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The 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, " relies on the characters to bring out the humor, while the action scenes tend to be less intense than in the traditional action movie."

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.

The 1926 film The General starring Buster Keaton may be the first action comedy film. 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. Other action comedies from the decade included The Blues Brothers (1980) and the films of actor and martial artist Jackie Chan.

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.

TV series

References

1. ^ Staff. "Action >> Action Comedy". allmovie.com. Allmovie. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
2. Buffam, Noelle (March 12, 2011). "Action". The Script Lab. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
3. Gallagher, Mark (2006). "Restaging Heroic Masculinity". Action Figures: Men, Action Films, and Contemporary Adventure Narratives. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4039-7723-6.
4. St. James, Emily (December 9, 2009). "The General". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
5. ^ Vo, Alex (August 10, 2021). "The 50 Best Action-Comedy Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
6. ^ Thomas, Leah Marilla (July 30, 2024). "These 35 Comedy Action Movies Add 'Ha Has' To Your 'Pew Pews'". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
7. ^ Calderon, Jenna (September 28, 2020). "The Best Action Comedy Movies of All Time". Men's Health. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
8. Baldwin, Daniel (July 29, 2016). "From Grieco With Love: Remembering 'If Looks Could Kill'". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
9. Beard, Matthew (October 23, 2003). "'A-Team' is viewers' most-wanted oldie for prime-time revival". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
10. Staff (March 14, 2010). "Action Comedy TV: Showrunner Matt Nix". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
11. 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. ISBN 978-1-118-23965-0.
12. Butler, Karen (October 10, 2022). "Season 4 of 'Doom Patrol' to premiere on Dec. 8". upi.com. UPI. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
13. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-0374-6.
14. ^ "Action Comedy". hulu.com. Hulu. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
15. Shachat, Sarah (March 12, 2022). "How 'Our Flag Means Death' Built a Realistic but Farcical Pirate Ship". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
16. Truitt, Brian (January 13, 2022). "How HBO Max's 'Peacemaker' became a hair metal superhero spin on the ensemble comedy". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
17. Taylor, Larry (2018). "Nomads". John McTiernan: The Rise and Fall of an Action Movie Icon. McFarland. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4766-3233-9.
18. Swift, Andy (September 30, 2014). "Rush Hour TV Series In the Works for CBS from Bill Lawrence, Brett Ratner". TVLine. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
19. Nemetz, Dave (July 30, 2020). "Teenage Bounty Hunters Trailer: High School Girls Kick Ass After Class in Netflix's Edgy Action Comedy". TVLine. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2022.

Further reading

• King, Cynthia M. (2009). "Comedy in Action". In Kendrick, James (ed.). A Companion to the Action Film. Wiley. pp. 140–164. ISBN 978-1-119-10076-8.

• Action comedy
• Action genres
• Comedy genres
• Film genres
• Lists of films by genre
• Television genres