The Best of 2014: What's Your Favorite Action Movie

Action movies are an important part of cinema. Not only are they often the highest grossing release of any given year -- such as 2014 domestic champsGuardians of the Galaxy,The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1andCaptain America: The Winter Soldier-- but they;re also recognized honorably by film critics. Specifically, the Broadcast Film Critics Association gives one of its annual Critics; Choice awards to the best action movie of the year, according to its more than 200 expert members (disclosure: I am one of them).This year;s nominees are: Guardians,Winter Soldier,Fury,American SniperandEdge of Tomorrow.Additionally, the BFCA gives awards to the best actor and the best actress in an action movie. Nominees for the former are: Chriss Pratt inGuardians, Chris Evans inWinter Soldier, Brad Pitt inFury, Bradley Cooper in American Sniper and Tom Cruise inEdge of Tomorrow. Nominees for the latter are: Zoe Saldana inGuardians, Scarlett Johansson inLucy, Jennifer Lawrence inMockingjay - Part 1, Shailene Woodley inDivergentandEmily Blunt inEdge of Tomorrow.Is your favorite among those eight titles? I bet if some other critics were polled, the unanimous pick might beThe Raid 2. Or maybeJohn Wick. Or Snowpiercer.Your kids might sayThe Lego Movie or Planes: FIre and Rescue, depending on their age.The interesting thing about the action genre is that it;s huge and can include a whole bunch of films from other genres, as well. Guardians andEdge of Tomorroware also sci-fi, as are Godzilla,the YA movieThe Maze Runner, the sequelsDawn of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Age of Extinction andX-Men: Days of Future Pastand the animated featureBig Hero 6. Then there;s fantasy action, which includesThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,Hercules,The Legend of Hercules andthe animated featureHow to Train Your Dragon 2.There are biblical and sword-and-sandal action movies such as Noah,Exodus: Gods and KingsandPompeii. There are movies starring older generation action stars, such as The Equalizer,The November Man,Sabotage,The Expendables 3 and3 Days to Kill. And there are action comedies, including22 Jump Street,Ride AlongandThe Interview.My pick is one of the BFCA nominees, which is also one of the sci-fi/action hybrids:Edge of Tomorrowwas just simply one of the most enjoyable rides at the movies I experienced this year, and I guess it helped that I wasn;t expecting it to be. But another disclosure: I slept through almost all ofThe Raid 2in the theater -- not because it was boring, though -- and haven;t gotten around to trying it again.What is your favorite action movie of 2014?Here are some responses received so far via Twitter:The Raid 2. Duh. RT @thefilmcynic What’s your favorite action movie of 2014?— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic THE. RAID. 2. End of poll.— Point de vues (@Pointdevues) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic It;s The Raid 2. No question about it. Intricate plotting, poetic fight choreography and stellar performances.— Tom Beasley (@TomJBeasley) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Definitely The Raid 2.— Ashwin (@ShinobivsGast) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic I;ve got a few: the raid 2, John wick, edge of tomorrow and Snowpiercer come to mind— David Jaffe (@AddictedAICN) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Edge of Tomorrow, easily— Lizziebeth (@lizziegolucky) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Edge of Tomorrow— August Macias (@August_Macias) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Edge of Tomorrow— Zal Batmanglij (@z_al) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Edge of Tomorrow. No contest.— Juan Carlos Ampié (@juancarlosampie) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic It;s a fierce competition between JOHN WICK and 2/3rds of EDGE OF TOMORROW.— Alexander Huls (@alxhuls) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Edge of Tomorrow. John Wick is a close second.— Jack Giroux (@JackGi) December 15, 2014@duckisgod @scottEweinberg @thefilmcynic def john wick— Erin Tarantino (@erincandy) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic JOHN WICK— Sleighs on Film (@salesonfilm) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic John Wick can;t be outdone— Jacob Oller (@Jacoboller) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Lucy— Jabron James (@Camera_Angel) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Snowpiercer— lewis (@ladypropane) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Snowpiercer and Mockingjay— ?venus xtravaganza? (@franki_xcx) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic X-Men: Days of Future Past with Guardians of the Galaxy a close second. I haven;t seen JOHN WICK but I hear it;s pretty top.— Dominic (@Count3D) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Straight up action it would be Guardians of the Galaxy.— Luke Banack (@RadioLuke) December 15, 2014@thefilmcynic Captain America: The Winter Soldier— Allyson Johnson (@AllysonAJ) December 15