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Ryan Reynolds has become one of the most popular movie stars working in Hollywood, and here’s how his films rank, worst to best. An actor, producer, entrepreneur, and family man, Reynolds’s status as a superstar has been hard-fought since he began working in the 1990s. His eventual success is a testament to the fact that no matter how big someone seems to get “overnight,” it’s likely it took years to reach that peak.
After an early career in television – including a leading role on the amusingly titled Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place – Reynolds made his breakout debut in the 2002 National Lampoon movie Van Wilder, instantly putting him on the map as a disarmingly handsome star with substantial comic chops. For years after, Hollywood would struggle to find the right vehicles for the actor. Much of his career saw Reynolds hopping from genre to genre, from the rom-coms of The Proposal and Definitely, Maybe, to action flicks like Green Lantern and 6 Underground, to more serious fare like Buried and Woman in Gold.
While he was always pegged as having a lot of untapped talent even in the biggest of flops, it wasn’t really until 2016’s Deadpool that he was matched with the perfect vehicle for his very specific set of skills. Now, he’s ascended to the type of movie star he’s always been destined to be. With 2021 hits like Free Guy and Red Notice in the rearview mirror, it feels as good a time as ever to look back on his most major films, ranked from worst to best. First though, a note. This ranking looks at movies in which Reynolds plays a substantial role, so cameos are excluded, such as Reynolds’ appearance in Hobbs & Shaw. or Harold & Kumar, which spawned Reynolds’ famous “But, why?” gif. Also not included are some of the direct-to-video movies, made-for-TV movies, and tiny indie releases made early in Reynolds’ career.
39. R.I.P.D. (2013)
A Men in Black-gone-wrong dud about a police force charged with hunting down monsters living among the human race, R.I.P.D. lacks any sense of originality, personality, or genuine humor. It’s a shame, given that the pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges should yield better results. Unfortunately, everything is on autopilot here, from Reynolds’ wisecracking sidekick to Bridges’ jaded cowboy routine. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t look like an R.I.P.D. 2 will be happening.
38. Self/Less (2015)
A potentially interesting premise is wasted in this nonsensically pointless 2015 sci-fi venture. Ben Kingsley plays a billionaire industrialist who gets cancer and decides to undergo a procedure to transfer his consciousness to a healthy body. That new body is played by Reynolds, but he bizarrely doesn’t at all attempt to mirror Kingsley’s performance, and the intriguing Twilight Zone premise is fairly instantly dropped in favor of generic action chase beats.
37. National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002)
Van Wilder was the film most responsible for putting Reynolds’ brand of charming crudeness on the map. That said, now that he’s a major movie star, there’s next to no reason to ever revisit this film. Far from the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, Reynolds’ breakout role carries on the spirit of Animal House with an exhausting ignorance to what made that classic good in the first place. Van Wilder is crude, rude, and obnoxious, the kind of movie that compensates for its lack of wit with a plethora of sexism, racism, and homophobia. Things didn’t get any better in the Van Wilder sequels and spinoffs, which Reynolds thankfully declined to return for.
36. Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
Reynolds plays a novelist who, while visiting his Midwestern family, learns that his mother (Julia Roberts) has passed away, teeing up a grief drama of the dysfunctional family sort. It’s bizarre to see such a stacked cast so utterly wasted (Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, and Carrie-Anne Moss also show up), but the melodrama wears thin quickly, making this ultimately a completely forgettable entry.
35. The Amityville Horror (2005)
Reynolds plays the haunted lead of this leaden remake of the not-very-good-in-the-first-place 1979 original. It’s the expected collection of jump scares and things that go bump in the night, except this time augmented with early-aughts CGI and a disparaging lack of subtlety. The true story that inspired the Amityville Horror movie remains haunting, and the movie star cuts a nice leading man figure, but he’s mostly the standard horror movie lead, moving from one predictable scare to the next. What’s really sad though is that despite its flaws the Ryan Reynolds-starring Amityville Horror is still one of the best entries in a dull horror franchise that’s inexplicably received more entries than the MCU.
34. The Change-Up (2011)
Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds get Freaky Friday-ed in this identity-swap comedy. Bateman plays a lawyer and family man, Reynolds a bro-ey slacker, and much of the movie’s limited fun comes from seeing the actors switch roles and play against type. Alas, there’s little else even remotely inspired here; when a movie’s wittiest parts are its most scatological, there’s not much to champion.
