(Photo by Marvel / courtesy Everett Collection)
Early in his career, Ryan Reynolds had moderate impact as the face of National Lampoon’s last watchable movie, Van Wilder. And he had enough comedy wattage, even in 2004, to turn a cameo as a skeptical nurse in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle into a durable internet meme. But for a guy who made a gross-out comedy called Waiting, he’d have to do exactly that until he became a household name in 2009. Sure, prior to that, he would also make Smokin’ Aces and Blade: Trinity, but 2009 saw Reynolds in Greg Mottola’s post-Superbad movie Adventureland, becoming the Merc With A No Mouth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and co-starring in the Sandra Bullock rom-com The Proposal. The Proposal wasn’t Fresh, but it made a lot of money, and though everyone hates X-Men Origins, no one blames Reynolds for it.
And that’s part of his charm: Even if the movie he’s in is terrible, you never end up liking him less. It’s how his rep could survive disasters like Green Lantern and R.I.P.D., while fringe Certified Fresh movies like Buried, The Voices, and Mississippi Grind reminded audiences that this guy had the chops to be one of the biggest stars in the world, if he could just find the right vehicle.
We all know what that would be: Deadpool, the profane, R-rated comic book movie that made the fourth wall come crashing down on topics rife for spoofing, like the ridiculous bombast of superhero movies and Reynolds’ own career in Hollywood. Since rectifying his past comic book movie transgressions, highlights in Reynolds filmography include The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Life, and, of course, Once Upon a Deadpool.
Recently, he’s got Free Guy, Netflix’s Red Notice & The Adam Project, and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. And now hee’s convinced Hugh Jackman to come back into the Marvel fold for Deadpool & Wolverine!
#1
Adjusted Score: 96324%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted and steeped in Southern atmosphere, Mississippi Grind is a road movie and addiction drama that transcends each of its well-worn genres.
#2
Adjusted Score: 96669%
Critics Consensus: Full of humor and nostalgia, Adventureland is a sweet, insightful coming-of-age comedy that will resonate with teens and adults alike.
#3
Adjusted Score: 93230%
Critics Consensus: Wringing a seemingly impossible amount of gripping drama out of its claustrophobic premise, Buried is a nerve-wracking showcase for Ryan Reynolds’ talent.
#4
Adjusted Score: 101973%
Critics Consensus: Fast, funny, and gleefully profane, the fourth-wall-busting Deadpool subverts superhero film formula with wildly entertaining — and decidedly non-family-friendly — results.
#5
Adjusted Score: 107552%
Critics Consensus: Though it threatens to buckle under the weight of its meta gags, Deadpool 2 is a gory, gleeful lampoon of the superhero genre buoyed by Ryan Reynolds’ undeniable charm.
#6
Adjusted Score: 95054%
Critics Consensus: Combining a clever concept, sweet, self-aware humor, and a charming cast, Free Guy is frivolous fun.
#7
Adjusted Score: 99797%
Critics Consensus: Ryan Reynolds makes himself at home in the MCU with acerbic wit while Hugh Jackman provides an Adamantium backbone to proceedings in Deadpool & Wolverine, an irreverent romp with a surprising soft spot for a bygone era of superhero movies.
#8
Adjusted Score: 85688%
Critics Consensus: Another agreeable outing for the titular prehistoric clan, The Croods: A New Age may be the missing link for parents between more elevated family-friendly fare.
#9
Adjusted Score: 78034%
Critics Consensus: The Voices gives Ryan Reynolds an opportunity to deliver a highlight-reel performance — and offers an off-kilter treat for fans of black comedies.
#10
Adjusted Score: 76665%
Critics Consensus: With a clever script and charismatic leads, Definitely, Maybe is a refreshing entry into the romantic comedy genre.
#11
Adjusted Score: 78242%
Critics Consensus: While it may not be as (ahem) evolved as the best modern animated fare, The Croods will prove solidly entertaining for families seeking a fast-paced, funny cartoon adventure.
#12
Adjusted Score: 75902%
Critics Consensus: Although it adds little to the long tradition of Dickens adaptations, Spirited is so genially overstuffed that it’s easy to at least intermittently enjoy.
#13
Adjusted Score: 84754%
Critics Consensus: Pokémon Detective Pikachu may not take its wonderfully bizarre premise as far as it could have, but this offbeat adaptation should catch most — if not all — of the franchise’s fans.
#14
Adjusted Score: 82287%
Critics Consensus: Life is just thrilling, well-acted, and capably filmed enough to overcome an overall inability to add new wrinkles to the trapped-in-space genre.
#15
Adjusted Score: 79688%
Critics Consensus: You’ve seen Ryan Reynolds do this sort of thing before, but The Adam Project offers slickly entertaining — and occasionally even moving — sci-fi action.
