Action films have, for many years, provided all the thrills, scares and close calls necessary for a truly escapist cinematic experience. But one of the most underrated qualities of a great action film are the requisite moments of comic relief to cut the tension. While action heroes often provide lines of comedy dialogue themselves, these moments are better suited to a character written into the script specifically for those laughs. Enter the comic relief character — a staple of action films since the genre was defined.
Characters like Q from the James Bond franchise, Leo Getz in the Lethal Weapon franchise, and one-off characters in action films like Point Break have solidified the comic relief trope, now an integral part of pretty much any action film. Let us, then, look back at the greatest instances of characters who provided sidesplitting hilarity to help audiences lower their heart rates a bit in between hard-boiled action. The following are the 12 greatest comic relief characters in action films.
12 Angelo Pappas in Point Break
Played by Gary Busey
Point Break caught Gary Busey at the peak of his powers, during a '90s run that saw Busey playing one heart attack man after another on screen. As Special Agent Angelo Pappas, Busey had to guide young Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) through the trials and tribulations of working out of an FBI Field Office. Never one to mince words, Pappas let Utah know early that "I was takin' shrapnel in Khe Sanh when you were crappin' in your hands and rubbin' it on your face."
Busey Gets Dirty Right From the First Act
Agent Pappas hates bull, loves to be insubordinate, and never dispenses with vulgarities. He seems to be eating fast food in nearly every scene in the film, including after telling Utah "I'm so hungry I could eat the [expletive] out of a dead rhino." What a gentleman!
11 Fergee in Judge Dredd
Played by Rob Schneider
Judge Dredd
- Release Date
- June 30, 1995
- Director
- Danny Cannon
- Runtime
- 96 Minutes
By the 1995 release of Judge Dredd, Rob Schneider was actually a pretty hot commodity. As Saturday Night Live cast members were regularly transitioning into big movie careers in the '90s, it was pretty much assumed that Schneider would do the same. Alas, his role as Fergee was an aberration, and his key SNL characters, like the "making copies" guy, didn't translate quite the way Adam Sandler did.
He did get a few shots at comedy franchises, and carved out roles in some big features, including his silly role in this Sylvester Stallone flop-tastic action film.
Dredd Takes Fergie on a Harrowing Adventure
After Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) sentences Fergie for some of his nefarious, hacker-like pursuits, he finds himself in need of a sidekick with Fergie's specific skill set. Unfortunately, that requires taking Fergie, who is scared of his own shadow, along with Dredd on some perilous missions.
After one where he carries Fergie on the back of his Lawmaster flying motorbike, plummeting 500 stories out of City Hall, Fergie makes sure to let Dredd know, "Dredd, you may want to wash this seat after we get off the bike."
Stream Judge Dredd on AMC+
10 Riley Poole in National Treasure
Played by Justin Bartha
As Rileyin National Treasure, Justin Bartha played the nerdy, comic relief sidekick to perfection by using every trick in the book: hacking databases, struggling with the opposite sex, and delivering smug comebacks to Benjamin Franklin Gates whenever possible. In their pursuit of the Templar Treasure, he even solves a few of the key riddles necessary to reach the City of Gold.
More importantly, he provides the audience with some badly-needed giggles as the two men traverse booby traps, escape some pursuant FBI agents, and try to outsmart Gates' rival Ian Howe.
Bartha's Career Peaked in This Bespoke Role
Like many on this list, Bartha's career hit its apex in this recurrent role, after earlier roles in super-flops like 54 and Gigli. Bartha may have been lucky to suddenly find himself cast in a $100 million Jerry Bruckheimer action movie, but when the opportunity came about he didn't waste it, playing the role to perfection by using his diminutive stature, his above-average intelligence, and his pithy retorts as his greatest asset.
9 Zeus in Die Hard With a Vengeance
Played by Samuel L. Jackson
Die Hard with a Vengeance saw a change of pace for the franchise, which got a little more hardcore when director John McTiernan (affectionately known as "McT") slotted in as director and changed the tone of the movies. One way he did so was to find a funnier sidekick for John McLain (Bruce Willis), taking the mantle from a guy so innocuous he played Carl Winslow on Family Matters, Reginald VelJohnson.
