The Best and Worst of Djimon Hounsou

“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 “Captain Marvel” star Djimon Hounsou.

Films starring Djimon Hounsou that I've seen:
Gladiator
The Island
Blood Diamond 
Never Back Down
Push
Guardians of the Galaxy
Furious 7
The Legend of Tarzan
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Aquaman
Serenity

Best Performance: Blood Diamond (2006)
This was a complete no-brainer. Hounsou's powerful Oscar-nominated turn as a fisherman forced into the diamond mining industry after being captured by a ruthless militia hammers home the unflinching grimness that made Blood Diamond such an effective look at the often overlooked atrocities that occur in many poor countries with weak or corrupt governments that are overrun by insurgency, civil war, etc.

Worst Performance: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Hounsou returned to the world of colossal popcorn movies after a relatively long hiatus with a solid pair of bit parts in Guardians of the Galaxy and Furious 7. That promising back-to-back came to an end before it could turn into a true success streak thanks to The Legend of Tarzan. As a tribe leader seeking revenge on Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) for the murder of his son-who killed Tarzan's adoptive ape mother, Hounsou falls just short of primary villain Christoph Waltz in the shameless overacting department.

Best Film: Gladiator (2000)
If you look past the differences in setting and time period, Gladiator is eerily reminiscent to Braveheart. It's a proudly silly melodrama that distorts the hell out of its historical backdrop, but that doesn't stop it from be a wildly entertaining ride with some strong performances and enough fist pump-worthy moments of heroic triumph to fill 2,000 additional movies.

Worst Film: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
The Legend of Tarzan is easily near the top of the list of worst blockbusters I've seen over the past five years. While it deserves some credit for attempting to diversify itself from past iterations by having a fair amount of the action take place outside of the jungle and further fleshing out Tarzan as a character, that originality is ultimately overshadowed by how dull, convoluted and horrifically-acted the final product is.  

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Wonder Park” star Keenan Thompson.