The whole idea of a one-man wrecking crew changes with each decade since in the 80s it usually meant that someone was capable of taking on an army by themselves, while in the 90s it meant they were still bad enough to take on multiple opponents and only suffer scratches and possibly a little more damage now and again. But in the noughties the protagonists really had to switch it up a bit in order to be effective. The body counts aren’t the highest at times, but at other they start climbing without stopping. Diversifying in how effective the method of destruction is and how many opponents a protagonist goes up against has been kind of interesting to watch since it’s very easy to say ‘wow’ when a guy nukes the base of their enemy and takes out a large number of people with their efforts. But watching someone trek through a jungle or simply walk into danger and eliminate every threat they see is more impressive still since it makes the audience think and tense in anticipation since the likelihood of failure appears to be much more realistic and the danger is far closer considering that the stakes appear to raise in a way that makes the audience hold their breath in anticipation.
Here are some of the best one-man wrecking crews from the noughties.
5. Jaguar Paw – Apocalypto
Apocalypto was a pretty brutal movie due to the content and the setting in which it was filmed, but while Jaguar Paw wasn’t quite the kickass fighter that a lot of others have been throughout the years he was definitely someone that shouldn’t have been underestimated since once he was back in the jungle his instincts and his ability to defend himself and trick his pursuers became his greatest assets. Obviously he still took a bit of damage and going head to head with his attackers wouldn’t have been a great idea, but his knowledge of traps and his ability to lure them in proved to be invaluable.
4. Bruce Banner/Hulk – The Incredible Hulk
The Hulk has always been a one-man wrecking crew since he’s taken on entire superhero teams in the comics and prevailed, but why anyone wouldn’t think that this version wasn’t the most effective is hard to imagine since Disney kind of ruined the green goliath when they brought in Mark Ruffalo. Apart from that however the Hulk taking on an entire contingent of soldiers and flattening everything they throw at him is kind of par for the course since regular humans versus the Hulk is kind of like sending an army of toddlers after a UFC fighter, there’s just no way for them to win.
3. Nick Hume – Death Sentence
You might be questioning my judgment on this one since Kevin Bacon isn’t exactly an action star and he’s not known for taking on multiple opponents in a lot of movies. But in this one it was a little more impressive since Nick is the average guy, not a warrior and not someone that anyone would expect this kind of behavior from. But when his family is taken from him by local gang, Nick goes off the deep end and decides to dish out a little payback of his own, vigilante style. Granted, he’s not much of a Bronson-type character, he has to work his way up to even knowing how to load a clip, but once he’s rolling he becomes hard to stop.
2. Tony Stark – Iron Man
Iron Man is another hero that can take out multiple bad guys at once and cause a lot of havoc for his enemies since he’s not technically a trained fighter but he does have the tech and the gadgets to really make life difficult for a lot of bad guys at once. The cave fight in the first movie made it obvious that he only needs raw materials and a bit of luck to make things happen, but Tony is the kind of guy that’s intelligent enough to do what he can with what he has. After that, if he has what he needs, he’s the kind of guy that could easily figure out just how neutralize a wide variety of opponents if given the time to analyze them.
1. Kham – The Protector
This just had to be added since even if it’s not 100 percent realistic it’s impressive since if bad guys ever figured out how to shoot a gun from a distance, a lot of good guys would be taking dirt naps at this point given that a punch, kick, or leaping attack still isn’t quick enough to match the velocity of a bullet. But hand to hand combat situations like this are great since the horrific sound of bones crunching is enough to make a lot of people wince and think that Tony Jaa could easily dismantle a large group of people if they rushed him one by one.
Even if it’s not always realistic it’s usually fun to watch.
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