Zoe Saldana Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related awards superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Zoe Saldana-whose latest project "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3" arrives in theaters today.

Zoe Saldana's Filmography Ranked:

24.Avatar (D)

23.Guess Who (C)

22.Colombiana (C)

21.Star Trek Beyond (C+)

20.Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (C+)

19.Amsterdam (B-)

18.Infinitely Polar Bear (B-)

17.The Book of Life (B-)

16.Drumline (B-)

15.The Adam Project (B-)

14.The Losers (B)

13.Vampires vs. the Bronx (B)

12.The Words (B)

11.Takers (B)

10.Live by Night (B)

9.Vantage Point (B)

8.Death at a Funeral (B)

7.Out of the Furnace (B)

6.Star Trek Into Darkness (B+)

5.Avengers: Endgame (A-)

4.Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (A)

3.Star Trek (A) 

2.Guardians of the Galaxy (A)

1.Avengers: Infinity War (A)

Top Dog: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Real, urgent narrative stakes and the palpable sense that the heroes were doomed to fail in their mission to stop Thanos makes Avengers: Infinity War one of the MCU's crowning achievements thus far.  

Bottom Feeder: Avatar (2009)

As proven by the remarkable $2.3 billion global box office haul of Avatar: The Way of Water this past winter, a lot of people are very excited about the world that James Cameron has built on Pandora. I am not among this group. With its corny story, stiff acting and brutally tedious 165-minute runtime, Avatar is everything I hate about Cameron's post-True Lies output wrapped up into one visually-breathtaking package  

Most Underrated: Out of the Furnace (2013)

Scott Cooper's follow-up to his breakout debut Crazy Heart is in a dead heat with Hostiles for the title of his most slept-on movie. While the script for this crime drama definitely could've been a bit tighter, the collection of strong performances (Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Saldana, Sam Shepard) its ensemble cast turn in, raw honesty in which it shows off how the mental scars they earned in combat can prevent veterans from reacclimating to society and the dark corners of the world they'll turn to in order to earn an income and Cooper's flare for building menacing atmospheres where danger lurks around every corner are enough for it to power through its narrative rough patches.   

Most Overrated: Avatar (2010)

Short of the groundbreaking visual effects, there's nothing even remotely special about Avatar. The narrative is a flat, groan-worthy soap opera, the acting is astoundingly bad for a major Hollywood production and Cameron's dialogue is clunkier than a 1973 Ford Pinto. 

Most Undeserving of the Hate Its Earned: Death at a Funeral (2010) 

Was an American remake of Death at a Funeral necessary? No. Does this mean that it sucks? Also, no. Neil LaBute's take on the British cult classic dark comedy that retained the services of writer Dean Craig and Peter Dinklage is like watching a talented cover band perform: It's not quite the same as watching the original artists do it,  but it's a well-executed tribute that respects and understands the spirit of the real thing.