Don’t we just love it when we see incredible female leads smashing the patriarchy on screen? These female-led action movies are much needed every now and then as they are filled with a healthy dose of female empowerment. Like a powerful feminist anthem, action movies with female leads will remind you that femininity and strength go hand in hand.
So whatever you may want, from female assassins, agents, vigilantes, villains, and spies to superheroes, female actresses have done it all. Here are the top 10 picks of female-led action movies.
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1. Colombiana
‘Colombiana‘ is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldana in the lead role.
The term “Colombiana” means a woman from Colombia. The film is about Cataleya (named for a genus of orchids), a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.
IMDb rating: 6.4
2. Salt
Salt is a 2010 American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce, and written by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Angelina Jolie, in the lead.
Jolie’s character, Evelyn Salt, is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent and goes on the run to try to clear her name.
IMDb rating: 6.4
3. Kill Bill
‘Kill Bill: Volume 1‘ is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) and their leader, Bill (David Carradine) after they try to kill her.
Her journey takes her to Tokyo, where she battles the yakuza.
IMDb rating: 8.2
4. Underworld
‘Underworld‘ is a 2003 action horror film directed by Len Wiseman and written by Danny McBride. The film centers on the secret history of vampires and werewolves.
Selene, a vampire warrior, is entrenched in a conflict between vampires and werewolves. While she’s falling in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons. It is based on a story by Kevin Grevioux, Wiseman, and McBride.
IMDb rating: 7.0
5. Hanna
Hanna is an action thriller film directed by Joe Wright. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as the title character, a girl raised in the wilderness of northern Finland by her father, an ex-CIA operative (Eric Bana), who trains her as an assassin.
Cate Blanchett portrays a senior CIA agent who tries to track down and eliminate the girl and her father.
IMDb rating: 6.8
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6. Resident Evil
Resident Evil is an action horror film series based on the Japanese video game franchise of the same name by Capcom.
The movie shows the spread of a virus that turns hundreds of humans and animals at a genetic research facility into flesh-eating zombies. In response, an elite military unit tries to take them down before it is too late.
IMDb rating: 6.6
7. Wonder Woman
This movie follows Princess Diana of an all-female Amazonian race who rescues US pilot Steve. Upon learning of war, she ventures into the world of men to stop Ares, the God of War, from destroying mankind.
‘Wonder Woman‘ is adapted from the published DC Comic. This character is a founding member of the Justice League.
IMDb rating: 7.4
8. Peppermint
‘Peppermint‘ is a 2018 American vigilante action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel and starring Jennifer Garner. It also features John Ortiz, John Gallagher Jr., Juan Pablo Raba, and Tyson Ritter.
The plot follows a mother who transforms herself into a vigilante in a quest for revenge against the drug cartel that killed her husband and daughter.
IMDb rating: 6.4
9. Atomic Blonde
This movie was based on the 2012 graphic novel ‘The Coldest City.’ It revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents that is being smuggled into the West on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The film is directed by David Leitch, in his first solo directorial credit, and it is written by Kurt Johnstad.
IMDb rating: 6.7/10
10. Anna
Anna Poliatova is a Russian beauty who works for the KGB while constantly looking for a way out. She soon seized an opportunity when the CIA asked her to become a double agent.
The film stars Sasha Luss as the eponymous assassin, alongside Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren, and Alexander Petrov.
IMDb rating: 6.6/10
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