33. Blade: Trinity (2004)
After Guillermo del Toro gave some genuine cinematic style to Blade II, David S. Goyer came in with the series’ crassest and campiest entry, complete with an awful version of Dracula. Reynolds is saddled with most of the weak joke-cracking, while the action rarely rises above the look of an early 2000s video game. The third entry in the Blade franchise is for diehards only, or for Parker Posey fans who want to see her camp it up as a vampire.
32. Green Lantern (2011)
One of the unfortunate casualties of the 2000s’ resurgence in superhero movies is this misbegotten entry. Director Martin Campbell seems entirely at a loss, not knowing whether Reynolds should be noble and earnest or more tongue-in-cheek. The tone is all over the place, the action sequences drenched in CGI and a sickly green color palette that’s as unpleasing to the eye as it is unflattering on our hero’s spandex jumpsuit. DC has had a rough go with their superhero outings, but Green Lantern may be the worst, and it’s no wonder a Green Lantern 2 never happened. Still, there are some who would like to see Reynolds get a second crack at the character, but with better material.
31. The Captive (2014)
Atom Egoyan’s films have long received mixed reviews for their fragmented and opaque but beautifully filmed and atmospheric qualities. The Captive, a murky tale of a convoluted search for a missing girl, is no different. While it excels whenever it’s more focused on mood and on Reynolds’ surprisingly sedate performance, the aesthetic is too often used to try and disguise an overstuffed, pulpy plot that’s just not very engaging.
30. Criminal (2018)
Criminal debuted right on the heels of Reynolds’ Deadpool success, and on Gal Gadot’s thunderous turn in Wonder Woman, and saw them share a movie years before Netflix’s Red Notice. Alas, both are utterly wasted in this rote and forgettable actioner; Reynolds only makes a few brief appearances, and Gadot is unfortunately saddled with the role of the damsel in distress. This is purely for Kevin Costner completionists, but while the actor is in prime butt-kicking mode throughout, there’s little else to write home about.
29. Chaos Theory (2007)
Yet another attempt to marry Ryan Reynolds’ good looks and likability to a worthy vehicle, Chaos Theory is mostly a failure of a comedy with an intriguing premise and lackluster execution. The actor plays an efficiency expert who lives his life on a carefully manicured schedule, but when his wife (Emily Mortimer) pranks him by turning his clock back a mere ten minutes, he must surrender to the randomness of life. Ryan Reynolds is as much of a scene-stealer as ever, but this is largely an unfunny rehash of the typical “seize the day” feel-good comedy.
28. Waiting… (2005)
One of those crass comedies that came out in the early aughts and pandered directly to the slacker crowd, Waiting is a gross-out comedy that’s more disgusting than amusing. This is one of Reynolds’ more grating performances, the ringleader of raunch in a film that doesn’t have much else to contribute. In writer-director Rob McKittrick’s world, repellence is apparently peak comedy.
27. Smokin’ Aces (2007)
Ever since Quentin Tarantino stormed onto the scene with Reservoir Dogs, filmmakers have doggedly pursued his brand of violence and humor, mostly to little avail. Smokin’ Aces, however, has got to be one of the most disappointing of the trend. Reynolds trades in his usual charm for a humorless vibe, rounding out a cast that’s far too overqualified to be participating in this mean-spirited, gruesome affair.
26. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021)
Those who enjoyed the excesses of The Hitman’s Bodyguard will probably have just as good a time at its sequel. It’s louder, leaner, and (somehow) more low-brow. For the critics and franchise agnostics, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is a fairly eye-rolling exercise in the smug and the crass. Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, and Antonio Banderas, all seem to be having a good time, but it’s hard not to want more smartly-written (or even comprehensible) material for such heavy-hitting stars.
25. The In-Laws (2003)
Reynolds fills out the pretty-boy part admirably in this thoroughly unnecessary remake of one of the most underrated comedies ever made. Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks take on the parts originated by Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, the fathers about to become in-laws who find themselves bonding during a CIA operation. They’re plenty fun, but there’s no saving this film from the bottom line: this movie just didn’t need to happen.
24. 6 Underground (2019)
Michael Bay’s Netflix debut is exactly the kind of unvarnished, explosions-riddled actioner to be expected when the producer-director is given carte blanche. The action sequences are all fans could dream of, the plot incredibly mindless. It’s disappointing to see Bay still making the same guns-ablazing exercises in female objectification and tired machismo bravado, but for fans of the director, there’s little to disappoint here. This wouldn’t be Reynolds’ last critically derided but highly watched Netflix action movie though, thanks to 2021’s divisive Red Notice.
23. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Hugh Jackman brought superhero movies roaring back to life with the original X-Men, but unfortunately (barring Logan) his solo Wolverine movies have seen the undeniable movie star weighed down by rote direction and lackluster scripts. The primary draw to this one, aside from seeing Jackman beat the tar out of a helicopter, is the first film appearance of Reynolds as Deadpool. While he would soon after become inextricably bound to the “Merc With the Mouth,” here he was the Merc With No Mouth, the bottom half of his face surgically sealed shut. There’s no red jumpsuit, no katanas, and no way to spout off wisecracking jokes and insults. It’s a disappointing debut for a character who would soon become so iconic, but nevertheless, an interesting artifact to revisit for fans and the Rosetta Stone for why Deadpool keeps making Hugh Jackman jokes.
22. Red Notice (2021)
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber – who also directed co-lead Dwayne Johnson in Central Intelligence and Skyscraper – Red Notice unites The Rock with Reynolds and Gal Gadot in a spy-themed action comedy. Johnson plays an FBI agent on the hunt for a notorious criminal (Gadot), and is forced to form an unlikely alliance with another criminal (Reynolds) in order to catch her. Originally intended to be a theatrical release, Red Notice instead ended up being Netflix’s most expensive movie to date. It’s also one of 2021’s most divisive, getting thrashed by critics but widely embraced by audiences.
Despite Red Notice‘s lackluster critical reception, it’s worth noting that Reynolds, Johnson, and Gadot are all their usual reliably entertaining selves in the leads, even if the cliched action material they’re given to perform is often subpar. Casting Reynolds alongside fellow DC movie veterans Johnson and Gadot was a stroke of genius in hindsight, as without three compelling performers out in front, Red Notice‘s flaws would be much harder for viewers to look past. Still, it’s not a great movie, and won’t make the upper tier of this ranking. That aside, there’s something to be said for a movie that pleases its intended audience, and Red Notice did that for millions, becoming a huge hit.
21. The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)
It’s a lot of fun to see Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds trading banter, but even diehard fans of both must admit that their talent outweighs this schlocky material. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is too gruesomely violent to be all that funny, too smug and tossed-off to be a thoroughly engaging thriller. What crowd-pleasing there is on display is all thanks to the odd couple performances of its co-leads and the charismatic star power they each possess.
20. Safe House (2012)
Another entry in the “Ryan Reynolds as action leading man” genre, Safe House is a typical generic assemblage of car chases, humdrum plotting, and quick-cut editing. Adequately put together but still nothing particularly special, it rises slightly above average due to the participation of Denzel Washington, whose aversion to sequels always sees him doing fresh material, and who as turncoat CIA operative Tobin Frost gives the film some much-needed dynamism.
19. Woman in Gold (2015)
Reynolds tried his hand at prestige drama in this failed bit of Weinstein-era Oscar bait. The story concerns elderly Jewish woman Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), who is joined by young lawyer Randy Schoeberg (Reynolds) in a lengthy legal battle to gain back possession of Gustave Klimt’s iconic “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” from Nazis. Unfortunately, any compelling notes are buried in an overly simplistic screenplay that settles for sentiment over nuance. The performances are solid, but overall Woman in Gold is a bronze at best.
18. Turbo (2013)
This 2013 animated offering boasts an inspired premise: Turbo is a snail who is miraculously gifted superspeed and enters the Indy 500. The small snail with big dreams turns out to be an inspired match for Reynolds’ charisma, although the setup is most of the fun here. Aside from a stacked supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bill Hader, this is largely fare for the smallest of kids.
17. Detective Pikachu (2019)
The central conceit of this bizarro 2019 offering, to mashup the generation-defining IP of Pokémon with the sass and snark of Ryan Reynolds, is in its own way pretty genius. For much of its runtime, Detective Pikachu is appropriately weird and fun, a cult-feeling crowdpleaser bolstered considerably by Reynolds’ vocal performance and a prime example of the light, breezy fun the Sonic the Hedgehog film could’ve been. A CGI-heavy third act tries to crash the party, but this is still an enjoyable offering, both for Pokémon fans and Reynolds followers. Sadly, it doesn’t look like a sequel will happen, despite fan demand.
