{"id":711659,"date":"2026-06-18T14:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/711659\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:58:15","slug":"2026s-best-of-the-year-action-thriller-is-so-good-it-united-critics-and-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/711659\/","title":{"rendered":"2026’s “Best of the Year” Action Thriller Is So Good It United Critics and Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Movie ratings systems in general demand some leeway from anyone using them as a baseline for quality. Aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes provide a big-picture look at how critics and the general movie-going public view a movie, but it’s not unusual for there to be huge differences in opinion of those two groups. Stereotypically, critics judge movies that prioritize entertainment over technical mastery or narrative strength harshly, while audiences tend to do the opposite. I always advocate making your own judgment, but it’s useful to at least get an idea of where the consensus lies before spending your hard-earned money on tickets.<\/p>\n

When a movie is a hit with both critics and audiences, it’s noteworthy. It’s increasingly rare to have something achieve a score of 90+% on both Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer (critics) and its Popcornmeter (fans). 2026 has already had a few such hits across multiple genres, including Pixar’s Hoppers, the indie horror movie Obsession, and the sci-fi space epic Project Hail Mary. The next in line is the international action thriller The Furious<\/a>, which arrived with little fanfare but was so good that I’ve seen it twice in theaters already. I’m ready to crown it the best action movie of 2026<\/a>, and so far I’m not alone.<\/p>\n

‘The Furious’ Has Earned Sky-High RT Scores From Both Critics and Fans<\/p>\n

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\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n

Kenji Tanigaki’s Hong Kong action thriller The Furious has earned near-universal acclaim thanks to some of the best martial arts choreography ever put to film. With a thin but engaging narrative about two men looking for loved ones caught in the clutches of a human trafficking ring, The Furious delivers non-stop, bloody, pulse-pounding fight scenes that are pure entertainment. Tanigaki uses melee weapons and varying forms of martial arts to create what feels like a completely unique style of fighting. Seeing the grace of Chinese Wushu blocking contrasted against the sharp, speedy striking of Indonesian Pencak Silat performed by masterful choreographers and actors yields an assault on the senses that is as pure a form of cinematic entertainment as you’ll find. <\/p>\n

Despite some clunky dialogue and a few rough moments of dubbing and CGI, The Furious has united critics and fans in their collective assessments. As of this writing, it holds a 97% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer<\/a> score and is also Certified Hot with a 95% Popcornmeter score. It currently stands as one of the year’s top-rated movies<\/a>, and will likely remain at the top of the list for the action genre.<\/p>\n

‘The Furious’ Is Already Destined To Be a Cult Classic<\/p>\n

\"Joe
\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n

Despite the rave reviews, the limited domestic marketing and volume of screenings means The Furious won’t be a box office juggernaut, even if word of mouth is strong (which it undoubtedly is). As an international film, it’s also highly unlikely it will contend for any major domestic awards in 2026 by nature of how the entries work. However, it is a lock to earn its place as a bona fide action cult classic, following in the footsteps of die-hard favorites like The Raid (2011) or The Night Comes For Us (2018). The Furious is eminently rewatchable<\/a>, and will remain a staple for martial arts fans for years to come. <\/p>\n

\"zp19yo60jwesfkd5qf1uva5uju8.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 10, 2026<\/p>\n

Runtime<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t113 minutes<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKenji Tanigaki<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMak Tin-Shu, Shum Kwan-sin, Frank Hui, Lei Zhilong<\/p>\n

Producers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBill Kong Chi-Keung, Frank Hui, Tam Chi-San<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Movie ratings systems in general demand some leeway from anyone using them as a baseline for quality. Aggregators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":["post-711659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}