R-Rated $1 Billion Films Ranked

R-Rated $1 Billion Films Ranked

The Odyssey has made $1 billion at the box office, which makes it only the third R-rated film in history to cross that milestone. In honor of that, I am going to be ranking all three R-rated films to have made $1 billion. Here we go!

NOTE: To be perfectly clear, I think all three of these movies are great. There is not a single bad movie on this list. The order of these movies could change depending on the day. As of right now, this is the ranking but if or when I update this ranking, the order will change.

 

3. Joker: Like I just said, I think all three of these movies are great. So, Joker being last on the list, is not a testament to the quality of the film but more so a testament to the quality of the films that have made $1 billion. This is one that I have not rewatched since I saw Joker: Folie A Deux, but I do plan on rewatching both films leading up to Clayface in October. I think that’s part of the reason this film is in last place because Folie A Deux does not do the original film justice and completely undoes what that film was about. That does not make this movie bad, but I think it does hold it back. What I love about this movie is that it does not feel like most other comic book movies. A common criticism of this movie is that it is just a Martin Scorsese clone, notably Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. That is exactly what I love about this film, it is a film that is pulling inspiration from outside resources and not the comic book genre. With so many recent comic book movies feeling so generic and studio mandated, it is refreshing to get a movie like Joker that does not feel like a corporate product but rather this artistic vision of Todd Phillips. This movie would work and still be great if you removed everything DC from it, and that is because you would already have a great movie that’s either Taxi Driver or The King of Comedy. From there, of course Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic in this movie. I love that he won the Oscar for this movie and it is 100% deserved. Where he is the world class talent and you are able to buy him both as this weak Arthur who hates how society is treating him, but as you see Arthur’s descent into madness and you are able to buy the craziness of Joker. It is the type of performance and role that only a world class actor like Joaquin Phoenix can pull off. I am curious how this movie holds up after knowing where this goes with Folie a Deux. Hopefully, it does not diminish my positive thoughts on the film too much. 

2. Deadpool & Wolverine: I know a lot of people just hate this movie, especially on Twitter and the hate for this movie is so unnecessary. Is this high art cinema? Of course not. Is this going to be remembered as the greatest movie of the decade? No. But that is not what the film was trying to be. It wasn’t a high art piece of Martin Scorsese cinema, it was just trying to be this fun multiverse adventure with surprise appearances and Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman bickering back and forth for 2 hours and as that, it’s a really fun time at the movies. The reason we all showed up to this movie was to see Reynolds and Jackman together on screen as their respective characters. If you have seen Reynolds and Jackman in real life on social media, then you know why we were so excited to see this movie. They have such great chemistry with each other, and since their sense of humor are so different, they play off each other well. It is also a film that promised a lot of multiverses, fun, and surprises and this film absolutely delivered on that. Like No Way Home, they are not really cameos as they have actual parts to play in the film and have a good chunk of screen-time. All the surprises tie back to this idea of legacy, which ties into the character arcs of both Deadpool and Wolverine. But you have Wesley Snipes’ Blade showing up which is iconic casting for superhero movies, so it makes sense that he is there. You have Channing Tatum’s Gambit, which is a fun and funny character, but he is a character that does not have a legacy because Channing Tatum never got his Gambit movie. The surprises are fun and they do put a smile on your face. But they also tie back to this idea of legacy and the themes of the film. It is an example of a film that does deliver on the fun that we expected from the trailers, while also finding the heart in the story and these characters. This isn’t one of the best movies of the decade, but it’s one of the most fun movies and a film that I love exists and that we were finally able to get Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine on the big screen together, properly.

 

1. The Odyssey: The latest film from Sir Christopher Nolan is truly epic. After winning multiple Oscars for Oppenheimer, Nolan does not decide to go smaller with his next film. He decides to adapt the most epic story in all western literature, The Odyssey. There is a reason we have not gotten a big screen adaptation of The Odyssey before because it is such a dense story that is covering 20 years. Only a top-notch director like Christopher Nolan can adapt The Odyssey properly and on a scale like this. The reason it works so well, one is because you have Christopher Nolan directing it. But beyond that, he is willing to put in the challenging work to make the best film possible. It is a film that relied more on practical effects than CGI. It is easy to put the cast on a green screen looking at a tennis ball for the cyclops scene. But Nolan did it and built a 60-foot-tall cyclops puppet and shot it in an actual cave. When there’s sequences where people are buried in the ground, they bury people under ground. When it is all done and in camera it makes it even more believable and like you are being sucked into this world. Like all of Nolan’s films, he recruits a fantastic cast filled with great actors delivering great performances. The reason the film works as well as it does is because you have a great actor like Matt Damon in the lead. The film is on his shoulders and if he does not work then the film does not work. I have seen the film two times now and the performance that really stood out to me both times I have seen it was Robert Pattinson. Who is playing such a petty character that you hate, and you want to see taken out. But it is great to see Tom Holland doing something besides Spider-Man. All this epic adventure, great sequences, and fantastic performances all lead up to a fantastic third act that has some of the best payoff that I have seen in a movie in a long time. Christopher Nolan was already a legend before this movie came out, and now with this movie he continues to prove himself as a legend and one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood. Easily, The Odyssey is #1 on this list.