16. Paper Man (2009)
Before Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds threw on a spandex suit and cape to play Captain Excellent in this little-seen dramedy about a novelist with an imaginary friend (the Captain himself) who develops a bond with a Long Island teenager. Jeff Daniels plays the novelist, Emma Stone the teenager, and while the quirky indie style doesn’t feel the most fresh and the story beats are indeed familiar, this is still surprisingly affecting. This is admittedly mostly due to the performances, of which Reynolds’ comic, bizarrely sweet turn is perhaps the highlight.
15. Finder’s Fee (2001)
Survivor host Jeff Probst’s debut feature follows a young man who finds a winning lottery ticket in a wallet on the street, a dilemma compounded when his poker-playing crew arrives for the weekly game. Reynolds rounds out a game cast including Matthew Lillard and James Earl Jones in this engaging little one-act of a film. The screenplay is at times creaky and the poker logistics questionable, but this is ultimately a tensely staged character piece with a satisfying twist of an ending.
14. The Croods (2013)
This beautifully animated, visually inventive charmer centers on a prehistoric family on the verge of extinction. Reynolds voices the evolved caveman, Guy, who arrives on the scene to clash with the titular Croods and impart his wisdom about the impending destruction of the world. It’s not the best family-friendly offering to ever be made, but there’s enough fun here for adults and children alike, along with a gentle but moving message about surviving in a constantly-evolving society.
13. The Croods: A New Age (2020)
This slightly better than the original sequel sees The Croods 2 returning with the same voice cast and moving on to greener pastures in their neverending quest for survival. A step up visually from the original, A New Age is stuffed with cute critters and high-flying setpieces that amp up the spectacle while remaining true to the sophistication the filmmakers bring to this brutish clan.
12. The Nines (2007)
Before Deadpool and Bridesmaids rocketed them to movie star status, Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy stretched outside of their usual comfort zones in this bizarre cult film from writer-director John August. Essentially a triptych, The Nines features Reynolds in all three segments, first as a struggling actor, then a TV writer, and finally a video game designer. While it veers often into the realm of pretension, this is still a wonderfully weird oddity, buried treasure in the midst of the star’s filmography.
11. The Voices (2014)
So much of Ryan Reynolds’ career has been hopping from one genre to the other, trying to find his place in the world of cinema. With The Voices, he hit a pre-Deadpool career high point in this black-as-bile comedy about an unhinged factory worker forced to choose between his talking cat’s advice to become a killer or his dog’s influence to maintain a normal life. Director Marjane Satrapi delivers a wild, bloody ride of a movie, and while it doesn’t always work, Reynolds is along from the ride from the get-go. The charismatic charmer has always been at his best at the intersection of darkness and comedy, and The Voices is early proof of that. It also suggests that Reynolds can in fact excel at horror, should he choose to go that route again.
10. Just Friends (2005)
This mostly mediocre rom-com from Cruel Intentions helmer Roger Kumble has developed something of a cult following since its 2005 release, mostly due to its performances. Reynolds is full of easy charm here, but the true standout is Anna Faris, whose performance as a Jessica Simpson-esque pop star is a scene-stealing delight. Reynolds would continue to ascend in the years following his turn here, but Faris also deserves to be a headlining movie star based on her sublime work here, and The Emoji Movie doesn’t cut it.
9. The Proposal (2009)
Ryan Reynolds plays Sandra Bullock’s assistant-turned-fiancé in this kooky but formulaic romantic comedy from director Anne Fletcher. There’s not much fresh or new here, but a refreshing amount of warm, fuzzy feeling. Reynolds and Bullock are a bit of a dream team, their chemistry sizzling despite the rote workings of the material. The Proposal is an easy-to-digest rom-com, but it’s easier to see these two stars excelling in a better movie.
8. Life (2017)
Life is a bizarre entry into the sci-fi genre. On paper, it strays annoyingly close to the familiar trapped-in-space mold, mostly cribbing from the Alien playbook. A team of astronauts comes up against a rapidly evolving life form that quickly begins to terrorize them. Despite the paint-by-numbers story, though, there’s plenty to like here. Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Rebecca Ferguson act mightily in zero-gravity, and it’s a more serious turn from Reynolds, but it’s also just an incredibly good-looking movie. Director Daniel Espinosa keeps the proceedings tense, even as audiences can admire Seamus McGarvey’s floating cinematography and Nigel Phelps’ wonderfully textured production design.
