Action comedy explained

Action comedy (often listed with a hyphen as action-comedy) is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy.

Film

AllMovie describes action comedy films as those with "fast and furious" action yet being "mostly lighthearted", rarely having death or serious injury. The Script Lab wrote, "[The genre] relies on the characters to bring out the humor, while the action scenes tend to be less intense than in the traditional action movie."^[1]

Action comedies often have "fish out of water" themes; for example, using a starring actor's celebrity to contrast the setting, such as how comedian and actor Eddie Murphy's "streetwise, sarcastic persona clashes with conventional police procedures in the Beverly Hills Cop films" in the late twentieth century.^[2]

The 1926 film The General starring Buster Keaton may be the first action comedy film.^[3] Other early forms of action comedy films were swashbuckler films from the 1930s. Allmovie wrote that its "stars combined wit and one-liners with a thrilling plot and daring stunts". In the 1980s, the genre became commonplace, and buddy cop films emerged as an extension of action comedy films such as Midnight Run (1988) and the Lethal Weapon film series.^[4] Other action comedies from the decade included The Blues Brothers (1980) and the films of actor and martial artist Jackie Chan.^[5]

In the 1990s, action comedy films "became more violent, with fiery deaths and emphatic shootings increasingly used as punchlines". Rotten Tomatoes wrote that Rush Hour (1998) revitalized the genre's formula and that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) was a highlight from the decade. In the first two decades of the 21st century, the films Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), Tropic Thunder (2008), 21 Jump Street (2012), and Bad Boys for Life (2020) were among numerous instances of the genre.

-- width="100%" -->	+ List of action comedy films
Film	Year
21 Jump Street	2012
22 Jump Street	2014
48 Hrs.	1982
American Made	2017
Ant-Man	2015
Ant-Man and the Wasp	2018
Bad Boys	1995
Bad Boys for Life	2020
Big Trouble in Little China	1986
Big Momma's House	2000
Beverly Hills Cop	1984
Birds of Prey	2020
Black Dynamite	2009
	1980
Deadpool	2016
Deadpool 2	2018
Despicable Me 2	2013
Drunken Master II	1994
Free Guy	2021
Game Night	2018
Get Smart	2008
	1926
	2019
Guardians of the Galaxy	2014
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	2017
	2013
Hot Fuzz	2007
If Looks Could Kill	1991	^[6]
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	1988	^[7]
	2014
Johnny English	2003
	2017	^[8]
Keanu	2016
Kick-Ass	2010
	2014
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang	2005
Kung Fu Hustle	2004
Lethal Weapon	1987
Lethal Weapon 2	1989
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	1998
Men in Black	1997
Midnight Run	1988
	2016
	2010
	2020
Red	2010
Ride Along	2014
Romancing the Stone	1984
Rumble in the Bronx	1995
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	2010
Shanghai Noon	2000
Shaolin Soccer	2001
Shaun of the Dead	2004
Shazam!	2019
Something Wild	1986
Spy	2015
	2021
Supercop	1992
	2004
	2017
Three Kings	1999
Tropic Thunder	2008

TV series

• The A-Team (1983–1987)^[9]
• Burn Notice (2007–2013)^[10]
• Chuck (2007–2012)^[11]
• Doom Patrol (2020–2022)^[12]
• The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985)^[13]
• Future Man (2017–2020)^[14]
• Kidd Video (1984–1985)
• Knight Rider (1982–1986)
• Lethal Weapon (2016–2019)
• Our Flag Means Death (2022)^[15]
• Peacemaker (2022)^[16]
• Remington Steele (1982–1987)^[17]
• Rush Hour (2016)^[18]
• Teenage Bounty Hunters (2020)^[19]
• Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion (2022)^[20]

See also

• History of film

Further reading

• Book: King, Cynthia M. . 2009 . Comedy in Action . Kendrick . James . A Companion to the Action Film . Wiley . 978-1-119-10076-8 . 140–164 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Buffam . Noelle . Action . The Script Lab . March 12, 2011 . December 5, 2022 .
2. Book: Gallagher, Mark . Restaging Heroic Masculinity . 2006 . Action Figures: Men, Action Films, and Contemporary Adventure Narratives . Palgrave Macmillan . 163 . 978-1-4039-7723-6 .
3. News: St. James . Emily . The General . . December 9, 2009 . December 2, 2022 .
4. Web site: Staff . Action >> Action Comedy . allmovie.com . . December 2, 2022 .
5. News: Vo . Alex . The 50 Best Action-Comedy Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer . . . August 10, 2021 . December 2, 2022 .
6. News: Baldwin. Daniel. July 29, 2016. From Grieco With Love: Remembering 'If Looks Could Kill'. live. Forbes. https://web.archive.org/web/20231227035018/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielbaldwin/2016/07/29/from-grieco-with-love-remembering-if-looks-could-kill/. December 27, 2023. December 29, 2023.
7. Web site: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) - Keenen Ivory Wayans | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie .
8. Calderon . Jenna . The Best Action Comedy Movies of All Time . . September 28, 2020 . December 2, 2022 .
9. News: Beard . Matthew . 'A-Team' is viewers' most-wanted oldie for prime-time revival . December 15, 2022 . . October 23, 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221215220335/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/ateam-is-viewers-mostwanted-oldie-for-primetime-revival-92658.html . December 15, 2022.
10. News: Staff . Action Comedy TV: Showrunner Matt Nix . . March 14, 2010 . December 2, 2022 .
11. Book: Proulx . Mike . Shepatin . Stacey . 2012 . Social TV: How Marketers Can Reach and Engage Audiences by Connecting Television to the Web, Social Media, and Mobile . Wiley . 978-1-118-23965-0 .
12. News: Butler . Karen . Season 4 of 'Doom Patrol' to premiere on Dec. 8 . upi.com . . October 10, 2022 . December 12, 2022 .
13. Book: Perlmutter, David . 2018 . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . . 978-1-5381-0374-6 .
14. Web site: Action Comedy . hulu.com . . December 2, 2022 .
15. News: Shachat . Sarah . How 'Our Flag Means Death' Built a Realistic but Farcical Pirate Ship . . March 12, 2022 . December 12, 2022 .
16. News: Truitt . Brian . How HBO Max's 'Peacemaker' became a hair metal superhero spin on the ensemble comedy . . January 13, 2022 . December 12, 2022 .
17. Book: Taylor, Larry . 2018 . Nomads . John McTiernan: The Rise and Fall of an Action Movie Icon . McFarland . 978-1-4766-3233-9 . 17 .
18. News: Swift . Andy . Rush Hour TV Series In the Works for CBS from Bill Lawrence, Brett Ratner . . September 30, 2014 . December 12, 2022 .
19. News: Nemetz . Dave . Teenage Bounty Hunters Trailer: High School Girls Kick Ass After Class in Netflix's Edgy Action Comedy . . July 30, 2020 . December 12, 2022 .
20. Web site: Breaking News - J.R. Villarreal Cast in Disney Channel's Superhero Action Comedy, Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion . December 5, 2023 . www.thefutoncritic.com.