According to google AI (which is always accurate and should always be trusted) only 23.6% of Americans have ever been in a fight. According to my own research, about 90% of action film characters have been in a fight. Fist fights are always necessary in Hollywood; they are one of the most important tools in a protagonist’s toolbox. 

Fights have existed in film since its inception, reaching a high-point in the 80s with the roided-up beefcakes who defined the era and surging again over the past 25 years with the rise of comic book movies and the stylized fights prominent in films like John Wick. In this list, I will present my picks for the ten best fight scenes since the turn of the decade.

Some ground rules – gunfights, fights involving vehicles, and large-scale battles are all excluded from the list. I tried to stick to fights that are mainly “one on one.” The list is ordered in my preference #1 on this list is #1 in my heart.

Number 10: The Bourne Identity – Pen Fight (2002)

Spawning a decades long franchise and solidifying Matt Damon as a super-star (in addition to spawning numerous memes), The Bourne Identity, introduced the world to Jason Bourne. The Bourne movies brought back a form of “everyman” action hero originally made popular by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard movies. Matt Damon isn’t necessarily the biggest or strongest guy like some of the action heroes of yesteryear, but he is a dead-eyed killing machine.

This scene is the embodiment of the hand-held, quick-cut style of fight scene that became prevalent throughout this decade. Used partially as a technique to hide Matt Damon’s lack of fighting ability, this style really emphasizes how a fight feels. We may not get a clear shot of Matt Damon landing a combination of punches, but we can feel the impact of each blow and we can feel the absolute chaos of the fight. This style empathizes the panic and fear involved in any hand-to-hand fight and transports the viewer into the fray. 

This movie also popularized the “writing utensil used as a weapon” trope copied in later movies like the Dark Knight and John Wick. I also love how 2000s the guy fighting him looks. With frosted tips and a gray T-shirt that everyone in the 90s had the guy could have been a backup dancer in NSYNC. He also misses every shot with his gun which is a real call back to the action movies that inspired the Bourne Franchise. 

Number 9: There Will Be Blood – Daniel Beats Up Eli (2007)

While not technically a “fight scene”, and more of a beating, this is a great scene from a great film. There Will Be Blood was a historic achievement in a year filled with historic achievements in film. Pitting the ruthless capitalist Daniel Plainview against the selfish and self-dignified Eli Sunday during the early oil boom was a recipe for good film, and blood. 

Daniel beating up Eli in the middle of an oil field is masterful, and a classic display of Paul Thomas Anderson’s underrated comedic genius. Eli approaches Daniel and his men like a lone gunslinger out of an old western, only to get beat up and slapped around like a child. One of the premier screamers in film, Paul Dano yelps as he’s pulled to an oil pit and slapped in the mud for what feels like a lifetime until Daniel finally relents. A storied method actor, it really seems like DDL is slapping the shit out of Paul Dano. There doesn’t seem to be any movie tricks here as Daniel slaps Eli and cakes him in oily mud, going so far as shoving the mud down his throat. The way Daniel slaps him here is funny, like an older sibling slapping around a little brother. Paul Dano rolls with it but some of his screams feel real. 

I love this scene for turning the western gunslinger imagery on its head. Some people find Paul Dano to be the weak link of this movie, but I think he perfectly embodies the character. I have no idea what the guy is like in real life, but this movie did him a disservice as it typecast him as an insecure weirdo (SEE Prisoners, The Batman). This scene stands out as a realistic depiction of a physical altercation. Unlike Jason Bourne, most people probably would fight like this.

Number 8: Borat – The Naked Fight Scene (2006)

Borat is the perfect encapsulation of Bush-era comedy. Raunchy, bold, and probably a no-go today, it cast a light on America through the lens of the most “foreign” foreigner Sacha Baron Cohen could conjure up. It truly felt revelatory at the time for exposing the prejudices, stereotypes, and fears of the post-9/11 American populace. It also highlighted how people are just willing to go along with something if there is a production crew with a camera around. However, I feel as if a lot what this movie “exposed” is simply out in the open today.

