The most notable female directors of action films

Bigelow is the first woman to win Best Director at the Oscars, but she’s also one of the darker, nastier action filmmakers ever. Also, with the way female directors have had to fight against the tide to get opportunity, it is nice to be able to point to a female director and say that she’s a bit overrated. “Point Break” is silly fun, but “silly” is a key word there. Also, “Blue Steel” is an absolutely awful movie. But she got to keep making action movies! Equality!

It’s kind of remarkable how slight Jenkins’ filmography is. She directed “Monster,” which won Charlize Theron an Oscar and has murder in it, but is decidedly not an action movie. That made her a surprising choice for “Wonder Woman,” but then “Wonder Woman” became an acclaimed phenomenon. “Wonder Woman 1984” was less well-received, and she hasn’t directed a movie since.

Speaking of overrated, you can’t deny the impact “The Matrix” had on film, and that is a good movie. It also may be the only good movie they made? There’s plenty of action in the mix, though! “Jupiter Ascending” is stupid but at least action-adjacent, and while Lily may be retired, Lana helmed “The Matrix Resurrections” solo.

Zhao is not built to direct action, which to be fair she seems to know. “Nomadland” won Best Picture, and “Hamnet” is a heavy player for the Oscars as well. In between, though, Marvel came a-callin’ and she decided to direct “Eternals.” It did not go well. Both critically and commercially “Eternals” was received poorly, so Zhao may not go the action route again. You never know, though.

DaCosta got her breakthrough opportunity with the “Candyman” reboot in 2021. This was evidently sufficient enough to get her the call to direct “The Marvels.” Of course, that movie is also in the running for the least-successful Marvel movie. After pivoting to an adaptation of “Hedda Gabler,” DaCosta’s next film is sort of in the action space. She helmed “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which seems like it will be gory and bleak if not action-packed.

We don’t want to keep saying, “This woman directed an action movie…and it really didn’t work,” but it is what it is, as they say. Yan directed “Birds of Prey,” the Harley Quinn movie. While we were intrigued by the potential, it ended up being an effectively unwatchable movie. Definitely a lot of action, though! Yan’s next film is a thriller called “The Gallerist.” Thrillers can be action-y, but this one doesn’t appear to be. Seems intriguing, though.

You may not know Leder’s name, but you have likely seen one of her movies. “The Peacemaker” was one of the first swings at making George Clooney a movie star. “Deep Impact” is the asteroid movie that isn’t “Armageddon.” Still, in a way Leder was going toe-to-toe with action-movie bigwig Michael Bay! Leder also directed several episodes of “ER,” a show that could be pretty action-y.

Boden works alongside Ryan Fleck as a directorial duo. After doing character-based dramas, Fleck and Boden got the call to direct “Captain Marvel.” Now, here is a Marvel movie that actually was a hit, and we think it’s a little underrated in terms of quality. Their most-recent movie is “Freaky Tales,” an anthology action-comedy that is as consistent as you would expect from an anthology movie.

Hardwicke wrote and directed a 2013 erotic thriller called “Plush” we’ve never heard of but shout out to her for working in that genre at a time in which it was completely out of favor. She will likely forever be best known for directing “Twilight,” but her career has been quite eclectic. In the mix are “Red Riding Hood,” “Miss Bala,” and “Mafia Mamma” all movies that are at least in part action films. Although, we’ll admit this was also the first time we had heard of the action-comedy “Mafia Mamma.”

There was no sense early in her career that Prince-Bythewood would get into action directing. Then, she did “The Old Guard” and “The Woman King.” Both are a little heady and a little moody, and both maybe could have used a bit more action. Ultimately, though, they are both fairly successful. “The Old Guard” got a sequel, though Prince-Bythewood did not direct it.

Alexander has directed some action TV, including episodes of “Arrow” and “Supergirl.” She was fully a director-for-hire for single episodes of TV, though, so that doesn’t bolster her action resume too much. “Green Street Hooligans,” a violent movie about soccer hooligans, has the visceral texture of an action movie. However, this is largely about “Punisher: War Zone,” a bananas movie for crazy people. It’s a cult classic.

Talalay has directed several episodes of “The Flash,” as well as several “Doctor Who” episodes. She also directed a Western for the Hallmark Channel, so that probably has some action in it. On the film front, she’s directed a few movies that are at least action-adjacent. That includes the cult favorite “Tank Girl.” How could we not shout out the director of “Tank Girl?”

Robinson isn’t 40 yet, and has directed three movies, but also may end up in director jail for a minute here. “Do Revenge,” an action-tinged dark comedy, was a pleasant surprise for Netflix. That got her a chance to direct the reboot of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” and all slasher movies are at least imbued with action. That film was a total flop, though, so a reset is needed for Robinson’s career.

Robinson was able to turn her short film “D.E.B.S.” into a feature-length outing. The action-comedy was an utter flop, now reclaimed as a cult classic by some (though there is a contingency out there trying to “reclaim” every unsuccessful movie as a cult classic these days). Flop or not, Robinson then got to direct “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” which has enough car stuff in it to be action-y, and that was a success.

Kusama directed the pilot for “Yellowjackets,” and the reason why notable directors will direct a TV pilot is because they get credit for “establishing the visual language” for the show and thus get paid something for every episode of the show. Kusama’s career began with action films, though. She made “Girlfight,” which is about boxing, and then she made “Aeon Flux.” That was a flop, but Kusama has been able to keep directing TV and also making movies.

We mentioned Lupino in the introduction, and we’re going to throw her in the mix. She was a cinema trailblazer, and she played a villain on the “Batman” TV show from the ‘60s. She’s earned it! Yes, Lupino is known for getting to direct noirs in the ‘40s and ‘50s, but some noirs are pretty action-y. “The Hitch-Hiker,” in particular, would qualify.