Action Movies

Although summer is the peak action movie period, there are simply too many action flicks to fit into just three months these days. Instead, the high-adrenaline adventures continue through the fall, into winter, right back to spring, and then culminate in another summer.

Regardless of the season, you can expect these movies to have several explosions, a car chase or two, a bunch of guns, and a nearly deafening soundtrack – the better to disguise the crunching of your popcorn as you bask in the actiony goodness.

2011-2012 Action Movies
The major blockbusters of the holiday season are lined up and ready for you to go see.

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows – December 16, 2011

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) faces criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), his intellectual equal with a complete lack of conscience. The Crown Prince of Austria is found dead and the evidence points to suicide, but the renowned detective deduces the prince was a victim of murder. It turns out the murder is part of a bigger puzzle from Moriarty, who stays one step ahead of Holmes and could change the course of history.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – December 21, 2011

This is the first of three films adapted from Stieg Larsson’s “The Millenium Trilogy.” Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is searching for a woman who has been missing for 40 years. He gets help from a young computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) as they unravel a tragic family history. Directed by David Fincher, this film is based on the first novel of the series.

Mission: Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol – December 21, 2011

The fourth film in the series centers on the IMF being shut down after it was linked to the bombing of the Kremlin. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his new team must go undercover to clear the organization’s name. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton also play major roles.

Contraband – January 13, 2012

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is trying to stay out of a world of international smuggling he worked hard to leave behind, but his brother-in-law botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss (Giovanni Ribisi). To settle his brother-in-law’s debt, Farraday assembles a contraband crew to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills. The mission falls apart and puts Farraday’s wife (Kate Beckinsale) and family in serious danger in this fast-paced thriller.

Underworld: Awakening 3D – January 20, 2012

The vampire warrioress Selene (Kate Beckinsale) escapes imprisonment to a world where humans have discovered the existence of Vampire and Lycan clans and are at war to eradicate them. The third film in the series is the first in 3D!

The Grey – January 27, 2012

A group of oil-rig roughnecks, led by Liam Neeson, crashes their plane into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors have just a few days to escape the merciless weather while battling severe injuries and vicious wolves.

Safe House – February 10, 2012

Denzel Washington plays a dangerous fugitive, who comes back into the CIA’s radar after a decade on the run. He is forced to flee his South African safe house after it’s attacked by mercenaries. A rookie operative (Ryan Reynolds) escapes from the safe house with him and the unlikely allies must work together to fight to survive in order to find out who wants them dead in this action-thriller.

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D – February 10, 2012

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is set for a theatrical release in 3D and includes all the stunning sequences you know and love like the Naboo invasion to the Tatooine Podraces and the climactic lightsaber batter between Darth Maul and the Jedi.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – February 17, 2012

Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) returns in his struggle with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter. This time, he’s recruited from his hideout in Eastern Europe by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy from the devil (Ciaran Hinds). Though at first reluctant, Blaze embraces the power of the Ghost Rider to protect the boy and possibly break the curse forever.  See it in 3D!

This Means War – February 17, 2012

Once inseparable partners and best friends, the world’s deadliest CIA operatives (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) discover they are dating the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Using the skills and high-tech gadgetry they used to take down entire enemy nations, they wage war on one another for the woman.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters – March 2, 2012

Fifteen years after the incident at the gingerbread house, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are now specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling witches for good.

John Carter – March 9, 2012

Based on the classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the film takes place on the mysterious planet of Barsoom (Mars). Former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is inexplicably transported to Mars where he gets involved in a deep conflict among the planet’s inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). The fate of Barsoom and its people rests in Carter’s hands. Catch it in 3D!

The Raven – March 9, 2012

In 19^th century Baltimore, a detective (Luke Evans) discovers a string of brutal murders resemble that of those described in a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack) to every gory detail. When the stakes get personal, the poet joins forces with the detective to track down the serial killer.

21 Jump Street – March 16, 2012

Schmidt (Johan Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) leave their adolescent problems behind and join the secret Jump Street unit of the police force. They go undercover in a local high school to investigate a violent drug ring. But high school isn’t what they remembered and they face the teenager problems they thought they left behind.

The Hunger Games – March 23, 2012

Based on the first in a trilogy of best-selling novels by Suzanne Collins, the film takes place in the ruins of what was once North America. The evil Capitol of the nation of Panem makes each of its 12 districts send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games, a sick punishment for a past rebellion and ongoing government intimidation tactic. The nationally televised event has randomly chosen “tributes” fighting one another until the lone survivor remains.

Wrath of the Titans – March 30, 2012

A decade after defeating Kraken, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is thrust from his quiet life as a village fisherman into war due to humanity’s lack of devotion and because the gods lose control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. When Hades and Zeus’ godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramirez), switch loyalty and side with Kronos to capture Zeus, Perseus steps in with help to rescue Zeus from the underworld, overthrow the Titans, and save mankind.