7. Definitely, Maybe (2008)
Reynolds has spent his career occupying many genres, but Definitely, Maybe ranks as his best romantic comedy offering to date. The role of Will Hayes gives him one of his most charming roles, and he’s equally impressive telling bedtime stories to his daughter (played by Abigail Breslin) as he is courting Isla Fisher. Filled with brains as well as heart, Adam Brooks’ screenplay and direction nimbly dances around the saccharine and cloying and finds a warm, cuddly sweet spot that’s guaranteed to make audiences smile.
6. Deadpool 2 (2018)
The Merc With the Mouth returns, this time with Zazie Beetz, in this bigger, badder, and bolder sequel, one of five comic book movies Ryan Reynolds has starred in. Those who weren’t charmed by the original are not likely to be won over, but for fans this is largely just a souped-up version of the first. Kicking off with a shocker of an opening that tees up a Celine Dion-sung main titles song, there’s more violence, more meta-humor, and more proof that this is exactly the right vehicle for Reynolds’s singular talents.
5. Free Guy (2021)
One of the most pleasant movie surprises of 2021 was Free Guy, which released in August, and could be arguably said to have beaten The Matrix Resurrections to the punch when it comes to focusing on a man unknowingly trapped inside a virtual world. Then again, Free Guy is certainly a much more lighthearted take on that concept, and also in some ways a better version of Gerard Butler’s Gamer. Reynolds stars as the titular Guy, who lives a fairly mundane life as a bank teller, at least until he learns he’s actually a non-player character inside a massively multiplayer online video game. Unwilling to remain trapped in his role, Guy sets about to change things up, and take command of his life.
At his best, Reynolds can be one of the most effortlessly charming actors in Hollywood, and in the role of Guy, that charm is felt full-force. Guy isn’t as abrasive as a character like Wade Wilson, or as too cool for the room as Hannibal King, but he’s still funny, loyal, and very easy to root for. In a world dominated by more serious-minded, often apocalyptic blockbusters, Free Guy is happy being a breezy, enjoyable ride, and Reynolds’ performance is the heart of why it works so well. Reynolds has said that Disney wants him to star in a Free Guy 2, and that wouldn’t at all be a bad move on his part.
4. Adventureland (2009)
Superbad director Greg Mottola hit another home run with this underrated, eminently lovable coming-of-age tale about a college grad finding love working at a crappy amusement park job. The potentially hackneyed romance is rendered more interesting thanks to Mottola’s keenly-observed writing, and the casting of Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (still recovering from her Twilight days and not yet bearing the indie darling status she has since ascended to). Initially dinged at the time for not being the raucous comedy people expected, Adventureland is simultaneously a spot-on portrait of post-adolescent awkwardness and a remarkable recreation of 1980s America, particularly in Adventureland‘s use of Pennsylvania’s Kennywood as the shooting location. Reynolds has a smaller part here as the good-looking maintenance man, but it’s one of the best film uses of his singular charm, and a peek into what his career might have been if he’d gone a more low-key route.
3. Mississippi Grind (2015)
A sleeper of a great movie that unfortunately came and went without the appropriate fanfare, Mississippi Grind pairs Ryan Reynolds with Ben Mendelsohn in the story of a gambling addict who brings along his good-luck-charm of a friend to a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. Mendelsohn is wonderfully edgy, Reynolds joyously along for the ride. Of all the actor’s buddy films, this is the most high-flying and rewarding, a warts-and-all portrait of the highs and lows of nights spent in the high-octane tomb of a casino.
2. Buried (2010)
Unquestionably Reynolds’ best performance, Buried sees the actor imprisoned in a coffin, with Buried entirely being shot inside a coffin as well. Left with no more than a lighter and a cell phone, the actor is forced to use every tool in his toolbox. His radiant charm, his dashing good looks, his disarming sense of humor, and his always-welcome serious chops are all put to use in this tense horror show of a film. The logical comparison would be to Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, but that film’s flashy, over-the-top style pales in comparison to the nail-biting intimacy of Buried.
1. Deadpool (2016)
After decades of trying to find the perfect vehicle for his considerable talents, Ryan Reynolds found the role of a lifetime in the R-Rated Deadpool. While the film’s smug sense of humor won’t be for all tastes, it’s undeniably the perfect match for the actor’s mix of charm and causticness, swagger and sarcasm. Reynolds struggled a long time to get this fourth-wall-breaking, hard-R rated superhero flick made, but when it finally was released it was a box office smash and proof that the hard-working actor was finally a major movie star.
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