Director Antoine Fuqua is mostly known for his action and thriller films. He is also known for his frequent collaborations with Denzel Washington. The two first teamed up to make the award-winning Training Day, before working together on several other films.
Like Quentin Tarantino, Fuqua is self-taught. He never attended any film school and initially started his career as a music video director. He then decided he needed to do something bigger so he ventured into the film industry in 1998. He has never looked back ever since. Here are his best movies according to IMDb.
King Arthur (6.3)
The spirit of King Arthur doesn’t like Hollywood very much. Most movies about the legendary British ruler never do well. However, Antoine’s Fuqua’s take proved to be much better than the dozens of other films about the iconic character. That’s probably because Antoine Fuqua re-imagined Arthur as a Roman.
In the movie, Arthur is a tired British leader with Roman roots whose wish is to leave the chaos of Britain behind and go back to the peace and calm of Rome. However, one final mission involving him and the knights of the round table makes him stay. This decision changes the course of history forever.
Olympus Has Fallen (6.5)
Here’s a movie that set up a franchise for Gerard Butler to shine in for the rest of the line. As we once mentioned a few months ago, Butler will probably star in Grandpa Has Fallen when he is 90. Jokes aside, Olympus Has Fallen was a really entertaining movie.
The movie had enough explosions to make Michael Bay jealous. The plot revolves around an almost successful attempt by North Korean guerrillas to attack the White House and bring the American government to its knees. Meanwhile, skilled Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) does his best to save the day.
Tears Of The Sun (6.6)
Not many movies portray African civil wars accurately but Tears Of The Sun did it so well. In the movie, a bloodthirsty general overthrows the government in Nigeria and starts conducting ethnic cleansing. Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) is then sent with a team of Navy SEAL agents to evacuate an American doctor as well as a priest and two nuns (if they are willing to come).
Much praise was given to the film’s cinematography. The African jungles and landscapes are a joy to watch. Emotional moments are also served in plenty. Despite Fuqua placing more focus on the violence than the plot, the film still manages to be very entertaining.
Brooklyn’s Finest (6.7)
In a city full of violence, drugs, poverty, and corrupt cops three officers find themselves in rather bizarre circumstances: Tango (Don Cheadle) has been an undercover cop and just when he thinks he is getting promoted, he is given the assignment to hunt down a criminal who saved his life.
Sal (Ethan Hawke) is another police officer who doesn’t mind murdering for cash while Eddie (Richard Gere) is doing his best to be sane in an insane city. Most of the film’s setting is in Brooklyn’s Brownsville section. The film didn’t impress critics but it was wildly popular with audiences.
The Equalizer 2 (6.7)
Denzel Washington broke his “no-sequels rule” in order to appear in this film. This was also thanks to his good working relationship with Antoine Fuqua. Washington had never ever done a sequel in his career before. Anything for your buddy, right? The Mandalorian and Narcos star Pedro Pascal was also cast as the villain.
The movie sees the badass former marine and DIA agent Robert McCall returning to break necks and noses after a friend is murdered. It even packs up more violence than the first film. The final showdown with villain Dave York (Pedro Pascal) is also one of the best final scenes of any action movie.
The Magnificent Seven (6.9)
Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven was a remake of the 1960 film of the same name. The remake is also the final film that famous composer James Horner worked on. Tom Cruise was initially chosen to star in the movie but he pulled out due to other commitments
The western takes us to the town of Rose Creek that’s being terrorized by industrialist Bartholomew Bogue. A couple of residents led by Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) begin to rebel. They thus seek protection from a group of seven skilled outlaws led bu Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), setting the ground for an intense showdown.
Shooter (7.2)
Shooter is adapted from the 1993 thriller novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. Events revolve around former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) who quit the military and went into hiding after feeling double-crossed by the government. Agents find him and convince him to come back to help stop an assassin from killing the President of the United States.
However, Swagger is framed as the assassin and goes on the run once again. He thus makes a vow to expose those behind the conspiracy. A TV series was later developed for the USA network with Wahlberg as executive producer but it never quite reached the heights of the movie.
The Equalizer (7.2)
Denzel Washington went full badass action hero for this role. The movie was a commercial success, grossing $190 million against a budget of $50 million. The stylish direction and action sequences were also praised by critics even though a couple of plot holes were noted.
In The Equalizer, McCall (Denzel Washington) is a retired marine and intelligence agent who wants to live a quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young teenage girl who is at the mercy of Russian gangsters, he decides to use his skills to help her.
Southpaw (7.4)
The sports drama sees Jake Gyllenhaal in one of his best-ever roles where he plays Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion Billy “The Great” Hope, At first, Billy has a great career, coupled with a loving family and lavish lifestyle. Soon, tragedy strikes when his supportive wife gets killed in a car crash and his daughter gets taken by Child Protective Services.
Billy also loses most of his money and goes into a state of depression. In order to redeem himself, he turns to retired boxer and local gym trainer Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker) to train him. But his main rival isn’t about to make things easy for him.
Training Day (7.7)
Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his role in Training Day. The movie was also nominated for 23 awards across different organizations. A TV series adapted from the movie was recently developed but it failed to connect with audiences like the film did, leading to its cancellation.
The movie focusses on Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), an LAPD rookie who is eager to be part of the elite narcotics squad headed by the tough-talking Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). Harris agrees to let Hoyt join his team with a contingency. Jake must go on a one-day ride-along training session during which Hoyt has to prove how much he can handle the street heat.
