Will Women Dominate Action Movies In 2015?

On Monday, the international trailer for the Salma Hayek-starring Everly was released. It looks like pretty standard action fare: lots of shooting, menacing bad guys, scarred stars. But this time, it's the fantastic Salma Hayek in the lead role. In the film, Hayek plays a prostitute who gets caught for informing on her clients, and she spends the rest of the film fighting them off. Drew Taylor of Indie Wire calls it "Die Hard with a female lead." Rather than seeming unnecessary, a female Die Hard is a welcome addition to the cinematic world. Women are so often excluded from action flicks, or pushed to the role of the rescued, or even the impediment.

This release, so close to the start of 2015, seems to bode well for the year of women in action movies. There are a lot of notable action flicks coming out this year, some of them starring women. However, they are still greatly in the minority. Liam Neeson still stars in most of them. And, like the predecessor to the inexplicable Taken 3, many of this year's action flicks center on the rescue of women. Liam Neeson, again, has to protect his wife in children from his deranged boss in Run All Night. In the upcoming San Andreas, Dwayne Johnson plays a pilot who has to rescue his estranged daughter. Where, I wonder, are the women rescuing their husbands? Though I couldn't find any of those, here are a few female-starring action flicks to look forward to in 2015.

Everly

The Salma Hayek flick comes out January 23.

Terminator: Genisys

The reboot stars Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke as the ever competent Sarah Connor.

Jupiter Ascending

Mila Kunis stars in this science fiction epic as Jupiter, the heir to the universe. I'm just hoping she's allowed to do some of the fighting herself.

Insurgent

The second installment in the Divergent series features a machine gun-bearing Shailene Woodley as she leads the fight against her dystopian society.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

And in another dystopian society, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) also leads a revolution.

Spy

OK, this is more of a comedy, but Melissa McCarthy does star as a deadly secret agent.

Don't Mess With Texas

Also sort of a comedy, but this on-the-run movie stars Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara and looks totally amazing.

Images: Dimension Films, Giphy