The new sidekick was Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson), a loudmouthed, extremely profane shopkeeper who gets swept up into helping McLain.
Samuel L. Jackson Was Tailor-Made for the Die Hard Franchise
Jackson matched all of Bruce Willis' seen-it-all energy in the film, never giving an inch when McLain mistakes his name for Jesús, forces him into a hero's quest and eventually gets him strapped to a bomb. While we can't relay any of his curse-word-ridden lines from this Rated R action masterpiece, rest assured, Zeus gets most of the film's biggest laughs, thanks to Samuel L.'s penchant for screaming expletives at the top of his lungs.
8 Gib in True Lies
Played by Tom Arnold
True Lies
- Release Date
- July 15, 1994
- Runtime
- 144
Albert "Gib" Gibson was a role that reminded the world that when he wasn't in rehab, involved in a high-profile divorce, or falling off motorcycles, Tom Arnold could be pretty darn hilarious. As Agent Harry Tasker's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sidekick, Gib is often forced to do Harry's dirty work. Director James Cameron always loved a good comic relief character during his fabled '90s run, and Tom Arnold played it to perfection, as he is sent to clean up Harry's multi-million dollar messes.
Gib Made Us Laugh Out Loud Throughout True Lies
As they battle Crimson Jihad, a scary terrorist group led by the Sand Spider, Gib relieves hyperbolic set-pieces when he endlessly remarks on his bad fortune. As the technical operative of the duo, Gib laments, "You know what? I'm sick of being in the van. You guys are going to be in the van next time. I've been in the van for 15 years, Harry!"
7 Oscar in Armageddon
Played by Owen Wilson
As Oscar in Armageddon, Owen Wilson stood head-and-shoulders above a few comic relief characters when he joins Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his motley crew of oil drillers, after Wilson stood out in some Wes Anderson indies and earned himself a ticket onto this all-star cast.
Oscar is the weirdest of these weirdos, usually thanks to some completely non-sequitur lines like "I tell you one thing that really drives me nuts, is people who think that Jethro Tull is just a person in a band." Solid point, though!
Armageddon Had Every Reason to Be Bad, but Actors like Wilson Made it Great
If this script had fallen on the lips of the wrong actors, it simply wouldn't have worked, but the on-set chemistry between the likes of Wilson, Steve Buscemi, and Peter Stormare made the supporting cast elevate this asteroid-busting action extravaganza. Wilson was on an absolute comedy heater in 1998, with appearances in Armageddon, Rushmore, and his highly underrated Permanent Midnight performance.
6 Hawkins in Predator
Played by Shane Black
Predator (Edit)
- Release Date
- June 12, 1987
- Runtime
- 1hr 47min
Private Hawkins stands out on this list as a rare acting performance from screenwriter-extraordinaire Shane Black in Predator. Yes, Black loved to make an occasional appearance as an actor, especially in completely silly roles in action films. Count this as a role that's way too NSFW to quote, but Hawkins always had us in stitches as he battled to impress Sargeant First Class Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), one of the heavier members of Arnold's alien-hunter-battling crew.
Shane Black's Career in Unparalleled
As a movie Renaissance Man, Black has pretty much nobody else on his level when it comes to combining acting (Predator), screenwriting (Lethal Weapon) and directing (The Nice Guys). It's hard not to appreciate that he never took any of these jobs too seriously, preferring hard-boiled action and comedy over higher-brow pursuits.
Stream Predator on AppleTV+
5 Private Hudson in Aliens
Played by Bill Paxton
As Private Hudson in Aliens, Bill Paxton was somewhere in between goofy roles like Chet in Weird Science and leading man status in films like Twister. He was always a favorite of James Cameron, which bolstered an impressive career when he was often given some of the funniest lines of dialogue in Cameron's films. Aliens was no different, seeing the actor make such an impression on the action canon that an entire film has been named after his line "Game over, man."
