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Action comedy is a hybrid genre that combines elements of action fiction with comedy. While early action films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the American action film genre in the 1980s when actors who had backgrounds in comedy such as Eddie Murphy began taking roles in action films.^[1] The genre approaches various narratives and styles such as buddy films, superhero films, and Hong Kong action cinema featuring various actors such as Jackie Chan.

Action comedy has also been a recurring theme in television, with series such as The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985)^[2] and Peacemaker (2022).^[3]

Academic Yvonne Tasker described most post-classical Hollywood action films as "more or less hybrids."^[4] Action films are set across multiple settings and spaces with no single defining landscape and can become complicated in categorization which is sometimes acknowledged through hybridized designators such as action comedy.^[5]

Cynthia King referred to action comedy films as typically being reserved for action films where humor plays a much more central role.^[6] These films take on several other formats such as buddy films involving mismatched partners such as the Lethal Weapon (1987-1998) and Rush Hour (1998-2006) film series, Hong Kong action cinema through work of actors like Jackie Chan and many others. King also described the more comedic superhero films such as Mystery Men (1999), Hancock (2008) and The Green Hornet (2011) as belonging to the genre.^[7]

Elements of action comedy films existed in early cinema work such as the chase sequences in pre-1915 films such as The Lonedale Operator (1911) provide editing patterns of later action films such as Wheels on Meals (1984).^[8] Later silent film comedy such as those featuring Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton such as Easy Street (1917) and The General (1926) featured chases, gags and stunts that would serve as inspirations for both comedic and non-comedic action set pieces in later action films.^[9] These films include Chaplin and Keaton using physical materials on stage, either weapons or props, to for cause and effect to add force on bodily actions.^[10]

King wrote that despite a large cinematic history of humor and peril, the action comedy film only "came into its own" as part of American action film genre in the early 1980s. In spite of the rich theatrical history of humor and peril, action comedy only came into its own as a mainstay of the American action film genre in the 1980s. King highlighted that this happened when actors who had backgrounds in comedy such as Eddie Murphy began taking roles in action films.^[1]

In his book, Lights, Camera, Action: Crafting an Action Script (2005), Gregory Sarno said that the action comedy film that not all films that contain conflict and humor were action comedies, saying that films that action-laden subplots such as Big Momma's House (2000) or Dumb & Dumber (1994) were more straight comedies as the action lacked an integral role in the films narrative.^[11] King echoed this, saying that films are better categorized as straight comedies such as Night at the Museum (2006) or Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) as most of the action was framed comically with no serious violence or peril. She also said action films that contain sardonic one-liners such as "Go ahead, make my day" from Sudden Impact (1983) were not action comedies.^[12]

Mark Gallagher, in Action Figures: Men, Action Films and Contemporary Adventure Narratives (2006) action comedies often feature a fish out of water theme such as Murphy's character clashing with upper-class white communities and conventional police procedures in the Beverly Hills Cop (1984-2024) film series.^[13]