How do the movies of Iko Uwais rank, from worst to best? In the last decade or then, Indonesia has risen to go one of the epicenters of modern martial arts films, and Iko Uwais is one of the nation'due south near well-known action stars. A practitioner of Pencak Silat, Uwais first gained attending with 2009'southward Merantauearlier helping to alter the unabridged landscape of action movies with 2012's The Raid: Redemption and its 2014 follow-up The Raid ii. Since then, Uwais hasn't slowed downwards in wowing audiences with his screen presence and martial arts ability.

In more recent years, Uwais has made the jump to Hollywood productions and granted, he's been lamentably wasted in a couple of them. For all the strengths of Keanu Reeves' directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, Uwais' fight scene with Tiger Chen was far more than minor than it should have been, and he was truly left past the wayside inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.Much better results take been seen in Uwais' roles in the sci-fi moving-picture show Beyond Skyline and the action ensemble Triple Threat, with Uwais even going on to anchor the Netflix supernatural martial arts series Wu Assassins.

Nonetheless, Uwais has withal to be the leading man in a less-than-terrific martial arts pic, and even in supporting roles, he consistently elevates the moving picture'south he's in. Uwais is also equally electrifying in villain roles, a fact non lost on the makers of The Expendables 4, and the kinds of activity scenes he'southward capable of delivering are what martial arts fans dream of. Here is a rundown of Iko Uwais' movies, from worst to all-time.

ten. Mile 22

Arriving late in the summer of 2018, Mile 22is a case of an overseas activity star being non beingness utilized to his total capability who nevertheless also makes the flick he's in substantially better than it would have been without him, not unlike Donnie Yen's early days in Hollywood. Mile 22 star Mark Wahlberg as CIA amanuensis James Silva, whose team is tasked who transporting Uwais' Li Noor 22 miles to an airport to allow him to pass on data on secret activities past his government. Manager Peter Berg keeps the action moving swiftly, but Uwais' fight scenes are filmed with the same choppiness and shaky cam of the rest of the movie - a far cry from the outstanding action scenes he's washed elsewhere, and, frankly, that Berg has too (i.e. The Rock versus Ernie Reyes Jr. in The Rundown).

That'south also sadly more than can be said for the horrendously underutilized Ronda Rousey every bit Silva'south partner Sam. Mile 22 was the intended outset role of a series, though at that place doesn't seem to be any forward momentum on that forepart. Despite lots of potential, some decent if choppy fight scenes, and a splendid twist in its closing moments, Mile 22 is the weakest Iko Uwais movie, with the free energy he brings to the picture only showing how much stronger it could have been.

9. Stuber

A rather modest footnote in the career of Iko Uwais, Stuberis a serviceable buddy cop revenge romp. Dave Bautista portrays LAPD cop Vic Manning, who pursues a vendetta against his partner's killer, law-breaking boss Oka Tedjo, played by Uwais. The catch is that Vic has recently undergone laser centre surgery, leaving him temporarily visually impaired and forcing him to pull Kumail Nanjiani'southward Stu Prasad into the mix as his Uber, or rather "Stuber," equally Stu has nicknamed himself on the Uber beat.

Bautista ventured into more dramatic territory withGround forces of the Expressionless and his admittedly pocket-sized office in Denis Villeneuve'south Dune .Nevertheless, his knack for physical comedy shouldn't be overlooked either, as he shows himself to be surprisingly adept at the Mr. Magoo-inspired blind hijinks that the script calls upon him to perform. As a one-act of the pairing of two opposites,Stubergets the job done in Bautista'southward buddy-movie banter with Kumail. Uwais's appearance is relatively minor, which could theoretically have been due to scheduling overlaps, and the picture gets some decent mileage out of his martial arts abilities without being anything too spectacular. Stuber'south strongest asset is the buddy comedy banter betwixt Bautista and Nanjiani, but fans of Uwais might yet desire to requite it a look for his action scenes.