One of the most outlandish stunts pulled in this movie is the fight between Borat and his manager Azamat. Stemming from a dispute over a Pamela Anderson magazine, Borat and Azamat fight naked in a hotel room before it spills out into the lobby of the hotel and eventually interrupts some form of political gala where Ruth Bader Ginsburg is set to speak. From the exaggerated penis censoring to Borat’s rubber fist, this scene is a riot. Both actors really committed here, and I commend them both for having the gumption to pull this off. Seeing it in theatres, people were shocked as they erupted in laughter. If you look closely, even the people in the audience of the gala can be seen chuckling as Azamat and Borat duke it out naked on stage. 

The early 2000s were really the heyday for pranks. Jackass what at its peak and Sacha Baron Cohen seemed to be the funniest man alive. This “prank” felt like a real peak in the shockumentary genre. How the actors did this with a straight face I will never know, and how no one ended up in jail is even more impressive. Like any good fight scene, this scene is shocking, unique, and entertaining as hell. A perfect encapsulation of a time, place, and attitude. 

Number 7: Drive – The Elevator Fight (2011)

Drive had a real moment in 2011 and the years that followed. Seemingly out of nowhere, this bizarre, atmospheric, and ultraviolent movie about a driver who listens to techno music became a borderline hit and a cult favorite. What is the point of Drive? I’m not really sure, but damn I wanted to wear a Scorpion varsity jacket and listen to Kavinsky while I drove around LA at night. This is the movie that started the quiet, brooding Ryan Gosling phase co-opted by incels and meme-lords.  This movie was just so cool. It’s unfortunate Nicholas Winding Refn could never really follow it up. It seems the perfect storm occurred to make all those long stares and all that grisly violence work, but boy did it work.

The elevator scene is roughly five minutes, for about 30 seconds there is an actual fight, the remainder is just a long stare down and dreamy make out between Ryan Gosling and Carrey Mulligan. The scene juxtaposes a fairy girl fantasy with one of the most horrific head stomps ever put on screen. There is barely a fight, but the moments before the fight are what make this scene so great. The tension, the romance, the lighting – we all know how this has to end but Driver gets to hold on to his fantasy life with Carey Mulligan for a moment before returning to being a maniac. Does Ryan Gosling really need to stomp on the guy’s head 100 times? Probably not. Realistically, he could have taken him down much more efficiently to avoid traumatizing Carey Mulligan for the rest of her life, but that’s Drive. If you think too hard about it, it doesn’t make much sense. It’s a vibe.

For a movie that was so popular, I’m surprised there were not more attempts to emulate it. It really felt like something new at the time and yet there weren’t many movies that were able to capture the feeling of this movie. Not even the director could match it. It feels like a flash in the pan moment of greatness, a moment that really defined 2011. 

Number 6: John Wick 3 Parabellum  – Library Fight (2019)

The John Wick franchise is a success story for the ages. Popularizing a whole new style of fighting, the movies are continuing source of rewatchable action scenes. These movies feel like a complete departure from the type of close-up, hand-held action popularized by the Bourne movies. Long, choreographed action scenes in which every participant feels like the most highly trained mixed martial arts and weapons master. The action in these movies feels like the pinnacle of stylization, a choreographed dance of violence requiring hours of rehearsal.

While really all the fight scenes from these movies are great, I love the library fight for the stunt casting of NBA center Boban Marjanovic and the evolution of the “writing utensil as a weapon” gimmick. Boban sort of falls outside of everything I was saying above about highly trained and skilled fighters, but he really fits the part of giant Eastern European hitman. There are moments during this scene where he almost looks CGI because of how tall he is and how big his hands are. This scene is also great at highlighting John Wick’s toughness and quick thinking. He really gets his ass beat for a minute but, like Jason Bourne above, craftily uses a book to kill 7”4 Boban. It’s graphic but oh so cool. 

John Wick is a great example of nailing the fundamentals of an action movie and then expanding on those fundamentals. The first movie was simple but really nailed the action. Each movie has expanded the world into something wholly original and fun. A part of me misses the in-your-face impact of some of the more brutish fight scenes mentioned but John Wick is a great display of talented people showing off their skills. You really can’t discuss greatest fight scenes of the 21^st century without bringing up John Wick.

