The Best and Worst of Michelle Rodriguez

“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 “Alita: Battle Angel” star Michelle Rodriguez.

Films starring Michelle Rodriguez that I've seen:
Girlfight
The Fast and the Furious 
Resident Evil
Blue Crush
S.W.A.T.
Fast and Furious
Avatar 
Machete
Battle: Los Angeles 
Fast Five
Resident Evil: Retribution
Fast and Furious 6
Machete Kills
Furious 7
The Fate of the Furious
Widows

Best Performance: Machete (2010)
No disrespect to Letty Ortiz, but Luz/She is easily my favorite character that Rodriguez has ever played. Robert Rodriguez has a thorough understanding of Rodriguez's ability as an action hero and armed her with an absolute badass character that helps this excellent love letter to grindhouse's loopy social commentary elements really pop.  

Worst Performance: Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Battle: Los Angeles' overly serious tone and terrible script made a lot of good actors look bad. While Rodriguez didn't end up getting embarrassed nearly as badly as Aaron Eckhart or Michael Pena, this really, really stupid albeit somewhat entertaining sci-fi actioner suppresses the grit and hard-nosed swagger that has made her one of the industry's most reliably strong action stars for nearly 20 years. 

Best Film: Fast Five (2011)
Before it turned into a full-on superhero saga, street racing franchise The Fast and the Furious started its brilliant reinvention process with Fast Five-a wildly fun heist movie that remains the finest entry in the series. Adding Dwayne Johnson to the cast and embracing a more lighthearted tone helped turn this series into a gleefully self-aware, over-the-top beast that is untouchable in the entertainment department.  

Worst Film: Avatar (2009)
It's only fitting that I rip James Cameron's last directorial effort in a piece that's linked to his newest project. No amount of impressive CGI can make up for the cringeworthy cheesiness, stiff acting and wall-to-wall boredom that occupies every frame of this ungodly long movie. I'm glad that it's taken 62 years for the 43 planned sequels to be released because any day where I'm not reminded of Avatar's existence is a good one.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” star Jay Baruchel.