8. Ophidian Optics: G.I. Joe Origins

Uwais took on his first mentor part in Serpent Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and while the reboot has a lot going for it, a few choices hold it back from matching the modern ninja movie bar established past theNinja films anchored by Scott Adkins. Henry Golding portrays an underground fighter known only as Serpent Eyes, who saves the life of Thomas Arashikage (Andrew Koji) during a confrontation with a rival gang. Serpent Eyes is rewarded with the chance to join Thomas in the Arashikage ninja clan, while he has his own agenda on his mind most avenging the murder of his father. Golding and Koji are both excellent in their roles every bit friends blighted to become enemies, Koji in item giving a true star-making functioning afterward showtime breaking out on the martial arts Western series Warrior. Iko Uwais, too gets to channel a wise Ninjutsu mentor as the Arashikage trainer Difficult Principal, and steals some of the best moments in the motion-picture show's fight and training sequences, with Serpent Eyes solidifying Uwais equally a martial arts film legend. The 1-on-one with Snake Eyes and Hard Primary is arguably the best preparation scene in the movie, Snake Eyes tasked with snatching a rice basin total of water from Difficult Master without spilling any water, and being reminded that humility is just as important in martial arts as gainsay precision.

Unfortunately, Ophidian Eyes likewise is wounded by the use shaky cam and fast editing. The skillful news is that it doesn't attain Bourne Identity-levels of incomprehensibility in Ophidian Eyes, with the movie's activity scenes being simply clear enough to follow. Still, no ninja movie, least of all a Ophidian Optics origin story, should have to contend with the effects of shaky cam at all. Ophidian Eyes has all the trappings of what audiences love virtually ninja movies, an origin story for one of G.I. Joe'due south most popular characters, and teases for the Joes themselves. While its shaky cam unfortunately takes it off-course from hitting a perfect balderdash'due south eye, the performances of Golding and Koji brand information technology all the same worth checking out, along with seeing Iko Uwais in a wise mentor office for the kickoff time.

7. Merantau

The motion picture debut of Iko Uwais, Merantauis also notable for being the large intermission Welsh-born filmmaker Gareth Evans, and it foretold great things to come for both of them. Uwais portrays Yuda, a young villager and Silat practitioner sent to Jakarta on a pilgrimage known as "merantau," and soon finds himself trying to rescue Sisca Jessica's Astri and her young brother Adit, played by Yusuf Aulia, from human being traffickers. For beingness a first timer in a motion picture, Uwais carries Merantau impressively every bit a 18-carat, Jackie Chan-like underdog in over his head and a warrior equally soon as the situation calls upon him to be. The same is too truthful for Evans, whose talent as an action filmmaker was beyond undeniable long before he and Uwais took the world by storm with The Raid films.

Yayan Ruhian besides appears in the more innocent (for him) part of Erik, he and Uwais facing off in an elevator fight that Captain America: The Winter Soldier would be proud of. The Silat action of the film is astonishing from start to finish, with Evans and Uwais delivering an emotional dial in the face after the latter's terminal battle with Mads Koudal and Laurent Bousan's big bads. With Merantau, Uwais and Evans were overnight heavy hitters in the world of martial arts films, and needless to say, it but got improve for both of them from in that location.

6. Across Skyline

Writer-manager Liam O'Donnell rewrote the rule volume on alien invasion movies withBeyond Skyline, injecting martial arts into anIndependence Solar day-calibration extraterrestrial conquest and birthing what is now a thriving sci-fi action series. Taking place concurrently with the originalSkyline,Across Skylinebrings together a new drove of man survivors, including Frank Grillo's Mark Corley and Uwais' Sua, who make a final stand against the invading aliens in the jungles of Laos.Beyond Skylinebreathed new life into what had been a dormant story afterSkyline'due south bewilderment catastrophe to its virtually found footage-esque story, giving a much before glimpse into the invaders transplanting human brains into the bodies of mechanized alien warriors, codenamed "pilots". The film likewise cleverly holds off on the entry of Uwais and his co-star fromThe Raid movies Yayan Ruhian until midway through.

The final showdown of homo versus aliens in an ancient temple is the kind of thing activeness and sci-fi fans didn't know they needed, visually encapsulating O'Donnell's melding of genres literally worlds apart into one seriously fun popcorn flick. The series continued in 2020 withSkylines, absolutely sans Uwais and Grillo, though Ruhian returned in an heart-catching cameo. Hopefully,Skyline 4can bring the whole band dorsum together, and the fact that that'south fifty-fifty a possibility comes down toAcross Skylineturning the Skyline sci-fi movie series into the best ongoing alien-motion picture franchise the world currently has.

