The Best Movies Featuring the Cast of the Avengers (Part Two)

Thanks for checking in on part two :)

Our next guest needs no introduction: 

Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye)

I recall the now cancelled movie pundit Devin Faraci observing that The Hurt Locker is the best use of Jeremy Renner because it understands that he’s unlikeable. No argument there! Renner seems like a real chill guy with very normal opinions, but he’s struck me as the kind of co-worker who you respect for their work ethic but avoid in the breakroom.

I find it funny that Hollywood tried to launch Renner as an A-list leading man (he was once positioned to take over two major franchises), but he’s absolutely perfect for a movie like The Hurt Locker. Renner is exceptionally convincing as an adrenaline-junkie soldier who works a dangerous bomb disposal unit in Iraq. He seems like exactly the kind of psycho who would really be doing this.

I haven’t seen the movie in quite a while, but it’s Kathryn Bigelow so I expect that it’s a) technically impeccable and b) politically dubious. I suspect this one is a tough sit in our current political climate, but I simply can’t deny that this is the most effective deployment of Renner that a filmmaker ever made. It’s no wonder the MCU cast him as a humorless army vet.

Honorable mentions: I almost put Renner’s Oscar nominated work in The Town here, but even if he’s better there than he is in The Hurt Locker (he is), the movie is simply not as good.

I believe The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to be a masterpiece, but Renner’s part is very small. I don’t think he has much to do in them, but it must be acknowledged that he’s in two of the best Mission: Impossible movies. I don’t love this movie as much as other people do (and I think he’s woefully miscast), but for the record he’s in Arrival. 28 Weeks Later has its moments and Renner is still in the mode where he’s trying to prove something. SWAT is fun lol.

And I’m sorry to say that despite being completely miserable and politically all over the place, Taylor Sheridan’s arctic western Wind River has two back to back sequences that I will never forget.

I have not seen: The Immigrant…Dahmer…Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters???

Don Cheadle (War Machine)

Don Cheadle is by far my favourite actor on this list, and I’ll be forever annoyed that the MCU ate up so much of his career. And for such a lame duck character too! Before Marvel, Cheadle was one of Hollywood’s most exciting actors, and I hope he’ll return to that status soon.

Cleverly picking projects and quickly becoming a favourite of Steven Soderbergh’s, Cheadle’s 90’s run is a thing of beauty. He was a pretty big deal in the subsequent decade, but if racism didn't exist he would have been a bigger one. Cheadle has the depth of a real actor, but more than that he has the boundless charisma of a movie star, and that charisma shone through a series of dynamite performances that only start to dry up after his entrance into the Marvel machine.

I’m not sure if it’s his best performance, but Cheadle is fantastic in my all-time favourite movie, Soderbergh’s Out of Sight. As Maurice “Snoopy” Miller, Cheadle plays a convict who’s dangerous precisely because he’s so nakedly insecure. While maintaining his movie star cool, Cheadle lets insecurity bleed through Snoop’s tough guy facade in a myriad of fascinating ways. A few of his line readings go through my head on a weekly basis. 

Honorable mentions:

A-tier Cheadle: His deeply human work in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, and his out of control enforcer in the neo noir Devil in a Blue Dress, a performance so overpowering it threatens to destabilize the entire movie (complimentary).

B-tier Cheadle: Cheadle is an admirable straight man in the hilarious Irish comedy The Guard, and he has a memorable supporting role in Brian De Palma’s space adventure Mission to Mars. I’m not the biggest fan of Soderbergh’s Traffic, but it’s a prime star text for Cheadle. For an interesting late-period Cheadle, check out Soderbergh’s icy crime thriller No Sudden Move.

Finally, what is to be said about Ocean’s Eleven, one of the biggest blown cool guy opportunities in movie history? The coolest guy ever appearing in the coolest movie ever. And you let him do that accent?

Haven't seen: Ashamed to say I haven't seen his Oscar-nominated work in Hotel Rwanda. 