Hudson's Constant State of Panic Helped Him Be the Audience's Avatar in the Film
Not everyone can be as brave as Lieutenant Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), and the Hudson character essentially served to show how any normal person would react if they were marooned on a mining planet with a crew of ferocious, predatory aliens. Still, he does well to mask his unadulterated fear with moments of machismo — even if we know how he really feels.
4 Garland Greene in Con Air
Played by Steve Buscemi
Con Air
- Release Date
- June 5, 1997
- Runtime
- 115
In Con Air, Steve Buscemi blessed us with a seriously off-kilter performance as Garland Greene, aka the "Marietta Mangler," a notorious serial killer who counts John Wayne Gacy as one of his heroes. While there are plenty of more physically imposing convicts strapped into the film's prison transport plane, Greene is by far the creepiest.
Garland Greene Was Poetically Hilarious, Despite His Penchant for Murder
Even if he wasn't exactly a character to be admired, Greene often waxes poetic in the film when being accused of insanity. He quips, "What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years — at the end of which they tell you to [expletive] off? Ending up in some retirement village, hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time. Wouldn't you consider that to be insane?" Fair, indeed, Garland.
3 Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 2
Played by Joe Pesci
Leo Getz always gets his mouth busy in Lethal Weapon 2, a role that was much lighter fare than Joe Pesci's usual, kitchen knife-wielding mob characters. The film lost a little bit of the edge of the original, but was still seriously entertaining thanks to another great script by Shane Black.
Black wove in a new character, as Leo Getz becomes an extremely annoying federal witness that Riggs and Murtaugh are tasked to protect. The dynamic duo finds themselves battling an Afrikaner gang hiding money for an apartheid government — with the unenviable task of protecting the motor-mouthed Getz in the process.
Pesci Gives a Strong Performance as Getz, A Year Before His Epic Goodfellas Performance
As Getz falls in and out of Riggs and Murtaugh's protection, he garners many of the film's greatest laughs, providing the necessary relief from ear-piercing machine gun battles. Getz says "Okay" an astounding 105 times in the film, which likely still holds the Guinness Book of World Records title, if such a category exists. A year later, he'd return to his wheelhouse with his most renowned role as Tommy in Goodfellas.
Rent Lethal Weapon 2 on Prime Video
2 Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Played by Simon Pegg
Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) was a much-needed comic relief character added to the Mission: Impossible franchise for the third iteration of the Tom Cruise films. Still, it was his role in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol that earned him the most laughs, as he brought the hacker sidekick trope to new levels by essentially narrating the action as he guides Ethan Hunt into missions through his two-way earpiece.
Pegg had proven his comedic chops in Shaun of the Dead, and brought some welcome light-heartedness to the action franchise.
After IMF Is Abandoned and the President Invokes Ghost Protocol, the Team Is Left Untethered
When their team is abandoned by the American government, the MI boys are left to survive on their own, including by keeping their calm amid endless bickering and infighting. Benji is the principal offender, as his timid personality isn't well-suited to being an operative. Luckily, he always breaks the tension with a pithy remark or three.
1 Q in GoldenEye
Played by Desmond Llewelyn
GoldenEye
- Release Date
- November 16, 1995
- Runtime
- 130
The Q character has been a staple of the James Bond franchise since 1962, with the highly sarcastic Desmond Llewelyn being the longest-tenured actor to play Q — for over 30 years! While there were more famous James Bond films than GoldenEye (unless you were a big Nintendo 64 gamer), Llewelyn's funniest performance as Q has to be in this 1995 Bond film. Q gets a single scene, guiding Bond through MI6's latest technology — as he always does.
Goldeneye Offered Some Classic Q Hilarity
After demonstrating the usual exploding pens, rappelling ropes shot from belt buckles and a leg cast that shoots rockets, Q and Bond talk turkey about his next missions. All these innovations are unexpected by Bond (Pierce Brosnan), but when he grabs a submarine sandwich he assumes is weaponized, he gets a bigger scare. "Don't touch that!," Q says, "That's my lunch!"
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