5. Triple Threat

Directed past stunt veteran Jesse Johnson, Triple Threattakes a page out of the playbook of The Expendables,assembling an ensemble of some of the almost amazing martial artists in mod action movies, with Uwais appearing aslope Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Michael Bisping, and Ron Smoorenburg. Uwais portrays Jaka, a boyfriend on a mission of vengeance subsequently his wife is killed when a mercenary team assaults his village to free their imprisoned leader Collins, played by Adkins (stepping into big bad territory after his role as Jason Statham's adversary in The Expendables ii). He before long comes to acquire that their one-time squad members Payu and Long Fei, played by Jaa and Chen, are too out to bring them downwards in their efforts to accept out Celina Jade'due south wealthy anti-crime benefactor Xiao Xian, leading the three to bring together forces.

Originating from a concept adult by Tiger Chen, Triple Threat is an incredibly economical action movie, merely intermittently pausing to catch its breath in the full noesis of what its audition is there to see. Within the titular trio of heroes, Uwais' Jaka is the clear brains of the operation, manipulating his enemies like pawns on a chessboard, merely the prodding of suspicious Devereaux, played by Adkins' Undisputed 2 co-star Michael Jai White, threatening to expose his intentions. The pic also rectifies the aforementioned blotch of Man of Tai Chi,letting Uwais and Chen go toe-to-toe in a Muay Thai band. The monumental final smackdown in an abandoned edifice would've been a great curtain closer in any scenario, merely the build-up information technology'southward given from the picture'southward accelerated pace only makes it that much more of a martial arts-driven rush.Triple Threat 2?Brand it happen!

4. The Night Comes For Us

Just getting a movie off into the have-off phase can sometimes be a tumultuous battle, and Timo Tjahjanto'sThe Night Comes For U.s.spent several years struggling to get out of pre-production and in front of the cameras, with his efforts paying off in spades. InThe Night Comes For United states of america, the anti-hero protagonist Ito is played by Judo champion and Sub-Nothing actor Joe Taslim, a conflicted enforcer for the Six Seas gang. Ito finds himself protecting a young girl named Reina, played past Asha Kenyeri Bermudez, and pursued past his erstwhile ally Arian, played past Uwais, who hopes to rise to the peak of the gang by capturing his ane-fourth dimension friend. Uwais is clearly having fun in his beginning full-fledged opportunity to show what he can practise every bit a villain, while Taslim's Ito is appropriately sympathetic even though he's clearly got plenty of blood on his hands.

Coming from horror films, Tjahjanto didn't exercise the slightest restraint inThe Night Comes For The states, which is enough of a bloodbath to makeThe Raid movies look likeDora the Explorer. The film's action scenes are intensely visceral displays of bodies being beaten to a lurid and torn to shreds, with Ito and Arian's concluding confrontation beingness one of Uwais and Taslim'due south best battles. Furthermore, a spin-off focused The Operator, the film's shadowy female assassin played by Julie Estelle, could be the path forward forThe Night Comes For Us to continue its story. As the real breakout character of the moving picture, and after the movie's ambiguous final moments, it'southward hard not to exist on board to follow The Operator in a soloThe Night Comes For Us spin-off, something that Tjahjanto already has mapped out.

three. Headshot

Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, collectively known as The Mo Brothers, directed Uwais in perhaps his virtually emotional film to appointment, along with one of his most unrelentingly harsh ones, Headshot. Uwais plays a fellow who awakens in a infirmary stricken with amnesia, going by the proper noun "Ishmael" due to his doctor, Chelsea Islan's Dr. Ailin, flipping through the pages of Moby Dick. It soon becomes clear he was once a member of a criminal gang led by Sunny Pang's Lee. Similar Jason Bourne's story inThe Bourne Identity with the DNA of a horror movie, Headshot is fell in physical and emotional terms, its fight scenes merely getting more and more intense as the movie progresses while Ishmael grapples with the realization that Lee and his cohorts Rika and Besi, played by Julie Estelle and Very Tri Yulisman, literally see him as family unit.

The idea of an amnesiac killing machine isn't exactly a groundbreaking premise, but the Mo Brothers make Headshot into a truthful tearjerker in Ishmael's efforts to exit his onetime life of violence behind even every bit the vicious Lee tries to pull him back into it, with the entire theme captured marvelously in a single shot virtually the terminate of the movie. With the possible exception of Merantau, Headshotwill make you cry more than whatever other Iko Uwais movie only as much as its thoroughly harsh martial arts fights absolutely astonish.

