Year in review: The best movies for action and suspense from 2012 (Photos)

THE BEST 2012 MOVIES FOR ACTION

If you want wall-to-wall action, look no further than the action orgy of all of the 80's relics in The Expendables. While the new James Bond film Skyfall is outstanding, for pure action, Stallone and company win. Down the list, I've got to give props to the speed of Premium Rush and the hand-to-hand stuntwork of Haywire.

1. The Expendables 2

2. Skyfall

3. Premium Rush

4. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

5. The Avengers

6. Django Unchained

7. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

8. The Amazing Spider-Man

9. Haywire

10. (TIE) Men in Black 3 and Jack Reacher

Here are the Chicago Film Examiner's picks for the best action and suspense films of 2012!

Photo credit: 

www.ausdroid,net

HONORABLE MENTION: While it might be the only action in a dramatic movie, the plane crash sequence in Flight is, without a doubt, the most pulse-racing scene of the year. A close second along the same lines would be the tsunami sequence in The Impossible.

THE BEST 2012 MOVIES FOR MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE

In another disclaimer, I'm not a big horror movie fan, whatsoever, and neither is my wife. The means I didn't pay to see stuff like The Collection, The Cabin in the Woods, The Devil Inside, The Woman in Black, Paranormal Activity 4, Silent House, Chernobyl Diaries, The Possession, The House at the End of the Street, The Apparition, or the well-reviewed Sinister. Like the "Tears" category, this is another area where 2012 is a step down from 2011 (Source Code, Super 8, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). The best of the bunch were the provocative thrills, chills, and omens of Prometheus building its new Alien roots. Looper, for the first half hour beats Prometheus, but can't sustain its great start all movie and runs out of steam.

1. Prometheus

2. Looper

3. Skyfall

4. Killing Them Softly

5. Haywire

HONORABLE MENTION: A trio of little movies, Moonrise Kingdom, Ruby Sparks, and Safety Not Guaranteed, may not have been set up for suspense, but all had endings that were very hard to see coming and were created with great build-up along the way. All were unpredictably original.

Locally, many of these movies are still playing at your local west side Chicago movie theaters. Be sure to check out showtimes and buy advance tickets from Fandango. Those that are on DVD and Blu-ray can be found at your local Redbox and Blockbuster locations here in the city. Enjoy a movie or trailer tonight!