second village is introduced is where the film truly begins to pick up, especially due to the tension that becomes a central element of the narrative, even despite the fact that is evident where the story will go. The final raid, however, is where the it truly picks, and where Yayan Ruhian's action choreography, and his performance for that matter, find their apogee, in a series of quite lengthy, quite brutal scenes, that have all the protagonists fighting each other, either on one-on-ones, or in groups, in the most astonishing fashion. Particularly the one between Tubir and the two girls, and the one between Ben and Getem are a true wonder to look at, even if 54-year-old Ruhian as Tubir is still the fastest among them. Hendra Adhi Susanto's editing also finds its apogee in these scenes, with the music being also fittingly fast, essentially dictating the rapid tempo here.
14. Hunt (Lee Jung-jae, S. Korea)
This is a film that has been polarizing film critics since its first screening in Cannes Film Festival's Midnight Section. Some praise it for its lavishly produced overload of mayhem and fantastically orchestrated action scenes, while others criticize its lack of coherence. And although there are big hickups in the storyline which suffers from overload, the lack of coherence gets compensated for, through the excessive use of well-functioning distractors such as rivalry, a deceiving female, bombs going off (although they miraculously destroy every brick, but are not doing the great job at killing), stomach-turning torture, car chase… Some of those moments are done with such an elegance, that logic becomes secondary in the process. Others are executed with an exaggerated enthusiasm, particularly towards the end, potentially causing pain in abdominal muscles. (Marina D. Richter)
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13. Baby Assassins (Yugo Sakamoto, Japan)
Despite having some issues that cannot be ignored, “Baby Assassins” accepts its limitations and makes the most of what it has to its disposal, making for a fun watch that never overstays its welcome and in the process, gives us few but nonetheless superbly executed action sequences. (Rhythm Zaveri)
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12. Carter (Jung Byung-gil, S. Korea)
Coherence, however, is not where the film aimed at any point, and despite the aforementioned issue, the overlong duration and the lack of any interest on the “calm” moments (the same problems that were also present in Jung's previous film) the action compensates almost fully. Starting with the ultra violent initial one, and continuing with the ones with the bikes, the van, the helicopter, the zombie “invasion” and everything one could ever think could be used in a fight, the intricacy here is of the highest level, with the combination of the cinematography (with extensive use of drones), the frantic editing, the SFX, the action choreography, the stunts and the music being truly top notch, in one of the most impressive audiovisual aspects ever to appear in an action movie. Lastly, the combination of martial arts (with knives), gun-fu and vehicle-chasing in all its forms works excellently here, adding even more to this intricacy. At the same time, the almost total lack of any kind of political correctness essentially benefits this aspect, allowing the movie to be ultra-violent, thus adding to the entertainment it offers. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
11. Leonor Will Never Die (Martika Ramirez Escobar, Philippines)
With her fascinating feature debut, Escobar pays tribute to the Asian B action movies of the 1970s and 1980s, letting two stories run simultaneously. Fights in the “other reality” are meticulously choreographed, and there is a vintage cheesiness to them. The sound is crackling, the photography grainy, and dialogues so retro with their palette of clichés that you get flash-backed with countless stached men in tight shirts who reigned the screens back in time. There is also a young stripper that goes by the name of Majestica, and she is the embodiment of all ‘simple, next door gals who were not fortunate in life', but are loveable and always find THE man (who – of course, saves both their ass and the day). (Marina Richter)
10. Bad City (Kensuke Sonomura, Japan)
Probably as expected, given the director's background and his previous feature, it should come as no surprise that the action and martial-arts-scenes in “Bad City” are top-notch. Excellently photographed and choreographed, the finale alone is worth checking out this movie, with the focus being on hand-to-hand-combat as well as blunt or sharp weapon, giving these moments a heightened sense of physicality and kinetic energy. In combination with the editing, these are definitely the formal high points in this thriller, but there are a few instances which are also worth pointing out. (Rouven Linnarz)
9. Alienoid (Choi Dong-hoon, S. Korea)
Truth be told, the movie is impressive, at least on its individual elements. The action scenes are outstanding on occasion, actually benefiting from the mashup that makes each one quite different from the others, with the ones between the androids and the final one being the apogee of this trait. Humor is well-embedded within the narrative, also in the action scenes. Furthemore, the villains are truly despicable, with So Ji-sub stealing the show as the arch villain, while the ensemble cast (Ryu Jun-yeol, Kim Woo-bin and Kim Tae-ri) showcase their charisma and obvious chemistry in the best fashion. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
8. The Roundup (Lee Sang-yong, S.Korea)
With original writer/director Kang Yoon-seok deciding to sit this one out, the responsibility of making this sequel, with Kang's blessings, fell on the shoulders of first-time director Lee Sang-yong, who's served as assistant director not only on “The Outlaws” and Kang's “Long Live the King”, but also on works by Lee Yoon-ki and Lee Joon-ik. As such, “The Roundup” ends up being a prime example of how a sequel to a popular title should be executed. The script, written by Kim Min-sung, understands the strengths of the first one and doubles up on almost all of them. The humor, which was sporadic but always hit the mark in the previous entry, is far more regular and just as effective here. To achieve this, the script also acknowledges that in addition to the hilarity that Ma Dong-seok's physicality and awkwardness brought to the proceedings, a large part of the humor was also thanks to the other members of his team and gives them ample time to shine, particularly captain Jeon Il-man. (Rhythm Zaveri)
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7. Mat Kilau (Syamsul Yusof, Malaysia)
Considering the aforementioned, the story here is one of a hero and his friends, fighting against all odds and triumphing at the end, although not without much sacrifice. As it becomes evident, this is something like the base story of every other action/martial arts movie out there, something which is not, though, a bad thing necessarily. And that is particularly because Yayan Ruhian's action choreography (who also plays Toga) is one of the best we have seen during the recent years, with the fights, particularly the hand-combat ones, being as impressive as they are brutal. In that fashion, he benefits the most by Adi Putra's presence as Mat Kilay, a true martial arts force who emits speed and strength with every movement, as Pencak Silat finds one of its apogees in his presence. Beto Kusyairy as Wahid, Fattah Amin as Awang, Johan Asari as Yassin and Ali Karimi as Brahim cement the prowess in the action here, with Ruhian providing the cherry on the top, both throughout the movie and in the rather intense finale. Probably the only issue with the action is the scene in the end when the two forces clash, as Yusof could have handled the presence of so many actors on screen a bit better and some rather excessive theatrics during the fights.
6. How I got there (Zeyad ( Z ) Alhusaini, Kuwait)
The last part, as the police also get involved, is almost completely action-oriented, including a number of showdowns until the final one, in the most impressive segment of the movie. Maltby's editing, Dominique Colin's cinematography, Reza Safinia's music, Eric Bryson stunts and Rafael Kayanan's fight choreography all come together in the best fashion, in some of the best action scenes we have seen recently. At the same time, the end of the cycle that opened in the beginning of the film and the connection with the title roundup the movie in the best way. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
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