John Krasinski Ranked

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 John Krasinski-whose latest project "IF" releases in theaters tomorrow. 

John Krasinski's Filmography Ranked:

19.Aloha (D-)

18.Something Borrowed (D)

17.Taxi (D+)

16.Monsters vs. Aliens (C-)

15.Leatherheads (C)

14.DC League of Super-Pets (B-)

13.The Holiday (B-)

12.The Hollars (B)

11.Monsters University (B)

10.For Your Consideration (B)

9.The Muppets (B)

8.Detroit (B)

7.Away We Go (B)

6.13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (B)

5.Smiley Face (B)

4.Jarhead (B) 

3.Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (B+)

2.A Quiet Place (B+)

1.A Quiet Place Part II (B+)

Top Dog: A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

Krasinski's directorial breakout A Quiet Place is an impressively crafted horror flick full of exceptional performances, ample suspense and immersive, exceptionally detailed sound design. Remarkably, Part II managed to be even better. The inevitable raising of the stakes/scale that comes with the sequel territory leads to an even higher level of tension present in the harrowing action setpieces, the sound mix remains an incredibly visceral, powerful tool that Krasinski harnesses fully to establish the unwavering feeling of terror that comes with living in a world where making any noise could get you killed and the emotional core of the story of two families finding solace in their shared grief makes for a powerful expansion of the themes of the first film.    

Bottom Feeder: Aloha (2015)

A star-studded debacle (Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Krasinski, Danny McBride, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin) that is incoherent to the point that it's hard to tell what genre it's trying to be, let alone what story it's trying to tell, Aloha easily ranks among the top 75-100 worst movies I've ever seen. If Cameron Crowe's feature directorial career does end up coming to a close on this stunningly inept note, it'll likely go down as one of the most embarrassing final chapters that any accomplished veteran filmmaker has authored in the history of cinema.

Most Underrated: Smiley Face (2007)

Hollywood has repeatedly failed Anna Faris over the years and stumbling upon Smiley Face roughly 17 years after its release was a needed reminder of this ongoing artistic injustice. This shaggy stoner comedy from indie icon Gregg Araki effectively serves as an extended showcase for Faris' incredible comedic instincts and timing as her biblically stoned character gets into a string of mostly episodic misadventures around Los Angeles after she unknowingly eats a plate full of weed cupcakes while already stoned. Almost none of these bits would work without her ability to turn interactions that should be routine into surreal mayhem in a matter of a moments and lack of reservations about looking silly, dumb or weird for the sake of comedy.     

Most Overrated: None 

Krasinski's tendency to show up in comedy or action pictures that haven't gone onto become widely embraced paired with my deep enjoyment of the Quiet Place films is enough for him to avoid having a title appear here. 

One of the Two Polarizing Recent MCU Entries That I Will Defend Ad Naseum Whenever Prompted: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness an elite superhero movie? Not quite. The pacing is kind of all over the place as a result of its extensive reshoots and the script from Michael Waldron (Kevin Feige) would've benefited from another pass or two to tighten up all of the titular multiverse madness. Is it still a lot of fun? Hell yes. Sam Raimi got a surprising amount of leeway to incorporate crazy/campy horror elements into Doctor Strange's universe-hopping journey-which gives the film a really unique identity within the MCU, Benedict Cumberbatch turns in what just might me his most interesting turn as Stephen Strange to date as he's forced to do some soul-searching when he's directly confronted with several other versions of how his life could've turned out if he had followed a different path and Elizabeth Olsen does an incredible job of managing Wanda's heel turn and turns her into one of the most menacing, entertaining villains the MCU has ever produced.