Action comedy

Action comedy is a hybrid genre that combines elements of action fiction with comedy. While early action films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the American action film genre in the 1980s when actors who had backgrounds in comedy such as Eddie Murphy began taking roles in action films.^[1] The genre approaches various narratives and styles such as buddy films, superhero films, and Hong Kong action cinema featuring various actors such as Jackie Chan.

Action comedy has also been a recurring theme in television, with series such as The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985) and Peacemaker (2022).^{[citation needed]}

Film

Academic Yvonne Tasker described most post-classical Hollywood action films as "more or less hybrids."^[2] Action films are set across multiple settings and spaces with no single defining landscape and can become complicated in categorization which is sometimes acknowledged through hybridized designators such as action comedy.^[3]

Characteristics

Academic Cynthia King said that the action comedy film only came into its own as a mainstay of the American action film genre in the 1980s when actors who had backgrounds in comedy such as Eddie Murphy (pictured) began taking roles in action films.^[1]

Cynthia King referred to action comedy films as typically being reserved for action films where humor plays a much more central role.^[4] These films take on several other formats such as buddy films involving mismatched partners such as the Lethal Weapon (1987-1998) and Rush Hour (1998-2006) film series, Hong Kong action cinema through work of actors like Jackie Chan and many others. King also described the more comedic superhero films such as Mystery Men (1999), Hancock (2008) and The Green Hornet (2011) as belonging to the genre.^[5]

Elements of action comedy films existed in early cinema work such as the chase sequences in pre-1915 films such as The Lonedale Operator (1911) provide editing patterns of later action films such as Wheels on Meals (1984).^[6] Later silent film comedy such as those featuring Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton such as Easy Street (1917) and The General (1926) featured chases, gags and stunts that would serve as inspirations for both comedic and non-comedic action set pieces in later action films.^[7] These films include Chaplin and Keaton using physical materials on stage, either weapons or props, to for cause and effect to add force on bodily actions.^[8]

King wrote that despite a large cinematic history of humor and peril, the action comedy film only "came into its own" as part of American action film genre in the early 1980s. In spite of the rich theatrical history of humor and peril, action comedy only came into its own as a mainstay of the American action film genre in the 1980s. King highlighted that this happened when actors who had backgrounds in comedy such as Eddie Murphy began taking roles in action films.^[1]

In his book, Lights, Camera, Action: Crafting an Action Script (2005), Gregory Sarno said that the action comedy film that not all films that contain conflict and humor were action comedies, saying that films that action-laden subplots such as Big Momma's House (2000) or Dumb & Dumber (1994) were more straight comedies as the action lacked an integral roll in the films narrative.^[9] King echoed this, saying that films are better categorized as straight comedies such as Night at the Museum (2006) or Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) as most of the action was framed comically with no serious violence or peril. She also said action films that contain sardonic one-liners such as "Go ahead, make my day" from Sudden Impact (1983) were not action comedies.^[10]

Mark Gallagher, in Action Figures: Men, Action Films and Contemporary Adventure Narratives (2006) action comedies often feature a fish out of water theme such as Murphy's character clashing with upper-class white communities and conventional police procedures in the Beverly Hills Cop (1984-2024) film series.^[11]

List of films

List of action comedy films

Film	Year	Ref.
21 Jump Street	2012	[12]
22 Jump Street	2014	[12]
48 Hrs.	1982	[12]
American Made	2017	[12]
Ant-Man	2015	[12]
Ant-Man and the Wasp	2018	[12]
Attack the Block	2011	[13]
Bad Boys	1995	[14]
Bad Boys for Life	2020	[12]
Big Trouble in Little China	1986	[12]
Beverly Hills Cop	1984	[12]
Birds of Prey	2020	[12]
Black Dynamite	2009	[12]
The Blues Brothers	1980	[12]
The Cabin in the Woods	2011	[13]
D.E.B.S.	2004	[13]
Deadpool	2016	[12]
Deadpool 2	2018	[12]
Deadpool & Wolverine	2024	[15]
Drive-Away Dolls	2024	[13]
Drunken Master II	1994	[12]
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves	2023	[13]
Everything Everywhere All at Once	2022	[13]
The Fall Guy	2024	[13]
Free Guy	2021	[12]
Galaxy Quest	1999	[13]
Game Night	2018	[12]
Get Smart	2008	[14]
The General	1926	[12]
The Gentlemen	2019	[12]
Ghostbusters	1984	[13]
Guardians of the Galaxy	2014	[12]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	2017	[12]
The Heat	2013	[14]
Hit Man	2023	[13]
Hot Fuzz	2007	[12]
If Looks Could Kill	1991	[16]
The Interview	2014	[14]
Johnny English	2003	[14]
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	2017	[14]
Keanu	2016	[12]
Kick-Ass	2010	[12]
Kingsman: The Secret Service	2014	[12]
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang	2005	[12]
Kung Fu Hustle	2004	[12]
Lethal Weapon	1987	[12]
Lethal Weapon 2	1989	[12]
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	1998	[12]
Logan Lucky	2007	[13]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	2015	[13]
The Mask	1994	[13]
Men in Black	1997	[12]
Midnight Run	1988	[12]
Miss Congeniality	2000	[13]
Mr. & Mrs. Smith	2005	[13]
The Nice Guys	2016	[12]
Now You See Me 2	2016	[13]
The Other Guys	2010	[12]
The Paper Tigers	2020	[12]
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	2003	[13]
Polite Society	2023	[13]
The Princess Bride	1987	[13]
Red	2010	[12]
Ride Along	2014	[14]
Romancing the Stone	1984	[12]
Rumble in the Bronx	1995	[12]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	2010	[12]
Shanghai Noon	2000	[12]
Shaolin Soccer	2001	[12]
Shaun of the Dead	2004	[14]
Shazam!	2019	[12]
Sherlock Holmes	2009	[13]
Shotgun Wedding	2022	[13]
Something Wild	1986	[12]
Spy	2015	[12]
Spy Kids	2001	[13]
The Suicide Squad	2021	[12]
Supercop	1992	[12]
Tag	2018	[13]
Team America: World Police	2004	[12]
Thor: Ragnarok	2017	[12]
Three Kings	1999	[12]
Tropic Thunder	2008	[12]

TV series

List of action comedy TV series

TV series	Year(s)	Ref.
The A-Team	1983–1987	[17]
Burn Notice	2007–2013	[18]
Chuck	2007–2012	[19]
Doom Patrol	2020–2022	[20]
The Dukes of Hazzard	1979–1985	[21]
Future Man	2017–2020	[22]
Kidd Video	1984–1985	[21]
Lethal Weapon	2016–2019	[22]
Our Flag Means Death	2022-2023	[23]
Peacemaker	2022	[24]
Remington Steele	1982–1987	[25]
Rush Hour	2016	[26]
Teenage Bounty Hunters	2020	[27]