Rebel Wilson Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Rebel Wilson-whose latest project "Senior Year" arrives on Netflix this Friday.  

Rebel Wilson's Filmography Ranked:

12.How to Be Single (C+)

11.Pitch Perfect 3 (B-)

10.The Hustle (B-)

9.Bachelorette (B-)

8.Cats (B)

7.Isn't It Romantic (B)

6.The Brothers Grimsby (B)

5.Pitch Perfect (B)

4.Pitch Perfect 2 (B+)

3.Bridesmaids (B+)

2.Pain & Gain (A)

1.Jojo Rabbit (A)

Top Dog: Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Even a full 2 and a half years after its initial theatrical release, I remain in awe of Jojo Rabbit. With the help of an outstanding cast toplined by Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Thomasin McKenzie and Sam Rockwell who deliver dynamic, moving performances, Taika Waititi is able to create a hilarious, tragic and powerful film that skillfully pokes fun at the absurdity of prejudice while reenforcing the immense devastation the Holocaust brought the people of Germany and the surrounding countries that were the most impacted by Hitler's reign of terror.     

Lowlight: How to Be Single (2016)

Dakota Johnson proving she's really adept at roles that rely on charm and humor with her great lead performance is almost enough to bail out How to Be Single, but some insufferable supporting characters (Alison Brie, Leslie Mann, Nicolas Braun, Jake Lacy), inconsistent humor and pretty rough tonal shifts are enough to overshadow Johnson's efforts and ensure this is nothing more than a slightly above average romantic comedy.  

Most Underrated: Pain & Gain (2013)

A second opportunity to pump up Pain & Gain in less than a month?!?!?! What a world! Michael Bay found tremendous success deviating from his typical action fare with this twisted satire about the lengths some people will go to achieve the "American Dream". The script-which shockingly was penned by MCU regulars Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely-is full of venom-soaked wit, the performances from Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie as the three idiot bodybuilders who cook up scams to achieve the opulent lifestyles they've always wanted to live are hilarious and tragic, and Bay is able to use his signature chaotic energy behind the camera to help hammer home just how demented these guys were.      

Most Overrated: None 

This probably should've temporarily shifted to overhated since about a third of Wilson's filmography comprises of movies that got torched (Cats, The Hustle, The Brothers Grimsby, the very disappointing but still functional Pitch Perfect 3) that I sincerely don't think are bad. Wilson has been in exactly three beloved projects (Jojo Rabbit, Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect) and all of them are varying degrees of delightful to me. 

An Endorsement of an Infamous Musical: Cats (2019)

Enjoying Cats-which is arguably the most maligned mainstream movie of the past 5 years-is the kind of take that is met with some combination of disgust, confusion and disbelief when it's said aloud. The reasons why I liked it probably aren't the kind of things that Tom Hooper or the bulk of the other people that were responsible for making it would appreciate hearing, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm completely about the Jellicle lifestyle. Between the regularly over-the-top horny musical numbers, unholy CGI/human hybrid design of the actual Jellicle Cats and the plot itself (a group of Cats compete in a singing competition in which the winner gets killed and subsequently reborn), there's a volume of bizarre absurdity present in this film that honestly makes me feel like Cats is a great unintended satire of the entire musical genre that only the silliest weirdos on Earth would appreciate.