Theresa Russell usually portrays such characters in almost all of her films.
Sandahl Bergman in Conan the Barbarian.
Peri Gilpin’s character in Final Fantasy.
On the subject of cartoon characters, let’s mention Faye Valentine and the Baroness.
I nominate Mathilda May from Lifeforce.
Well, she kicked my ass. 
And, of course, Princess Nausicaa…
My hubby loved Lori Petty as Tank Girl.
Must be a guy thing. I found the movie unwatchably bad, but Lori was kinda spunky.
Okay I have a big list
The zombie killer in 28 Days Later
The asian schoolgirl in Battle Royale? She’s like anime come to life…
Leonor Varela in Blade 2 is barely memorable…
What about the woman robot in Blade Runner? Doesn’t she kill several people before dying in neat ways?
Jennifer Garner in Daredevil and the supp. awful Elektra
The german woman in Die Hard With a Vengeance. <shivers>
Lucy Lui in the awful, awful, AWFUL Ecks vs. Sever
The element woman in The Fifth Element
All the women, including Natasha Henstridge, in Ghosts of Mars. In that movie the Mars Colony was a society run by women, hence all the good female soldiers
Selma Blair and her burning shite in Hellboy
The female Jason’s-ass-kicking robot in Jason X
Liv Tyler’s character in the Lord of the Rings films, possibly, and possibly also the woman at the end who stabs the monster thing in the face with her sword. The queen? Seriously, I’m about to resee the films…
The Matrix films have Trinity.
Near Dark has Jenette Goldstein’s vampire character
The Next Karate Kid has that girl
Power Rangers has the girl rangers. Okay so this list sucks in some parts…
The woman in Road Warrior who dies at the end
Rush Hour 2 has the ‘crazy bitch’, who blows up the station at the beginning and fights Tucker at the end but I can’t remember a thing that happens with her…
Series 7:The Contenders has this pregnant woman who kills people the best and this crazy nurse who kills people the second best in a deadly reality show.
The lacking movie Torque has Jamie Priestly and the blonde woman who’s good, and they even joust with their bikes! How hot is that?
The busty woman from Van Helsing kicks ass, right?
And let’s not forget the X-Men and X-Men 2 women- Storm, Famke Jansenn, the girl who burns stuff, the Asian Wolverine-like woman, Rebecca-Romjin Stamos, and all the other hottie fighters.
Michelle Yeoh in Royal Warriors. Good lord, that woman dishes it out. (Takes a pretty good beating as well).
For more of the same, see Yes, Madam!, especially the last 20 minutes or so. (Bonus! Also has Cynthia Rothrock kicking ass)
Jenette Goldstein also had a fine ass-kicking role in Aliens.
I don’t think I’d ever refer to Kate Beckinsale as “busty”. Sexy, hot, beautiful, but not busty.
She played another ass kicking chick in Underworld.
I definitely agree. That actress, Jenette Goldstein is amazing.
OMG I just discovered this magazine while searching around- Femme Fatales magazine. Wow, what a good idea… seriously…
In terms of women who kick ass, you can’t beat Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark. As my now 80 year-old father said when he saw the film in the theater 25 years ago, “God damn! That girl was strong as train smoke!”
Well, the good ones have been mentioned, so I’ll offer some cheese:
Keira Knightley in King Arthur.
Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil.
Kristy Swanson Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Natasha Henstridge in Species, though she wasn’t human, and tended more toward femme fatale.
Oh, I just remembered Bridget Fonda in Point of No Return.
I tentatively suggest Mulan from Disney’s Mulan. Perhaps not as fierce as Sigourney Weaver, but a far remove from the typical Disney female. That she masquerades as a man clouds it a little, but that’s kind of the whole point of the movie.
Elasti-Girl from The Incredibles. Just as capable a superhero as her husband , and quite a bit smarter, too.
Upcoming asskicker: Natalie Portman in Léon (The Professional)
Demi Moore in G.I. Jane
Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro, Entrapment, and Ocean’s Twelve
In the 2D world, there’s quite a lot, so let’s just mention Utena.
Cate Blanchett kicked all kinds of royal ass in ‘Elizabeth’.
Oh, and hello everybody!
Beverly Garland in 1953’s It Came from Outer Space
(Those of you who’ve seen this one, you understand.)
Sienna Guillory in Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead? (Maybe…she did seem a bit too sensitive.)
I came in here to mention Marion Ravenwood And she didn’t do any kung-fu-y moves.