Coming from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Antonie Fuqua attended West Virginia University where he studied electrical engineering and was a part of the basketball team as a player. But soon he moved to New York for filmmaking, and the 57-year-old director soon became an associate producer and an assistant director. The Shooter director never looked back once he honed his direction skills by directing certain music videos, which also gained him the Best Rap Video Award for his work on Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
Though the Equalizer 3 director started with a music video but soon got considered as one of the most sought-after action movie directors in all of Hollywood. Critics doubted Antonie Fuqua’s decision when he thought of directing a feature film about a fast-action police film. But to be honest we all know how good The Replacement Killers was and how it grabbed the attention of most of the action film-loving audiences. With this let’s have a look at the list of Antonie Fuqua’s best movies ranked:
10. Shooter:
At 10 comes the film that placed the action director Antonie Fuqua on the Map of best action directors. It stars the great Mark Wahlberg. The story is about Bob Lee Swagger A.K.A Mark Wahlberg trying to clear his name against a rival military firm. It came out in the year 2007, though the action scenes were fine, but the portrayal made it a completely predictable movie. Shooter fails to translate the story on screen but still, it’s one of Antonie Fuqua’s best.
9. The Replacement Killers:
It was the directorial debut film of Antonie Fuqua, and it is a John-Woo-inspired thriller film that is about an emotionally disillusioned who is forced to settle down a violent rivalry with a merciless crime boss. The film was also a debut film for Chow-Yun-Fat alongside Mirav Sorvino. The Replacement Killers is not at all a terrible film, it just lacks the soul of the 57-year-old director, but this film made him realize what to do and we can witness it in his later movies.
8. The Magnificent Seven:
The film starred Infamous Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington and it was a remake of Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai. The Shooter director is known for working together with Denzel Washington for most of his movies, and this film made their bond unbreakable.
The Magnificent Seven is a box office profit film and it is because of the exceptional cinematography and excellent all-around cast. The Magnificent Seven ends up being a fun-filled story line but it doesn’t stay too long with you just like other action-packed movies.
7. King Arthur:
The creative liberty taken by Antonie Fuqua while directing King Arthur didn’t make the film go bad but created an all-new image of the Dark Ages. While the portrayal of the film on screen is far from real and it’s more like the mysterious magic the original Camelot stories are based on. Overall, it’s two hours of complete entertainment and it marked Antonie Fuqua’s first success outside his favorite gritty landscapes. e
6. The Equalizer 2:
Equalizer 2 brings back the action scenes that were asked about by the Audiences, but it failed to deliver a good storyline, unlike The Equalizer. It fails to bring anything fresh to the table, but the action scenes saved it from signalling the death of The Equalizer Franchise. Have to agree that The Equalize duo is among the favorites of Action lovers.
5. Southpaw:
The 57-year-old director didn’t break any fresh ground while making the film, but the true story-inspired narrative did hit like a truck. Southpaw proves that Antonie Fuqua has a complete idea about boxing and action-packed movies and Jake Gyllenhaal was the perfect cast for it. Southpaw delivers complete action and melodrama pushing the boxing sequences worthy of a sporting blockbuster.
4. Olympus Has Fallen
The only similar thing about this film and other films by Antonie Fuqua is this film also doesn’t break any new ground as far as military dramas go. Regardless, Olympus Has Fallen is a remarkably successful high-octane movie, and the Southpaw director keeps on playing with the action and tension simultaneously throughout the film. It also utilized Gerard Butler’s images as a stoic and strong hero.
3. Tears of the sun
This movie goes with the proverb Old is Gold, Tears of the Sun came out back in 2003 and it cemented the name of Antoine Fuqua as one of the best action-movie directions in Hollywood. It’s unlike other action movies, the scene is set in Nigeria, in between a civil war, and in place of a complex screenplay It chooses to combine the highly emotive setting with Bruce Wills’s extraordinary quality as the leading man. It resulted in a compelling piece of cinema that was a joy to watch, and the action sequences created havoc in the minds of the viewers.
2. Training day:
Training day is a perfect balance between Antonie Fuqua’s initial training as a musical director and his way of translating inner-city violence onto the big screen. Training day showed the ambition and sensibilities of Antoine Fuqua which stated it all. Training Day is considered one of the classics made by the Shooter Director, and the film still gains attention and praise. While the critics couldn’t chew the last 15 minutes of the film properly.
1. The guilty:
It was the second time the action director Antoine Fuqua moved ahead with Jake Gyllenhaal, and it was the perfect thing to do. Unlike the 57-year-old’s other films, The Guilty completely arrived as a surprise. No overaction was spotted in the film, rather he provides an unprecedented and intimated look to Jake Gyllenhaal, the disgraced dispatch officer. The story starts when Jake Gyllenhaal receives a nightmare call at night and from there on the police-led drama makes a compelling story. The setting of the film allows the viewers to stay hooked to the film and live the moment of tension.