Number 5: Pineapple Express – Fighting Red (2008)

Pineapple Express was a great entry in the Apatow-verse when the Apatow-verse was in its prime. A great stoner action/comedy that further launched Seth Rogen to the top of the comedy food chain and started the brief Rogen-Franco bromance. This movie really benefitted from the weed culture at that time. Weed wasn’t legal like it is now (at least in most states) and “legalizing it” still felt somewhat counterculture. Now, weed culture is kind of lame, being co-opted by Rick and Morty fans and overly commercialized in the big weed states. This movie perfectly encapsulates the weird interactions you would need to have with a drug dealer in order to get weed. I don’t think this movie works if Seth Rogen is befriending his bud-tender while buying $50 grams of live rosin moonrocks.

The fight scene between Franco, Rogen, and a fresh to the screen Danny McBride is awesome. It’s hilarious but stands on its own as a cinematic fight scene. Small details like Danny McBride’s kimono and lines like Seth Rogen’s “He’s punching my bum!” really make this scene hilarious. On top of the hilarity, certain sequences, like when they bust down the bathroom door and McBride goes flying into the sink, are honestly impressive. McBride hitting the sink looks surprisingly convincing and it just adds to how funny the scene is. They really kick the shit out of McBride, smashing a bong on his head and then slamming him into the wall. 

The whole movie is elevated by David Gordon Green’s direction. One of McBride’s closest collaborators, he was a real director coming into this movie. He was making indie films debuting at Sundance prior to this. This movie has no business looking as good as it looks. There is a sort of 70’s grain and color pallet in this movie that makes it stand out. It’s also sort of over-the-top violent, like the scene where Franco shoots the foot off the dead guy. Pineapple Express is a great movie that makes me nostalgic for the peak Apatow era. 

Number 4: The Dark Knight Rises – Batman vs Bane (2012)

By far the weakest of the three Nolan Batman movies, the Dark Knight Rises is still a decent entry in the Batman canon. Tom Hardy could never live up to Heath Ledger’s iconic Joker performance, but Bane is a good villain, nonetheless. While the joker had Batman’s number mentally, Bane has Batman beat physically. In an era defined by superhero movies, this is one of those rare instances where the hero feels mortal (because he is). No hate to the MCU, but watching CGI ironman and the Hulk mow down hordes of CGI enemies loses its impact after a while. Reminiscent of the Segall movies of the past, there is never a real sense of danger for the protagonist. Here, Nolan shows us that our hero is simply a guy in a Bat suit who is susceptible to getting his ass beat.

This scene has some iconic Bane lanes, despite Nolan’s tendency for utter corniness. “I was raised in the darkness” is a phrase I’ve heard used ironically quite a bit. I always love a fight scene with no music, as is the case here. Like all Nolan movies, the sound is great, and you could really feel the impact of each punch reverberate through your body in the theatre. Hardy and Bale are also shredded, this feels like an old school heavy weight bout, not a highly choreographed or crafty fight like some of the entries named above. These guys are just throwing haymakers. Bane smashing up the Batman helmet with his fists is wild, and hoisting Batman above his head really makes him out to be the ultimate villain. 

As stated above, a lot of this movie does not work. I think a lot of it is a product of following up on the Dark Knight. That movie was really the perfect superhero movie and set the standard for years to come. It was just not possible to live up to the hype with this one and Nolan really tried to outdo himself but lost the plot along the way. Regardless, this is a great fight scene and deserves to be mentioned on the list.

Number 3: Kill Bill Vol 2. – The Trailer Fight (2004)

I’ll probably get a lot if hate for picking this one over the finale of Vol. 1., but I love this scene. Frankly, I think Vol. 2 is superior to Vol. 1 overall. David Carradine is awesome, the intro is great, and whoever plays Michael Madsen boss in the strip club gives the best Tarantino performance of all time. I’ve never seen that guy in another movie, but he is just so great as the scumbag boss crossing out all the dates on the calendar. Vol. 2 is slower paced than Vol. 1, but the fight scene between Beatrix and Elle is awesome (and gross).

Tarantino, the master of repurposing something great and making it even better, made something completely unique with Kill Bill. Blending martial arts with Western sensibilities and music, Kill Bill felt totally fresh. The fight scene between Beatrix and Elle is simply awesome. I like how Tarantino turns some of the devices he uses throughout the movie on their head. When Elle flies at Beatrix with a two-leg kick through the air, Beatrix simply redirects Elle and throws her through a wall. All the wire fighting found throughout the movie seems to go out the window here in-lieu of a much more close-quarters fistfight. All the buildup and the reveal of how Elle lost her eye, only for Beatrix to avenge her master and pluck out her other eye. Not to mention the gross-out tactics of throwing dip spit in the face of Elle and giving her a swirlie. Being gross is really an underrated fight tactic. 