#16
Adjusted Score: 71737%
Critics Consensus: It’s nowhere near as inventive as its off-the-wall premise might suggest, but Turbo boasts just enough colorful visual thrills and sharp voice acting to recommend as undemanding family-friendly fare.
#17
Adjusted Score: 65713%
Critics Consensus: Though The Nines doesn’t solidify as well as writer/director John August would hope for, Ryan Reynolds’s strong performance makes each of the film’s intriguing segments worth watching.
#18
Adjusted Score: 12462%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Adjusted Score: 64101%
Critics Consensus: Woman in Gold benefits from its talented leads, but strong work from Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds isn’t enough to overpower a disappointingly dull treatment of a fascinating true story.
#20
Adjusted Score: 58574%
Critics Consensus: Once Upon a Deadpool retains enough of the franchise’s anarchic spirit to entertain, but doesn’t add enough to Deadpool 2 to justify its own existence.
#21
Adjusted Score: 62053%
Critics Consensus: Safe House stars Washington and Reynolds are let down by a thin script and choppily edited action sequences.
#22
Adjusted Score: 62386%
Critics Consensus: A sweet ode to rediscovering one’s inner child, IF largely works as old-fashioned family entertainment despite an occasionally unfocused and unnecessarily complicated plot.
#23
Adjusted Score: 52471%
Critics Consensus: Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds exhibit plenty of chemistry, but they’re let down by The Proposal‘s devotion to formula.
#24
Adjusted Score: 56296%
Critics Consensus: The Hitman’s Bodyguard coasts on Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds’ banter — but doesn’t get enough mileage to power past an overabundance of action-comedy clichés.
#25
Adjusted Score: 45596%
Critics Consensus: There are moments of mirth in this overly broad comedy, but mostly, Just Friends is just not that funny.
#26
Adjusted Score: 48636%
Critics Consensus: Though Hugh Jackman gives his all, he can’t help X-Men Origins: Wolverine overcome a cliche-ridden script and familiar narrative.
#27
Adjusted Score: 44512%
Critics Consensus: Red Notice‘s big budget and A-list cast add up to a slickly competent action comedy whose gaudy ingredients only make the middling results more disappointing.
#28
Adjusted Score: 40454%
Critics Consensus: 6 Underground is loud, frenetic, and finally preposterous — which is either bad news or a hearty recommendation, depending how one feels about the movies of Michael Bay.
#29
Adjusted Score: 37414%
Critics Consensus: Bigger and slicker than the original, but not necessarily better.
#30
Adjusted Score: 32381%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#31
Adjusted Score: 37028%
Critics Consensus: A violent mess of a movie, Smokin’ Aces has some Quentin Tarantino’s style but not much of his wit or humor.
#32
Adjusted Score: 36066%
Critics Consensus: Despite the valiant efforts of a game and talented cast, Criminal has little to offer beyond the bare minimum expected by the most undemanding of genre enthusiasts.
#33
Adjusted Score: 32921%
Critics Consensus: Waiting… is a gross-out comedy that is more gross than comic.
#34
Adjusted Score: 31669%
Critics Consensus: Ryan Reynolds and Emily Mortimer do what they can, but ultimately Chaos Theory is an overly conventional dramedy.
#35
Adjusted Score: 29774%
Critics Consensus: Wan and lugubrious, The Captive represents another atmospheric, beautifully filmed misfire from director Atom Egoyan.
#36
Adjusted Score: 35380%
Critics Consensus: Despite the charms of its ensemble, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard fails to protect the audience from repetitive and tired genre tropes.
#37
Adjusted Score: 31917%
Critics Consensus: There’s a certain amount of fun to be had from watching Bateman and Reynolds play against type, but it isn’t enough to carry The Change-Up through its crude humor and formulaic plot.
#38
Adjusted Score: 35012%
Critics Consensus: Noisy, overproduced, and thinly written, Green Lantern squanders an impressive budget and decades of comics mythology.
#39
Adjusted Score: 29323%
Critics Consensus: Louder, campier, and more incoherent than its predecessors, Blade: Trinity seems content to emphasize style over substance and rehash familiar themes.
#40
Adjusted Score: 29915%
Critics Consensus: A so-so remake of a so-so original.
#41
Adjusted Score: 22342%
Critics Consensus: Despite boasting a stellar cast, Fireflies in the Garden is just tedious, dull and predictable melodrama. Instantly forgettable.
#42
Adjusted Score: 24473%
Critics Consensus: Self/less boasts a potential-packed premise, but does frustratingly little with it, settling for lackluster action at the expense of interesting ideas.
#43
Adjusted Score: 20815%
Critics Consensus: A derivative gross-out comedy that’s short on laughs.
#44
Adjusted Score: 16280%
Critics Consensus: It has its moments — most of them courtesy of Jeff Bridges’ rootin’ tootin’ performance as an undead Wild West sheriff — but R.I.P.D. is ultimately too dim-witted and formulaic to satisfy.