The Best and Worst of Simon Pegg

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Ready Player One” star Simon Pegg.

Films starring Simon Pegg that I've seen:
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Mission-Impossible III
Star Trek
Paul
Mission-Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The Adventures of Tintin
Star Trek Into Darkness
The World's End
Mission-Impossible: Rogue Nation
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Trek Beyond


Best Performance: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Pegg's turn as the slacker titular character who tries to prove to his loved ones that's he's not an unmotivated loser in the midst of a zombie apocalypse in London epitomizes a starmaking performance. Shaun is a sweet, hilarious everyman that's easy to root for and this incredibly likable protagonist helped Edgar Wright's sophomore directorial effort affirm its status as a cult phenomenon.

Worst Performance: Mission-Impossible III (2006)
I'll admit that it's a little unfair to go after this performance since Pegg has since gone onto become an enjoyable fixture in the Mission-Impossible franchise. However, his first go-round as tech expert Benji Dunn largely lacked the comedic flare that has made Pegg a cornerstone in the industry for over a decade.

Best Film: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Juxtaposing the syrupy sentimentality of a romantic comedy with the brutal carnage of a zombie movie is the type of seemingly impossible task that only a virtuoso director like Edgar Wright could pull off. This smart, hilarious and highly entertaining mashup made for one hell of an introduction to Pegg, Wright and Nick Frost, and I'd be surprised if it ever left my list of all-time favorite movies.

Worst Film: Star Trek Beyond (2016)
After J.J. Abrams successfully revived Star Trek by making two of the three best Star Wars films of the last 35 years, Beyond sadly brought the series back to its roots. While the impressive action sequences and reliably strong performances from the returning Enterprise crew (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Pegg, John Cho, Karl Urban, the late Anton Yelchin) prevent it from being a total dud, the wall-to-wall deadpan chessiness of the script, consistently unfunny one-liners and horrific villain played by Idris Elba reminded me of why I could never get into any iteration of the television series.


Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Blockers” star Leslie Mann.