How does every Gerard Butler Action Movie rank beside each other, with Den of Thieves hitting theaters in 2025? Butler trained initially to become a lawyer before a change of heart saw him pursue acting inside. Oddly, his breakthrough role came as the titular bloodsucker in Dracula 2000, a movie that didn't win over audiences or critics. He always seemed on the cusp of stardom without entirely tipping over. That changed significantly thanks to Zack Snyder's 300 in 2007, where his mega turn as King Leonidas instantly propelled him to the A-list.

Over the years, Butler has made everything from tender dramas like Dear Frankie to rom-coms with P.S. I Love You or animation with the Watchmen horror spinoff Tales of the Black Freighter. However, action has become Butler's stock-in-trade, whether fantasy blockbusters or gritty cop thrillers. The star has cornered the market in of fronting modestly budget, R-rated action flicks with unique hooks - as 2023's Plane proves. He has more action outings on the way too, as this is where he has slid in as his Hollywood career rolls on.

15 Gods Of Egypt (2016)

As Set

Director Alex Proyas was behind two of the '90s biggest cult hits, The Crow and Dark City. At his best, he can merge his unique style with rich themes, but sadly, Gods Of Egypt never seemed to connect with critics or audiences. While it boasts inventive visuals and creatures, it's a strange mash-up of Egyptian deities and mythology with a fantasy blockbuster. Butler stars in the movie as the villain Set, and he is surrounded by a solid cast, but things don't seem to work well in the final product.

The story follows the Egyptian God of Air, Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who partners with a human Egyptian thief (Brenton Thwaites) to rescue the love of his life and save the world from the evil Set. The cast is solid, with Chadwick Boseman, Geoffrey Rush, and others involved, but critics complained that mostly predominantly actors of Northwestern European descent played characters of Egyptian descent. This helped doom it critically, and Gods of Egypt ended up as a box office bomb, losing money after advertising costs.

14 Geostorm (2017)

As Jacob "Jake" Lawson

A disaster movie in the vein of Roland Emmerich's films, Geostorm finds Butler as the designer of a series of weather-controlling satellites. Naturally, these satellites are hacked, and Butler and his brother, Assistant Secretary of State Max Lawson (Jim Sturgess), partner to figure out what's gone wrong. Despite a fun hook, Geostorm lacks memorable setpieces or even the B-movie thrills of disaster epics like The Day After Tomorrow.

The cast was impressive, with Ed Harris as the U.S. Secretary of State and Abbie Cornish as a Secret Service agent engaged to Max. Despite its big-budget disaster movie settings, audiences mostly stayed away, and while it broke $200 million worldwide, it actually lost the studio $71.6 million (via Deadline). Critics panned it, awarding the movie an 18% Rotten Tomatoes rotten score, and the general audience hated it as well, with a 35% Popcornmeter score.

13 Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)

As Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien

Gerard Butler returns in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and tries to recapture the lighting in a bottle he achieved with the first movie. In the sequel, he is back as Big Nick O'Brien, and he is tracking down Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), the mastermind from the first movie who wasn't revealed until the twist ending of that movie. However, this time around, Nick wants to be involved in the next big heist, rather than work as a cop trying to bring down the criminal cartel. The movie is based on the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist.

However, early reviews indicate that the movie didn't quite reach the levels of the first film. The first entry had intense scenes and a lot of tension, as Big Nick was a cop with a bad attitude who went head-to-head with his nemesis, master thief Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber). This movie lacks the dynamic between those characters, and Jackson and Butler cannot capture the same chemistry in the second outing. The sequel is not expected to make its budget back and was dropped in theaters in January 2025.

12 London Has Fallen (2016)

As Mike Banning

The second outing in Butler's Has Fallen movie series, London Has Fallen, sees hero Mike Banning trying to keep President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) safe during a terrorist attack. The sequel suffers from some poor CGI for a major release, over-edited action sequences, and weaker villains than the original movie. It boasts one great setpiece with its "one shot" shootout on the streets of London, while Butler gets some fun one-liners.

It boasts one great setpiece with its "one shot" shootout on the streets of London, while Butler gets some fun one-liners.

However, London Has Fallen is easily the low point of the saga. Despite bad reviews (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), the movie was a box office success, ensuring a third movie would be made, and it actually made more money than the first film in the series. The critical consensus (via Rotten Tomatoes) says that the great cast is "loaded with xenophobia and threadbare action-thriller clichés."

11 Gamer (2009)

As Kable / John Tillman

Gamer is an impressive example of how a film with a great concept can fail to reach its full potential. The movie stars Butler as a human avatar for a gamer (Logan Lerman) who will be freed from his real-life deathmatch game after 30 matches. Gamer has all the ingredients to be an action gem like co-helmers Neveldine and Taylor's Crank. Gamer - which Butler felt was "genius" - has somewhat broad and crass humor, and the action scenes are cut together in a way that makes it hard to follow.

