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Action movies are most often associated with an epic story spanning multiple places, car chases, fights, and many other high-intensity scenes. But not every action movie is the same. Some choose a more subtle approach, and focus on the characters as well as the situation surrounding them. A good way to achieve this is to have the story take place mostly in one location.
As a result, the movie is forced to dig deeper than usual, because it can no longer go somewhere else to keep the audience interested. And even though there aren't that many action movies set in one location, those do that belong to this category deserve a lot of attention.
5 Into The White (2012)
World War II remains a common topic when it comes to both drama and action movies. Into the White chooses an unusual approach, since it mostly takes place in a single cabin. Here, two groups of soldiers, British and German ones, find solace after they crash in the mountains and have to fight for their lives. Despite the initial animosity between them, they're forced to put their differences aside, but even that might not ensure their survival.
The movie is ideal for all fans of Rupert Grint who want to see him in a role very different from Harry Potter's Ron Weasley — he and all the other actors give solid performances. It's always unclear what will happen the next moment, who will live and who will die. The relationships between the characters constantly change, which keeps the viewers invested. Into the White is a good example of an action movie that has a good script and a talented cast, and thus doesn't need to constantly change location.
4 The Shallows (2016)
Sometimes it only takes a few moments for someone's life to turn around because of an unexpected danger. Blake Lively stars in this movie as a young woman named Nancy who goes surfing, but is attacked by a shark. Even though Nancy temporarily saves herself, she's now trapped in the open sea and has to figure out how to get to the beach without the shark killing her. That's no easy task, even though the beach is only 200 yards away.
The movie quickly creates the main conflict, and from there on, it's fascinating to see how will Nancy deal with the problem ahead of her. The Shallows works as Blake Lively's one-woman show, and the actress is completely believable as Nancy with her despair and desire to survive. While Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) remains the best deadly shark movie ever made, The Shallows is still a must-watch for all fans of the genre.
3 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane is a hard movie to decode and make sense of, since it combines multiple genres — not just action, but also drama and thriller. It centers on a young woman named Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who has an accident. When she wakes up, she finds out she's chained in an underground bunker and meets the man, Howard (John Goodman), who put her there, presumably because an apocalypse in the form of a chemical attack happened.
Michelle isn't sure whether to trust Howard, though, and the audience will have the same problem, making the movie a captivating story since nobody knows where the truth lies. A majority of the story takes place in the bunker, but thanks to the developing relationships between the characters and new discoveries, 10 Cloverfield Lane is never boring.
2 The Wall (2017)
In addition to the fact that they both played superheroes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena have another thing in common: they co-starred in the 2017 war movieThe Wall. And since they're the only two actors who show up onscreen, they both have a lot of opportunities to shine. The movie focuses on two American soldiers who are trapped behind a fragile wall, at the mercy of a sniper nearby, and have to figure out what to do before it's too late.
The tensions are high, and the characters as well as the viewers realize it's a question of life or death, which keeps the audience invested. It helps that both Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena deliver strong performances and that the director Doug Liman is experienced in this genre, having directed action movies such as The Bourne Identity (2002) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014).
1 The Commuter (2018)
A journey on a train is usually quite peaceful, perhaps even boring. Not so much in this movie. Liam Neeson has starred in multiple action movies since the hit piece Taken (2008), but The Commuter is different since it's mostly set in a train. When Neeson's character Michael is returning from work, his life turns upside down when he encounters a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) who offers him a lot of money.
Of course, no such offer is without a catch, and Michael soon discovers he might be in over his head. The movie holds more than one surprise, keeps a fast pace, and can attract audiences since they'll want to know what's going on just as much as Michael does. Neeson and Farmiga deliver strong performances, and the train journey itself adds even more intensity, since the viewers realize there's a clock ticking, a clear deadline.