Flight, Rosewood, Swordfish, Traitor. The list goes on. But so much more to discover :)  

Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch)

Elizabeth Olsen has successfully escaped the shadow of her famous twin sisters, proving to be a compelling screen presence. Though Olsen has struggled to establish herself outside of the MCU, the indie Ingrid Goes West certainly points to an actor willing to take risks on a smaller project.

I wouldn’t say I love this movie - the ending always strikes me as a little flippant and smug - but it’s definitely worth seeing. As an oblivious influencer, Olsen holds her own in a movie full of standout performances (Aubrey Plaza, Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen, and especially O’Shea Jackson Jr.). If she can find her way out of the Marvel maze, I think she has some great work in her yet.

Honorable mentions: The human characters are complete non-entities in this movie, but I do love Gareth Edward’s Godzilla. I mentioned the problems with Wind River in an earlier section - and the movie humiliates Olsen’s character at every turn - but it’s... interesting. 

I have not seen: Martha Marcy May Marlene, which I suspect is the “correct” answer. Heard good things about His Three Daughters.

Anthony Mackie (Falcon/Captain America)

Anthony Mackie is the only actor on this list who’s favourite movie of mine might be from the MCU. That’s not a slight - I think Mackie is genuinely great in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

As Cap’s new pal Sam Wilson, Mackie is charismatic and convincing as a principled but highly capable vet. Sadly, Mackie’s subsequent career has been a mild disappointment, both inside and out of the MCU. Even as Falcon (and later Captain America), Mackie never pops in later films the way he did in Winter Soldier. I'm not sure there's a fully great movie that stars Anthony Mackie.  

The main exception is probably The Hurt Locker, but I used that for Renner already. I’m now torn between two movies I like but don’t love. One that is a little too wholesome, and one that is entirely too vile. Let’s go with vile!

This is not an original take, but Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain is the purest expression of the director's misanthropy. A movie that hates both its protagonists and their victims, Pain and Gain is repulsive and hypnotic, an indictment of a violent, rise and grind culture where enough is never enough. Mackie is well used as an airheaded muscleman, partially because - like Renner - he gives me sort of a bad vibe. 

Honorable mentions: He is great in The Hurt Locker. I almost slotted in the good natured Christmas comedy The Night Before here, in which Mackie plays an athlete attempting to hide his use of steroids. 

He has a small part in Jonathan Demme’s remake of The Manchurian Candidate, which is beloved by me and up to twelve other people.

I have not seen: Embarrassingly I have never seen Million Dollar Baby or 8 Mile, some of Mackie’s best known work. He also received notice for his performance in the drama Half Nelson, alongside Ryan Gosling.

Paul Bettany (Vision)

Paul Bettany is to me, among the best actors on this list (my top tier would include him, Cheadle, and Ruffalo). And while his work at Vision is well-liked by fans and critics, I’m not sure it’s done much for his career. He’s pretty unrecognizable under that make-up, after all.

I find Bettany a little harder to root for since I found out about his relationship to Johnny Depp, something I bring up because I felt my Palestine comment was not controversial enough for this dumb movie list.

Anyway, Bettany is really fantastic as the ship’s doctor in Pete Weir’s naval epic Master and Commander. If big ships battling in pre-green screen water tanks doesn't appeal to you, I don’t think this is your movie. However if that idea made your brain say “hell yeah” at any volume you're going to love this thing. Russell Crowe and Bettany reach such perfect movie star/character actor chemistry in this it’s like looking at God.

Honorable mentions:  A light movie perhaps but Bettany is legit incredible in the Medieval sports comedy A Knight’s Tale, alongside Heath Ledger. Honestly, he’s good in everything. And yet… where are the hits?

I haven’t seen: Dogville, which again is probably the “correct” answer. Also Margin Call, which I suspect I would really like. Otherwise this guy is in a lot of bad movies lol.

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Thanks for reading! Feel free to tell me I’m wrong in the comments, or make suggestions :)