"The 21st century has been kind to the action genre: big-spectacle, high-budget films have become hot commodities once more after limping through the 1990s hobbled by waning interest in big muscles, big guns, and big explosions. Instead, bigger was not only better but necessary to draw back increasingly shrinking audience engagement in action films. The results have moved the needle significantly as a result, where nearly every year in the 21st century has produced incredible action films – maybe even the best ever.
Not an automatic draw as they once were, action films got a lot smarter as a result: complex protagonists, plots, and scenarios began to populate the genre, with filmmakers realizing a cool kill and lots of explosions won't draw the audience into action movies like they used to. As a result, the quality of plot and characterizations got a lot better in the new century, with unexpected juxtapositions producing action films that were actual good films in their own right."
