The Best and Worst of Christoph Waltz

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "The Legend of Tarzan" star Christoph Waltz.
Film starring Christoph Waltz that I've seen:
Inglorious Basterds
The Green Hornet
Water for Elephants
The Three Musketeers
Django Unchained
Muppets Most Wanted
Horrible Bosses 2
Big Eyes
Spectre

Best Performance: Django Unchained (2012)
This was an extremely difficult choice between both of Waltz's Oscar-winning roles, but I've got to give the slight edge to his turn as dentist-turned-slave liberator/bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained. Waltz burns up the screen every time he appears and makes Schultz one of the most charismatic, interesting and noble characters to ever appear in one of Quentin Tarantino's films. In an era where the Academy royally screws up on a regular basis, Waltz's Best Supporting Actor trophy for this role marks one of the rare times where they actually got it right.

Worst Performance: The Green Hornet (2011)
I believe that The Green Hornet gets a far worse rap than it deserves and is actually a pretty entertaining albeit relatively dumb action-comedy. That being said, there's no universe in which I can defend Waltz's trainwreck of a performance. Waltz completely clashes against the film's goofy tone with an overly serious performance as Benjamin Chudnofsky -the film's "imposing" Russian mobster antagonist- that borderlines on embarrassing. 

Best Film: Django Unchained (2012)
Quentin Tarantino's filmography is full of gems and Django Unchained is one of the brightest. Tarantino is able to make a film that's tremendously entertaining and darkly hilarious while simultaneously shining an unfiltered light on the atrocities that were committed during slavery in the United States in a way that more serious films (12 Years a Slave, Amistad) failed to do. Django Unchained is the last film I gave a perfect score to and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was another several years before another film resonates with me as strongly as this did.  

Worst Film: The Three Musketeers (2011) 
I'll admit that the The Three Musketeers wasn't the disaster I expected it to be when I found out Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil franchise, Alien vs. Predator) was directing it. However, it's still a completely forgettable film outside of a few impressive action setpieces. The tone is jarring, the dialogue is often unintentionally hilarious and the acting from everyone outside of Mila Jovovich and Ray Stevenson is really bad. In the seemingly endless sea of Hollywood blockbusters, The Three Musketeers is about as disposable as they come.

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" star Anna Kendrick.