Mark Ruffalo Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked"-a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out related superlatives and accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of Mark Ruffalo-whose latest film "The Adam Project" hits Netflix on Friday. 

Mark Ruffalo's Filmography Ranked:

20.Avengers: Age of Ultron (D+)

19.Windtalkers (C-)

18.The Kids Are All Right (C-)

17.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (C)

16.Begin Again (C+)

15.Infinitely Polar Bear (B-)

14.13 Going on 30 (B-)

13.Collateral (B-)

12.Date Night (B)

11.Dark Waters (B)

10.Foxcatcher (B)

9.Zodiac (B)

8.The Avengers (B+)

7.Now You See Me (B+)

6.Now You See Me 2 (A-)

5.Avengers: Endgame (A-)

4.Spotlight (A-)

3.Shutter Island (A-)

2.Avengers: Infinity War (A)

1.Thor: Ragnarok (A)

Top Dog: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

With the possible exception of paving the way for James Gunn to make a couple of awesome DC projects after they temporarily fired him from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, hiring Taika Waititi to effectively reboot Thor with Ragnarok was the greatest move Marvel Studios has ever made. Waititi morphed a pretty low end MCU property into a zany, hilarious gem by injecting it with his signature oddball humor, a psychedelic color pallet and new characters (Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, Cate Blanchett's Hela, Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster, Waititi's Korg, Ruffalo's Hulk in his first appearance in a non-Avengers film) that meshed really well with a visibly reinvigorated Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.   

Lowlight: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Joss Whedon has received a ton of shit for his significantly reworked version of Justice League. What I believe he deserves far more shit for is what he did with Age of Ultron. He kneecapped whatever good will and momentum he built up with the original Avengers film by making a meandering, convoluted piece of garbage that doesn't have an ounce of the blockbuster filmmaking competency that even the most middling Marvel projects can typically be relied on to have.   

Most Underrated: Now You See Me 2 (2016)

The sequel to the stupid/brilliant magician heist thriller Now You See Me doubles down on its stupid /brilliant elements and the result is an even more fun movie. Lizzy Caplan is utterly delightful as the snarky, charismatic replacement for Isla Fisher's character, Daniel Radcliffe has a blast with his seedy villain role and the heist sequences (especially the Macau Science Center scene) are absurdly entertaining pieces of frantic madness.

Most Overrated: Collateral (2004)

There are some things about Collateral that are very well done. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx do good work playing against type as a crazed hitman and quiet, reserved taxi driver respectively, the noir-inspired visuals are really slick and the final scene on the train is downright explosive. The problem is that Michael Mann reliably suffocates a lot of the potential suspense/entertainment value by ensuring that the events of the film effectively play out in slow motion with glacial pacing that is a massive detriment to the brand of stylized crime thrillers he makes.   

Best New-ish Scorsese Movie: Shutter Island (2010)

Absolutely nobody is going to agree with me that Shutter Island is better than The Wolf of Wall Street or The Irishman, but I believe this is Scorsese's finest movie of the 2010's. Scorsese enters the pulpy psychological thriller realm for the first time with this grim, expertly crafted slow burn detective story that features some terrific performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Ruffalo, Michelle Williams and Ben Kingsley and a whopper of a plot twist that gives way to a terrific final act.  

Greatest Reminder of Ruffalo's Underrated Acting Talent: Foxcatcher (2014)

Ruffalo has to be in the running for the title of Most Underrated Modern Actor That Happens to Have Multiple Oscar Nominations on their Resume. Of his 3 nominated performances, his turn in the compelling yet somewhat uneven sports/crime biopic Foxcatcher stands out the most. Ruffalo serves as the film's calm, honest and quiet emotional anchor, which in turn adds an extra gut punch to the shocking climax that makes this story so chilling.