Annapolis

Annapolis is currently streaming in Australia on Disney Plus, and in the US on fuboTV and FXNow, and it earns its set pieces rather than just delivering them. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. 577 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. No filler scenes, no spinning wheels between the action. Start it on Disney Plus whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Annapolis arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Annapolis moves fast and earns its action sequences rather than just delivering them. Jake Huard, from a shipbuilders family, promised his dying mother he'ld make it to Anapolis Naval Academy. Thanks to tenaciously bugging a Congressman, he's selected despite dubious grades. Once inside, Jake soon proves sub-standard academically. James Franco and Tyrese Gibson lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2006. The geography of every set piece in Annapolis is legible, which is rarer in the genre than it should be. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Action fans who want craft and story alongside the spectacle will find exactly that in Annapolis. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. James Franco is the obvious draw, but the supporting cast gives the action the context it needs to land. The action holds up because the character work underneath it never lets up.