Top Ten of the 2010s ☕︎ Action/Adventure: Mad Max: Fury Road (d. George Miller, 2015)

Poster designed by Kevin Saby

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In years to come, I’ll be mightily curious to see how the reputation of Fury Road fluctuates. My wager is that those who remember it will remember it as one of the great films; not only of this decade, but one of the great films, full stop. That is, if it’s remembered. To be sure, Fury Road is a stunning spectacle that blends live-action stuntwork, computer graphics, incredible production design, and propulsive sound and music in a melange of delightful madness; oh, and it boasts a marvelous ensemble. It’s got things to say about power and gender and ecology. Perhaps more intriguingly, it is the fourth film in a franchise dating back to 1979; every film has expanded the scope and tweaked the mythology. The very fact that Fury Road exists and was made by the same director as the first three films is incredible enough. The 30-year gap (!) between the third and fourth entries testifies to Miller’s gumption and vision as well as the public appetite for more of it. Miller seizes the opportunity to reckon with his own legacy, with the evolution of filmmaking technology, and with the ongoing social concerns that fueled the series from the beginning. Based on the durability of the world Miller created so far, I feel like my wager is pretty solid. But we’ll see. I’ll do my part to keep the fire burning. 

Honorable Mention: John Wick: Chapter 2 (d. Chad Stahelski, 2017)

Truthfully, I might enjoy Chapter 3 a bit more than Chapter 2, but there’s little doubt that John Wick is the most significant action franchise to emerge from English-language cinema in the 2010s, and it merits recognition as such. Kudos to Keanu Reeves for insisting on his continued vitality as both an actor and a star. Without him, we don’t get this franchise at all, nor do we get the rebranding of industry stalwarts Stahelski and David Leitch (uncredited as co-director for the first Wick) as major genre directors. With writer Derek Kolstad overseeing an expansion of the Wick universe into other media and Stahelski apparently committed to the films as long as they continue to make money, Leitch has branched into other properties. He’s delivered the best films in the Deadpool and Fast & Furious franchises so far, not to mention Atomic Blonde, which is maybe an even better showcase for Charlize Theron than Fury Road. My honorable mention here is a nod to all of those mentioned above for their collective contributions to action filmmaking. Also, Chapter 2 is immensely entertaining in its own right, and the rare sequel that tops its predecessor almost every way.

Categorical Reflections

No kidding, I think Mad Max: Fury Road is probably the best film of the decade, and there was no version of my top ten that didn’t include it at the top. That said, in an era when sequels and franchises based on IP are absolutely dominant, it does shock me a bit that some of the best raw filmmaking being done at the blockbuster studio level is often with sequels or spinoffs. Even a scrappy TV series like Daredevil featured at least one single-take showstopper in each of its three seasons. For most sequels, I get the sense that the makers are trying to top themselves or meet inflated audience expectations of scale. But I don’t get the sense that the challenge of topping the original is, in itself, the reward for most creators involved in sequels. With the Mad Max and John Wick films, there is a palpable sense of the filmmakers absolutely reveling in pushing the limits of what they are capable of—which is not the same thing as pushing the limits of what they can do. The latter is a technical challenge, and digital technology has rendered it largely moot. The former challenge, of creative people truly plumbing the depths of their ingenuity as technicians and storytellers and performers, that’s what I’m talking about. And that’s the joy of craft on display in these films; it’s infectious and awe-inspiring, and it’s the stuff that weathers generational scrutiny to stand boldly as an edifice, daring future artisans to surmount. ☕️