2. The Raid: Redemption

After breaking out withMerantau, Uwais reteamed with managing director Gareth Evans for 2012'southThe Raid: Redemption, and it's far from an overstatement to call it one of the best activity movies ever made. Uwais portrays Rama, a young Jakarata cop whose unit invades a tenement building that's an insane asylum of the most vicious killers and criminals in the whole city. It isn't long before their embrace is blown, leaving the surviving members of the team to fight for their lives while Rama tries to pull his estranged brother Andi, played by Donny Alamsyah, out from the life of criminal offense he has left their family for.The Raid has often been likened to a survival horror pic, its action scenes chilling, blood-soaking battles of Rama and his allies just trying to not get slaughtered by psychopaths emerging from their apartments like ravenous zombies on the assail.

Uwais channels the same lowest warrior that he was inMerantau, though Yayan Ruhian all but steals the prove as the ruthless Mad Domestic dog, a name well-earned in his scorching smackdown with Rama and Andi.The Raidbecame the new yardstick by which martial arts films are measured, and information technology's nevertheless used as a template for imbuing action scenes with plenty of fight-or-flight dust. Even the superhero genre would begin looking toThe Raid, every bit seen in fight scenes inArrow, Daredevil, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.An firsthand action archetype was built-in withThe Raid, its influence all the same strongly felt in martial arts films and shows like Warrior, which was originally conceived by Bruce Lee, simply Evans and Uwais wasted no time in showing there was still more fuel in the franchise'southward tank.

1. The Raid two

2014's The Raid twoactually began life as a completely different projection chosenBerandal that Gareth Evans was unable to secure financing for, leading him to instead makeThe Raid with Iko Uwais. Evans later hit upon the idea of reworking theBerandal script to make it a sequel toThe Raid, and thus was bornThe Raid 2. Picking up after the ending of its predecessor,The Raid 2follows Rama equally he goes undercover in a prison to befriend Arifin Putra's Uco, the son of ane of Jakarta's big criminal offence bosses, in an effort bring down the crime families running the city.

WhereThe Raid was a survival horror movie,The Raid 2 is a crime pic of warring criminal organizations in the vein of Goodfellas or The Godfather, Rama on an infiltration mission while Alex Abbad's upwards-and-coming gangster Bejo throws a wrench into everything with his program to get the opposing law-breaking families to wipe each other out in gild to claim their territory. Despite its much longer run time of two and a half hours,The Raid 2never feels slow, and its action scenes are arguably fifty-fifty better than its predecessor, from Rama fighting other prisoners in a bathroom stall to a car chase on the level of whatMad Max: Fury Roadhad to offer the following year.

The villains are like the pack that Mad Dog might've run with, including Very Tri Yulisman and Julie Estelle every bit Baseball Bat Man and Hammer Girl, along with Yayan Ruhian returning in the new role of the tiny but fearsome gang enforcer Prakoso. The movie's knife fight finale is also rivaled but by the Tak Sakaguchi-led assassin movieRe:Born,The Raid two, similar predecessor, saving its all-time role for final in Rama'due south kitchen boxing with Cecep Arif Rahman'due south unnamed assassinator, the latter making an astonishing large-screen debut in his kickoff movie, and who would later proceed to boxing Keanu Reeves aslope Ruhian in John Wick: Chapter three - Parabellum.The Raid iiis built on the original's bar-raising affect to deliver both an intricate crime drama and another martial arts classic, and is easily the all-time Iko Uwais flick to date.

Adjacent: Undisputed: The Martial Arts Movie Series Ranked Worst To Best

  • Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)Release date: Jul 23, 2021

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About The Author

Brad Curran (737 Manufactures Published)

Growing up, Brad developed an innate love of movies and storytelling, and was instantly enamored with the world of gamble while following the exploits of Indiana Jones, Japanese kaiju, and superheroes. Today, Brad channels his thoughts on all style of movies, from comic volume films, sci-fi thrillers, comedies, and everything in between through his writings on Screen Rant. Brad also offers philosophical musings on martial arts and the filmographies of anybody from Jackie Chan to Donnie Yen on Kung Fu Kingdom, where he'due south also had the privilege of interviewing many of the world's great stunt professionals, and hearing plenty of gripping stories on injuries incurred in their line of piece of work and the intricacies of designing the acts of death defiance he first thrilled to as a youngster. When he's non writing, Brad enjoys going on a ride with the latest action hit or Netflix original, though he'south likewise known to just pop in "The Room" from fourth dimension to fourth dimension. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradCurran.

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