Kill Bill felt like the end of a certain stage of Tarantino’s career, and a prime example of the graphic novel era of the 2000s. Movies like Sin City, Kill Bill, and 300 really capitalized on the “graphic novel” style that was popular at the time. Not a comic book, but a graphic novel. This style really emphasized a sort of paradigm shift from the traditional good/bad, man/woman dynamics from the previous era. In hindsight, this era feels a bit dated and “edgy” by today’s standards, but it was definitely a moment.

Number 2: Blade Runner 2049 – Opening Fight Scene (2017)

I like the original Blade Runner, it’s a classic, but I love Blade Runner 2049. Despite the distance Denis Villeneuve has tried to put between himself and this movie, I think it surpasses the original in every way.  It looks great, the music is fantastic, and it feels like they took great care to maintain the overall vibe of the world from the original. It’s a shame this movie bombed but I’m glad it’s received its flowers in the ensuing years. With this, Dune, and Arrival Villeneuve has cemented himself as one of the premier big-budget sci-fi directors of the decade.

The actual fighting in this scene is good enough. Bautista gets to show off his former wrestling prowess throwing Gosling through a wall and Gosling gets to show off his skills as a Blade Runner taking down rogue synths. What really stands out in this scene is Bautista’s acting. The wrestler-to-actor pipeline has produced a some superstars, but most cannot act. The Rock, well, the Rock can’t act (note at the time of writing this the Rock is actually going to try and act in the upcoming Safdie movie). John Cena is a great comedic screen partner and knows his strengths, but I don’t think he’ll be leading awards conversations any time soon. Bautista, however, he can act. Despite his five minutes of screen time, he makes the most of the part and absolutely steels the movie right off the rip. His little, tiny glasses are absolutely iconic. Whoever’s idea it was to give him those should have been given some form of award. And his line “you’ve never witnessed a miracle” right before he is killed is the best line in the movie. 

They could have picked someone much smaller than Bautista to play this role. His wrestler’s physique adds to the scene but is in no way essential to the scene. He is in this movie simply because he was the best person for the part. This entire movie is great and is (in my opinion) much better than the Dune films. I’m so surprised this movie was maligned by fans of the original and was a total dud at the box office. One other note, this movie was the end of the Gosling brooding phase and its crowning achievement. In a lot of ways, this movie is just Drive in a dystopian future. 

Number 1: Watchmen – Opening Fight Scene (2009)

This movie had so much potential but it’s just too long and doesn’t quite hit the mark. Despite that, a lot of individual scenes in this movie are incredible. Visually, I believe Zack Snyder inspired the whole run of MCU movies that took place after this. This movie feels like a comic book (errr, graphic novel). Somewhere along the way, comic book movies stopped looking like comic books and started looking like the CGI, greenscreen slop they are today. The way Snyder uses light flashes, close ups, and film speed changes really impart on the viewer the feeling of reading a traditional comic books sans the ads for x-ray specs. 

This fight scene is the defining fight scene of the last 25 years. It perfectly blends the impact of a more realistic approach to fight scenes while imparting the stylistic flair and choreography that would become prevalent in the years that followed. The music playing in this scene is perfect (one might say it’s unforgettable) and the final shot of the Comedian flying through the window is iconic, a perfect representation of the source material. This scene has inspired me to say “it was just a matter of time I suppose” before I die because it’s just such a cool thing to say before getting kicked to shit and thrown out a window. Some of the symbolism is a bit heavy handed, like the gun firing into the TV that says “Nostalgia”, but that’s the kind of stuff that should be in a comic book movie. The sound is also great in this scene, the whiff of each punch and whizz of the flying knives are immersive. 

It’s a shame this movie was otherwise a letdown. When I was first watching this movie, I felt bored. Thinking about it a week later, and only remembering the good parts, I thought it was great. It’s the type of movie where my memory of it is superior to watching the movie. For the most part, I would rather keep the memory of the movie than watch it and remind myself of its shortcomings. But I always come back to the fight scene because of how great it is.

Thanks for reading and please let me know in the comments your thoughts.