Michael C. Hall delivers a delightful turn as the bad guy, but critics panned the movie, and audiences mostly skipped it. It only made $42 million with a $50 million budget, and critics complained that it has very little of the flair of earlier Neveldine Taylor movie releases. The duo would only get one more chance to direct a blockbuster movie together after this film, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance ended up as their final outing together.

10 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)

As Terry Sheridan

In the second Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle Of Life, Lara (Angelina Jolie) teams with an ex-lover (Gerard Butler) to find Pandora's Box. The sequel was something of an introduction to Butler for American viewers, with the actor being charming and funny while sharing great chemistry with Jolie. Their chemistry helped the sequel work well alongside the superior first film in the series. However, while the first movie was a lot of fun and showcased Jolie in great form as Lara Croft, the second went a little long with its elaborate action sequences.

Cradle of Life was a domestic box office bomb, although it did decently well internationally. Despite that, the critical reviews were mostly negative, with praise still going to Jolie for her inspired performance as Croft and other critics praising Butler's performance as her love interest and eventual antagonist to Lara Croft. However, the movie's lack of overall success and disappointing drop from the first film ended the franchise until Hollywood rebooted it years later with a new actress in the lead.

9 Hunter Killer (2018)

As Joe Glass

If Olympus Has Fallen was Gerard Butler's take on Die Hard, then the submarine movie Hunter Killer was his Hunt For Red October. Once again, he's surrounded by a terrific ensemble (Gary Oldman, the late, great Michael Nyqvist, etc), but it's in service of a basic action thriller. All of Hunter Killer's best moments are borrowed from other films. Butler is the newly promoted and unconventional Commander Joe Glass and is tasked with finding a U.S. submarine that disappeared while shadowing a Russian sub.

The film does have an interesting premise, where Joe is able to rescue captured Russians and teams with them when he realizes there is a man inside the Russian military who wants to pull off a coup d'etat and start World War III. This is not an action war movie with Russia as the villain, but a film with one man as a villain and Joe setting out to stop him before he causes a war between the two countries. The film was a box office failure and received negative reviews, although some praised it as a guilty pleasure.

8 Plane (2023)

As Brodie Torrance

Plane lives up to its no-frills title and finds Butler as a pilot who must save his engers after they become stranded on a dangerous island. Plane is ruthlessly effective in its setup, doling out just enough character development to let viewers relate to the main characters before things go to hell. It's more a survival thriller than a straight-up action film, but Plane - which has a great cast - is the type of mid-range, b-level action thriller that theaters could really use more of.

Critics praised the movie, giving it a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than most of Butler's action films.

Butler also injects his hero with more pathos than he needs to, showing why he's the current king of such fare. He is also strong alongside Mike Colter (Luke Cage, Evil), who gets to play the tough guy, while Butler gets to play a rare everyman, although one who can really fend for himself. Critics praised the movie, giving it a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than most of Butler's action films, and it ended up as a small box office success, mostly thanks to its lower budget.

7 Angel Has Fallen (2019)

As Mike Banning

The third - and to date, final - outing in the series, Angel Has Fallen, scales back on the carnage to tell a (slightly) more intimate story. There are shades of The Fugitive as Butler's Banning goes on the run after being framed for an assassination attempt on Morgan Freeman's President. Angel Has Fallen's more grounded action and tone is welcome, though the plotting is strictly by the numbers.

The film also gets a surprising amount of emotional heft out of Banning's reunion with his estranged survivalist father, played by Nick Nolte. Once again, the movie was a box office success, but it made a little less than the previous movie in the franchise. It also received negative reviews, although this was a movie that proved that audiences wanted something different than critics, and it has a very high 93% fresh Popcornmeter score from viewers.

6 Reign Of Fire (2002)

As Creedy

Reign Of Fire is a post-apocalyptic creature feature, where Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey team to take down the dragons that scorched the world. Butler had an early career role as Bale's best friend, Creedy, and the film is a forgotten gem from the early 2000s. While it would have benefited from another setpiece or two, it's a unique mix of Mad Max-style adventure and monster movie, with one of McConaughey's best performances.

While it seems this might be an epic historical fantasy, it actually takes place in the year 2020, and it had been 20 years since an accident in London awakened dragons who had been sleeping for centuries. They realize humans replaced them as the dominant species and set out to take their rightful place back, and it is up to a small group to stop them. Reign Of Fire didn't do great upon release, but it has since become a cult favorite.