Kevin Durand 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 Kevin Durand-whose latest project "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" releases today. 

Kevin Durand's Filmography Ranked:

19.Legion (D+)

18.Big Momma's House 2 (D+)

17.Tragedy Girls (D+)

16.Wild Hogs (D+)

15.I Am Number Four (C-)

14.X-Men Origins: Wolverine (C+)

13.Resident Evil: Retribution (B-)

12.Primal (B-)

11.Robin Hood (2010) (B-)

10.Walking Tall (B-)

9.Mystery, Alaska (B)

8.Real Steel (B)

7.The Butterfly Effect (B)

6.Noah (B+)

5.Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (B+)

4.Abigail (B+)

3.Smokin' Aces (A)

2.3:10 to Yuma (A)

1.Fruitvale Station (A)

Top Dog: Fruitvale Station (2013)

One of the more stunning cinematic experiences I've had in my life was seeing Fruitvale Station in a theater in the summer of 2013. Like far too many people, the story of Oscar Grant and his unjust murder at the hands of two BART transit cops at the titular Oakland subway station was one that I had zero awareness of prior to watching the film. By having the film take place in real time on what ended up being the final day of Grant's life, Ryan Coogler is able to make a deeply raw, gut-wrenching character study about a 22-year-old man trying to get his life back together after a stint in jail for marijuana possession that was robbed of the opportunity for redemption by the powerful evils of police brutality and racism. It's a true masterpiece and remains my favorite thing that both Coogler and Michael B. Jordan-who plays Grant-have ever been involved in.      

Bottom Feeder: Legion (2010)

An R-rated action horror movie inspired by the Second Coming of Jesus should have the potential to be a great piece of shlock entertainment. Instead, Legion takes its ridiculous premise far too seriously and ends up being a poorly written mess of a movie that's only saving grace is the occasional moment of intentional comedy brought on by its cheap visual effects and horrendous dialogue.   

Most Underrated:  Fruitvale Station (2013)

Ryan Coogler has moved onto the biggest Hollywood stages imaginable since Fruitvale Station debuted at Sundance 11 years ago, but he likely wouldn't have been put on the path to make Creed, Black Panther and his upcoming untitled vampire action blockbuster for Warner Brothers that's due out in March if it weren't for his powerhouse debut. In this journey through the final day of Oscar Grant, Coogler shows off a powerful naturalistic storytelling style and thorough command over his artistic vision that is simply stunning for somebody who was just 26 years old at the time of production. It's a perfect introduction to a filmmaker that's gone onto become one of the brightest talents that's arrived in the industry over the past 15 years and hopefully there will eventually come a time where he returns to making smaller human dramas like this.   

Most Overrated: Tragedy Girls (2017)

Overrated is probably a stretch as Tragedy Girls is a film that has largely been forgotten, but it earned a lot of acclaim on the genre festival circuit around the time it was released and it's the only title from Durand's filmography that I felt comfortable with placing here. This film's aspirations to be the modern slasher version of Heathers never even come close to panning out on account of the protagonists (Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp) being extremely grating psychopaths with zero maniacal charisma, nearly all of the jokes falling flat and the commentary on toxic internet culture, mass desensitization to violence in the modern world, social media, etc. being far too shallow to have any potency.