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Movies Like Public Enemy Returns

If you loved Public Enemy Returns's Action and Comedy storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

London Calling
6.7

London Calling

2025

After fleeing the UK from a job gone wrong, a down on his luck hitman is forced to babysit the son of his new crime boss and show him how to become a man.

Desert Dawn
6.5

Desert Dawn

2025

A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.

Going by the Book
7.3

Going by the Book

2007

The chief of Sampo City Police Office, Seung-u, organizes a simulation of a bank robbery, but a by-the-book cop gets too caught up in the role playing in which the simulation doesn't go the way he had anticipated.

Absolution
5.9

Absolution

2024

An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children. He is determined to leave a positive legacy for his grandson, but the criminal underworld isn’t done with him and won’t loosen their grip willingly.

F.I.S.T.
6.5

F.I.S.T.

1978

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.

Trap House
6.5

Trap House

2025

An undercover DEA agent and his partner embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious, and surprising group of thieves – their own rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their parents' tactics and top-secret intel to do it.

Defendor
6.4

Defendor

2009

A crooked cop, a mob boss and the young girl they abuse are the denizens of a city's criminal underworld. It's a world that ordinary Arthur Poppington doesn't understand and doesn't belong in, but is committed to fighting when he changes into a vigilante super-hero of his own making, Defendor. With no power other than courage Defendor takes to the streets to protect the city's innocents.

Black Lotus
6.4

Black Lotus

2023

An ex-special forces operative wages a one man war through the streets of Amsterdam to rescue his friend's daughter from the local crime syndicate.

More Movies Like Public Enemy Returns

The System
7.0

The System

2022

When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.

The Substitute
6.9

The Substitute

1996

When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.

Hard Hit
7.5

Hard Hit

2021

On his way to work, a bank manager receives an anonymous call claiming there's a bomb under his car seat, and if anyone exits the car, it will explode unless he can pay a ransom.

The Roundup 3: No Way Out
7.2

The Roundup 3: No Way Out

2023

Detective Ma Seok-do changes his affiliation from the Geumcheon Police Station to the Metropolitan Investigation Team, in order to eradicate Japanese gangsters who enter Korea to commit heinous crimes.

Hostile Takeover
6.9

Hostile Takeover

2025

Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.

The Crew
5.9

The Crew

2008

Hoping to raise enough capital to finance a legitimate business and leave behind his life of crime, Liverpool underworld boss Ged Brennan sends his brother Ratter and a crew to pull a daring final heist. But when Ratter kills a drug kingpin during the job, Brennan must turn to rival crook Franner to avert an all-out gangland war.

Sheroes
5.9

Sheroes

2023

When four thick-as-thieves friends arrive in Thailand, they quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fighting to stay alive, they employ their unique set of skills and unleash their fierce loyalty in a heart-pumping battle for survival.

Unstoppable
7.4

Unstoppable

2018

Dong-chul and Ji-soo are a happily married couple. One day, Dong-chul comes home to find his house in disarray and his wife missing.

The Seven-Ups
6.3

The Seven-Ups

1973

A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.

I, the Executioner
6.9

I, the Executioner

2024

The veteran detective Seo Do-cheol and his team at Major Crimes, relentless in their pursuit of criminals, join forces with rookie cop Park Sun-woo to track down a serial killer who has plunged the nation into turmoil.

Code of Silence
5.8

Code of Silence

1985

A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.

The Enforcer
7.0

The Enforcer

2022

A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Public Enemy Returns (2008): Action and Comedy themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Public Enemy Returns.

See full details for Public Enemy Returns (2008)

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