Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Sharlto Copley-whose latest project "Beast" releases in theaters tomorrow.
Sharlto Copley's Filmography Ranked:
10.Chappie (C)
9.Oldboy (C+)
8.Gringo (B-)
7.Free Fire (B-)
6.Maleficent (B)
5.The Hollars (B)
4.Elysium (B+)
3.The A-Team (B+)
2.Hardcore Henry (A-)
1.District 9 (A)
Top Dog: District 9 (2009)
Considering the resurgence of Star Wars and recent reworkings of more hardcore fan-appealing IP's such as Blade Runner and Dune over the past 7 years, an incredible original work in District 9 has effectively been boxed out of the majority of movie nerd conversations about recent triumphs-which is honestly baffling considering how much buzz it generated in the summer of 2009. Like many of the great classic works of science fiction before it, Neil Bloomkamp creates a really unique film that examines how xenophobia has influenced the structure of the world's societies while also delivering elite entertainment that's full of cool alien action and heart-pounding suspense.
Bottom Feeder: Chappie (2015)
Whatever the hell Bloomkamp was trying to pull off with Chappie just didn't work. It's a generally confused piece of work that can't decide on a genre/tone (it shifts from silly comedy to gritty action movie to deadly serious allegory about the moral implications of drone warfare/AI in policing so many times that it made my fucking head spin) or a main character (Hugh Jackman's mulleted a-hole engineer, Dev Patel's good guy engineer and the absolutely awful Die Antewood duo as a low level criminal couple all get their turns to lead the show) that only remains semi-watchable due to Copley's tender, funny and charming voiceover performance as the titular robot.
Most Underrated: The A-Team (2010)
Turning the hit 70's series The A-Team into a movie wasn't a good idea, it was a great one. Joe Caranahan took the silly, self-aware ragtag misfit essence of the show and injected into a hulking behemoth of a blockbuster that piles on the electrifying, good-natured absurdity for 2 straight hours. The titular team (Liam Nesson, Bradley Cooper, Quentin "Rampage" Jackson, Copley) has a really great rapport that seamlessly sells the "oddball ex-Special Forces guys that are forced to go on the run together after they're framed for a crime they didn't commit" hook, the action setpieces are massive slabs of over-the-top cartoony goodness and the tone is playful and self-aware without descending into obnoxiously meta territory.
Most Overrated: Nothing
Copley's career-particularly following his District 9 breakout-has largely consisted of weird little action movies (Hardcore Henry), supporting turns in little seen indie titles (The Hollars, Gringo) that are mostly forgotten and the occasional blockbuster (Maleficent, The A-Team) that achieved exactly what it set out to do. That's a unique path that's bred plenty of polarizing titles and modest successes that has the added benefit of keeping his work out of the extreme ends of the film opinion hierarchy, which in turns makes him exempt from this particular section of the piece.
Top Unofficial Video Game Movie: Hardcore Henry (2016)
Before Russian director Ilya Naishuller moved over to the world of Hollywood with last year's bone-crushing Nobody, he was back in Moscow constructing a nutty tour de force in experimental indie filmmaking. Aided by a group of brave stunt performers that had GoPros strapped to their heads, Nilhauser made a visceral, bonkers action movie in Hardcore Henry that simulated the experience of playing a first-person video game in breathtakingly vivid detail. The audience is in the eyes of the character as he shoots, stabs and fistfights his way through a cartoonish criminal underworld while an NPC with a constantly changing look (Copley) barks mission objectives at him for 95 minutes. Making such an ambitious, technically impressive action movie for so little money (the reported budget was $2 million) is a hell of an accomplishment that is a remarkable reminder of what talented creative people can pull off with very little resources at their disposal.
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