Several great martial arts movies were made in the 2000s, thanks to the success of mainstream films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. However, for every mainstream theatrical release, like Ong-Bak, Ip Man, and The Protector, several more slipped by and remain obscure to anyone but genre fans who actively seek out these films. It isn’t that these movies are unknown to martial arts fanatics, but they are films that more mainstream moviegoers might have missed out on or forgotten about, all of which deserve more recognition.

The 2000s were full of martial arts masters appearing in great action movies. Names like Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi, Tony Jaa, Michelle Yeoh, Michael Jai White, and more released several movies that excited martial arts fans and action movie enthusiasts alike. With Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen specializing in grounded fight sequences and people like Jackie Chan and Jet Li showing what it means to fly around a set, there was something in the 2000s for all martial arts movie fans.

10

Flash Point (2007)

A Police Sergeant Has To Rescue His Partner From A Criminal Organization

Donnie Yen starred in the 2007 martial arts movie Flash Point. This film saw the martial arts star reteam with his Ip Man director, Wilson Yip, to play Ma Jun, a police sergeant whose partner, Wilson (Louis Koo), is entrenched as a mole in a criminal organization run by three violent Vietnamese brothers, Archer, Tony, and Tiger. Ma is a ruthless police sergeant who has received numerous reprimands for going too far when dealing with criminals, but that is what it will take to bring down these brothers.

This was the third time Yen and Yip worked together, and Yen also served as the fight choreographer in the movie. For martial arts enthusiasts, Yen combined MMA with wushu and taekwondo, which delivered some brutal ground-based fighting action. Yen won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography. While the movie is not as highly remembered as other Donnie Yen films, it appears there is a sequel coming called Flash Point Resurgence, so fans have something to look forward to.

9

Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001)

Warriors Use Martial Arts & Swordplay To Battle A Beast

Not all martial arts releases from the 2000s are in the action movie genre. The Christophe Gans film Brotherhood of the Wolf is part horror movie, part historical drama. Gans is a French director who has taken on roles in various genres, with the horror movie Silent Hill, the 2014 French re-telling of Beauty of the Beast, and the 1995 action movie Crying Freeman. However, Brotherhood of the Wolf is his masterpiece, a French-language film about warriors seeking to discover what is slaughtering hundreds in Gévaudan.

The film has a unique mix of choreographed fight scenes, combining swordplay with martial arts for an exhilarating blend of action. At its base, the story features a beast controlled by a secret society that wants to take over the country and overthrow the government. The film did receive a resurgence in popularity in 2023 when Shout! Factory released a special collector’s edition, but it remains a mostly obscure martial arts monster movie that deserves all the love it gets.

8

Versus (2000)

A Martial Arts Fight Movie With Zombies

Before zombie movies and TV shows made their resurgence and eventually overwhelmed horror fans, Ryuhei Kitamura directed a martial arts zombie action film in Japan in 2000. Kitamura, who later directed more mainstream films like Godzilla: Final Wars and The Midnight Meat Train, helms the film about an escaped prisoner who encounters a gang that kidnaps a young woman. When he kills one of the Yakuza, that ᴅᴇᴀᴅ man resurrects as a zombie, and the battle is on.

Tak Sakaguchi stars as the unnamed prisoner and engages in various fighting styles, including gunplay, sword fighting, and martial arts action skills. In addition to the great martial arts action, the film also owes a debt to classic horror movies from directors like Sam Raimi (The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ) and action films like Highlander. The movie has all the makings of a cult classic and should be more popular than it is. It’s the kind of thing that all horror fans and martial arts enthusiasts should seek out.

7

Chocolate (2008)

A Young Woman Can Master Any Fighting Style She Sees

Chocolate is a Thai martial arts film from 2008, and while it is not as popular as Ong-Bak, it is very similar in its over-the-top fight choreography. Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistananda plays Zen, a young woman who can master any fighting style by watching another fighter. She can even do this in the middle of a fight when she watches their movements, making her almost impossible to defeat. When Zen’s mother is kidnapped, she is forced to fight through all odds as she tries to rescue her.

The fight scenes in this movie are remarkable, and it is astonishing to watch Vismistananda switch styles mid-battle. The entire film feels like a modern-day fairy tale and packs just as much emotion into the story as the action-packed fight scenes. Even more surprising is that every stunt was practical, and the outtakes on the DVD reveal that, in many instances, the cast connected on some kicks and punches and left a few of them beaten and bruised.

6

Ninja ᴀssᴀssin (2009)

A Ninja Seeks Revenge Against His Mentor

Ninja ᴀssᴀssin has some big names behind it. J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) co-wrote the script, the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix) produced the film, and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) directed it. This film stars South Korean pop star Rain as Raizo, one of the world’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest ᴀssᴀssins, who seeks revenge against the mentor (Sho Kosugi) who betrayed him. Raizo and the Europol Special Forces and tactical teams then battle a criminal organization employing countless ninjas.

