The Best and Worst of Olivia Munn

“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 “The Predator” star Olivia Munn.

Films Starring Olivia Munn that I've seen:
The Slammin' Salmon 
Date Night
Iron Man 2
Magic Mike
Deliver Us from Evil
Mortdecai  
Ride Along 2
X-Men: Apocalypse
Office Christmas Party
The LEGO Ninjago Movie

Best Performance: Office Christmas Party (2016)
I had been waiting for Munn to showcase the goofy charisma that defined her tenure on G4's Attack of the Show on the big screen for years and it finally happened in this breezy ensemble holiday comedy. As the chief researcher and developer at a struggling Chicago technology company whose murky future is further complicated by the titular party, Munn is funny, charming and has a natural chemistry with on-screen love interest Jason Bateman.

Worst Performance: Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
Strong acting was a pretty big part of why Deliver Us from Evil resonated with me more than most of the exorcism thrillers I've seen. The only person who didn't rise to occasion in this ensemble was Munn. Her embarrassing attempt at a hardcore New York accent helped turned a below average performance that was a bit too reliant on overacting into a distractingly bad one that somewhat dragged down the film.

Best Film: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
I will go to bat for X-Men: Apocalypse whenever prompted. In fact, I'm willing to say that this underrated gem is locked in a virtual tie with First Class for the title of my 2nd favorite X-Men film behind Days of Future Past. The ensemble cast is terrific, every action sequence pops and unlike pretty much every MCU film before Infinity War, the heroes face real danger throughout the film.

Worst Film: Ride Along 2 (2016)
The convincing "bitter hardass teams up with bumbling goofball" dynamic between Ice Cube and Kevin Hart was enough to make Ride Along a decent time-waster. The spark of this well-matched duo wasn't enough to save the sequel. Every member of the cast besides Cube and Hart pretty much just goes through the motions while this lighthearted crime saga plays out, which subsequently took the air out of at least 75% of the jokes and ultimately resulted in the film being banished to mediocre buddy comedy purgatory.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Life Itself” star Olivia Wilde.