Sylvester Stallone’s next action movie Alarum can redeem a truly dire run of action movies – with a little help from one of Reacher’s biggest breakouts. Most of the big Sylvester Stallone action franchises have ended in recent years, though the star has found new life on TV thanks to Tulsa King. 2024 hasn’t been a great year for the screen icon in terms of movies, with Stallone’s latest action film Armor receiving 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, he has more STV movies coming in 2025, including Never Too Old to Die and the spy action thriller Alarum. In stark contrast to the chintzy and humorless Armor, Alarum’s trailer makes it look like Stallone’s most promising action vehicle in years. It casts him in a supporting role as a CIA assassin sent to kill two rogue spies who quit the business and ran off together. Scott Eastwood is Alarum’s male lead, and the trailer sees Stallone and Eastwood gunning down waves of assassins with AA-12 shotguns – as deployed with devastating effect by Terry Crews’ character in The Expendables movies – and exchanging quips.

Action Thriller Alarum Unites Sylvester Stallone & Reacher’s Willa Fitzgerald

Alarum’s cast should elevate it above the typical STV action fare

The last decade has seen a rise in the so-called “geezer teaser” genre, where name actors like Stallone or Nic Cage are well paid to work on low-budget movies for a day or two; the film then promotes them as the leads – even though their roles amount to cameos. Armor did the same thing with Stallone, but while Alarum follows a similar formula, it looks like a major improvement on the star’s last offering. In addition to Scott Eastwood, Alarum’s cast also includes Mike Colter (Plane) and Reacher breakout Willa Fitzgerald.

Eastwood and Fitzgerald are the movie’s actual leads, with the trailer making it feel like a buddy cop movie – but one where the partners happen to be married. The movie also feels like it has had actual money spent on it, with Alarum’s preview showing off various shootouts and fight sequences for all the stars. It doesn’t feel like it will reinvent the action genre, but it’s nice to see a new Stallone project that looks like the people making it are engaged by the material.

Despite reports linking him to a role in The Expendables 3 , Scott’s father Clint Eastwood and Sylvester Stallone have never acted together.

Alarum Can Break Stallone’s Terrible Action Movie Run

Expendables 4 ended the Stallone franchise on a sour note

Stallone has often had fallow periods, where a run of box office hits is followed by some duds. Sadly, Stallone is in such a slump right now, with the last five years seeing a streak of turkeys like Escape Plan: The Extractors and Rambo: Last Blood. 2023’s The Expendables 4 was a box-office disaster and received roundly terrible reviews. Combined with the 0% rating Armor attracted, Alarum has pressure on it to remind viewers why they like Stallone’s work in the first place.

Every Sylvester Stallone Action Movie Since 2019
Rotten Tomatoes Rating

Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019)
N/A

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
26%

The Suicide Squad (2021)
90%

Samaritan (2022)
38%

The Expendables 4 (2023)
14%

Armor (2024)
0%

The star’s most recent action effort was 2021’s The Suicide Squad, but his role as King Shark was a voice over only. With the star having exited both Cliffhanger 2 and the Creed franchise – in addition to The Expendables ending so abruptly after the fourth film bombed – he needs to dust himself off with a genuine hit. Alarum doesn’t have a high bar to climb in this regard, but after years of disappointments, fans deserve at least a solid three-star outing from the star.

Willa Fitzgerald’s Reacher Role Makes Alarum More Exciting

Fitzgerald has been on a roll since Reacher season 1

Reacher made Alan Ritchson a star, but it introduced many viewers to Willa Fitzgerald too. In many ways, Fitzgerald’s Roscoe stole the season, being both a strong and likable co-lead while having great chemistry with Ritchson. Roscoe is unlikely to return for another season of Reacher, but Fitzgerald has shown great taste in projects since leaving the show. She received acclaim for her turn in 2024’s dark thriller Strange Darling and was intensely menacing as the younger Madeline Usher in Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher.

Alarum’s trailer makes the film appear to be a zippy, action-packed spy thriller with Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald appearing to have some spiky romantic chemistry.

On the surface, her latest appears like any number of lower-budget action thrillers that end up going straight to digital, but Fitzgerald must have seen something in Alarum’s script that made her sign on. Again, the trailer makes the film appear to be a zippy, action-packed spy thriller, with Eastwood and Fitzgerald appearing to have some spiky romantic chemistry. Even Stallone appears engaged, which is a good sign after his autopilot villain performance in Armor.Having performers like Fitzgerald or Mike Colter gives hope that Alarum will stand out from a sea of STV dreck. Stallone used to be dependable when it came to action movies, but that hasn’t proven the case for years now. Alarum is looking promising thus far, and if nothing else, it will give Willa Fitzgerald a chance to show off her action skills.