There is a lot to love about this 2000s martial arts movie, including the addition of the iconic Sho Kosugi as the ruthless crime lord who raises and trains orphans to be his personal ninja army. There are some fantastic fight scenes and one of the best training sequences in a ninja martial arts movie. The film remains mostly forgotten today, possibly thanks to its more generic тιтle and the other ninja-тιтled films that came out at the same time. However, this one stands above most of those movies thanks to the fight choreography and action scenes.

5

Equilibrium (2002)

A Movie With Groundbreaking Gun-Fu Action

In 2002, a movie came out that many people compared unfavorably to The Matrix, but Equilibrium deserved standing on its own as a fantastic movie that combines martial arts and gunplay. Equilibrium was John Wick before there ever was a John Wick, and it was just as much a John Woo action extravaganza. Directed by Kurt Wimmer, Equilibrium stars Christian Bale and Taye Diggs as two law enforcement officers who enforce the laws in a dystopian society that has banned artistic expression.

Everyone in society has to take drugs that inhibit all emotions, and those found not taking the drugs are executed. When Bale’s Preston misses a dose and starts to feel emotions, he decides he wants to start feeling things again, becoming an outlaw. What makes this fit into the role of a martial arts movie is the “gun kata” and katana battle at the end, which is done using intense and intricate martial arts choreography in a dizzying display that puts similar movies to shame.

4

Kiss Of The Dragon (2001)

Jet Li Stars As A Chinese Cop Tracking Down A Drug Lord

Jet Li broke out in America thanks to his role in Lethal Weapon 4, but he was already a star in his homeland thanks to his martial arts action movies. One of those films was the 1994 release of Fist of Legend. Li had mastered his on-screen fighting style in that film and used those exact techniques in his starring role in the English-language action flick Kiss of the Dragon. This movie saw Li star as a Chinese police officer who traveled to France to help bring down a drug lord.

When Li ends up framed for killing the drug lord, he goes on the run with a woman (Bridget Fonda) who was forced into Sєx work by the corrupt police chief. While Romeo Must Die was the more popular Li film at this time in his career, he used his old fighting style in this project. He traded in wire-fu for a more grounded fighting style, and it helped make the film surpᴀss his previous movie in quality, even if it remains the more obscure of the two martial arts films today.

3

Unleashed (2005)

A Violent Fighter Controlled By A Control Collar

Louis Leterrier made his name in big-budget action movies like Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, and Fast X. In 2005, he directed a script written by Luc Besson (Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element), with Jet Li in the lead role. Jet is Danny, a man who attacks people for a vicious loan shark who controls him by keeping a metal collar that keeps him calm when it’s on and sets him loose as a violently unstoppable animal when it’s off. However, he gets a fresh start when he thinks his controller dies.

The film received mostly positive reviews, with Jet Li praised for his more emotional scenes, contrasting with his great fight sequences. However, the main praise went to the martial arts scenes, with Jet Li as the star, mostly fighting for his life and showing the martial arts techniques that made him a mᴀssive star for American action movie fans. This movie stands out from other Jet Li movies because he uses a different, more brutal fighting style to match his character’s animalistic nature.

2

The City Of Violence (2006)

A Police Officer Hunts Down The Man Who Killed His Friend

The City of Violence is one of the more obscure martial arts movies of the 2000s and one of the most brutal. The film follows a police detective named Tae-soo (Jung Doo-hong), whose childhood friend is murdered despite cleaning himself up and getting off the streets. While not a cop in his hometown, he decides to take time off and track down the murderer. Soon, Tae-soo and his friend’s brother, Suk-hwan (Ryoo Seung-wan) learn an old friend is responsible and set out to take him down.

The film takes an interesting direction, showing flashback scenes of these friends in better days and then flipping to the present, where the city is a criminal wasteland, thanks to one of them going bad. The film switches between mᴀssive fight scenes, with the climax presenting one of the biggest in martial arts movie history. However, there are more minor fights in between that help build to the big end that are just as great, with solid weapon work and great Taekwondo action.

1

House Of Flying Daggers (2004)

A Love Story Is Interrupted By A Rebellion

Released around the same time as mainstream blockbusters like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Jet-Li action movie Hero, House of Flying Daggers matches them in extravagance and fighting choreography but falls short when it comes to the lasting memory of the films, making it one of the more obscure of the big-budget martial arts movies of the 2000s. This is an epic martial arts film taking place during the decline of the Tang Dynasty when warring rebel groups formed, one of which was the House of Flying Daggers.

Director Zhang Yimou also made Hero but fell slightly short of that success with this film, as it didn’t even receive a Best Foreign Film nomination at the Oscars. Despite this, the movie closely matches Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with its wushu wire-fu choreography and almost dance-like martial arts action. On top of the great action by Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau, this film is beautifully sH๏τ and makes even Crouching Tiger look less in comparison. This is one of the best martial arts movies of the 2000s and deserves a bigger audience.