5 Best English Action Movies Of 2008

As in past years, the 5 best English action movies of 2008 tended to come in two varieties: Gritty crime thrillers with slang-wielding low-lifes or big-budget spy adventures featuring a certain agent who prefers his martinis shaken, not stirred. Audiences got those staples and a couple of other unusual choices making the list of the five best English action movies of 2008.

1. "Quantum of Solace" 2008 might be best remembered for what looks like possibly the last James Bond movie -- for awhile anyway. England's biggest action movie that year, of course, was "Quantum of Solace," with Daniel Craig in the follow-up to "Casino Royale," which, if you didn't see it, would be worth watching before you try to catch up with the oddly named "Quantum." For the first time ever, a James Bond movie picks right up where the previous installment left off. Craig is a great Bond and in this movie he's cool, deadly and he leaves you wanting to see more of this brand of Bond. Hopefully, the producers, the studios and anyone else involved can get it together and put Bond back on the screen soon.
2. "The Bank Job"  Put British tough guy Jason Statham in a movie called "The Bank Job" and you know you're in for a loud and violent heist movie where more than one guy is going to get the shit kicked out of him. But this film was actually more than a run-of-the-mill caper movie with car chases and fists. Maybe it's because this movie was based on an actual London bank robbery from the 1970s, one where the loot was never recovered. In any event, Statham is his usual badass self and Saffron Burrows (you might have seen her "Boston Legal" and "Law&Order: Criminal Intent") is pretty hot and mysterious throughout the movie.
3. "In Bruges"  Another violent English action movie involving criminals in London. Only in this story, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (who are both awesome in this movie), the characters get the hell out of the city when a job goes bad. They wind up in Bruges, Belgium, and soon their attitudes toward crime, life and each other starts to change. And when their former boss Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes, who is also perfect in his part) re-enters the scene, gunfire and trouble ensues.
4. "Doomsday" The old movie influences are too numerous to mention here, but if you check out this weird science fiction flick, you'll see traces of  "Escape from New York," "The Omega Man," "Mad Max" and "Excalibur." Yes, it's got a deadly virus, a walled-off city, bizarre visions of an apocalyptic future and Medieval warriors. And it's got Bob Hoskins ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") and Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"). How can you resist, right?
5. "RocknRolla" Okay, one last film about small-time English crooks. Directed by Guy Ritchie, who has practically re-invented this genre, this story involves a real estate scam, double crosses, F-bombs galore, fights, guns and, as you'd expect from the title, a little rock and roll. If you like Ritchie's movies like "Snatch," you'll likely agree that  "RocknRolla" is one of the five best English action movies of 2008.