Johnny Depp and the Movie Critics (2010-present, in chronological order):
Based on the RottenTomatoes meter, below please find film critics’ degree of approval of Johnny Depp’s films over the past six years.
I would like to suggest that, give and take, the percentage of positive versus negative reviews is an indicator of a film’s critical response, and to a lesser (and more debatable) extent, a barometer of a film’s overall artistic quality.
Alice in Wonderland (2010), 52 percent positive reviews, 48 percent negative reviews
The Tourist (2010), 20 percent positive
Rango (animation, 2011), 87 percent positive
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), 32 percent positive
Rum Diary (2011), 50 percent positive
Dark Shadows (2012), 37 per positive
The Lone Ranger (2013), 31 percent positive
Transcendence (2014), 20 percent positive
Tusk (2014), 41 percent positive
Into the Woods (2014), 74 percent positive
Mortdecai (2015), 13 percent positive
Black Mass (2015), 75 percent positive
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), 30 percent positive
John Waters gave me a wonderful interview for my book Gay Directors/Gay Films(Columbia University Press) about his work with Depp on Cry-Baby, which went on to become a cult movie years after its initial theatrical debut.
Gay Directors, Gay Films? By Emanuel Levy (Columbia University Press)
Incidentally, Waters’ movie was released the same year, 1990, as Edward Scissorhands, the movie that catapulted Depp to major Hollywood stardom.
Black Mass
Last year, Depp gave one of his best performances as real-life convicted crime boss Whitey Bulger in the crime-gangster feature, Black Mass, directed by Scott Cooper. We were all hoping that, artistically, it would serve as a major career comeback. Oscar nomination as Best Actor–which would have been his fourth–could have helped, and it was anticipated by several Oscar pundits (including yours truly), but it did not materialize.
It was a competitive year for leading males at the Oscar race, though Depp received his third Best Actor nomination from his colleagues at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Depp’s Worst Reviewed Film
Panned by most critics, Mortdecai, the wannabe slapstick comedy, received 87 percent negative reviews and only 13 percent positive, thus becoming Depp’s worst reviewed picture in a career spanning almost three decades.
Depp’s Best Reviewed Film
Of the dozen films he has made since 201o, only Rango, the animated feature, has received critical acclaim, with 87 of all reviews positive.
Depp’s Ensemble Movies
Into the Woods, the Sondheim musical made for the big screen by Rob Marshall, has been positively reviewed (74 percent), but it’s an ensemble piece, in which Depp played the small character part of the wolf, but didn’t carry the film on his own shoulders.
Depp Performances We Love
Cry-Baby
Edward Scissorhands
What’s Eating Ethan Grape?
Photo below: Leonardo DiCaprio as Depp’s younger, mentally challenged brother
Movie Stars: Depp, Johnny–Love/Hate with Film Critics
Johnny Depp and the Movie Critics (2010-present, in chronological order):
I would like to suggest that, give and take, the percentage of positive versus negative reviews is an indicator of a film’s critical response, and to a lesser (and more debatable) extent, a barometer of a film’s overall artistic quality.
Alice in Wonderland (2010), 52 percent positive reviews, 48 percent negative reviews
The Tourist (2010), 20 percent positive
Rango (animation, 2011), 87 percent positive
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), 32 percent positive
Rum Diary (2011), 50 percent positive
Dark Shadows (2012), 37 per positive
The Lone Ranger (2013), 31 percent positive
Transcendence (2014), 20 percent positive
Tusk (2014), 41 percent positive
Into the Woods (2014), 74 percent positive
Mortdecai (2015), 13 percent positive
Black Mass (2015), 75 percent positive
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), 30 percent positive
John Waters gave me a wonderful interview for my book Gay Directors/Gay Films (Columbia University Press) about his work with Depp on Cry-Baby, which went on to become a cult movie years after its initial theatrical debut.
Gay Directors, Gay Films? By Emanuel Levy (Columbia University Press)
Incidentally, Waters’ movie was released the same year, 1990, as Edward Scissorhands, the movie that catapulted Depp to major Hollywood stardom.
Black Mass
Last year, Depp gave one of his best performances as real-life convicted crime boss Whitey Bulger in the crime-gangster feature, Black Mass, directed by Scott Cooper. We were all hoping that, artistically, it would serve as a major career comeback. Oscar nomination as Best Actor–which would have been his fourth–could have helped, and it was anticipated by several Oscar pundits (including yours truly), but it did not materialize.
It was a competitive year for leading males at the Oscar race, though Depp received his third Best Actor nomination from his colleagues at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Depp’s Worst Reviewed Film
Panned by most critics, Mortdecai, the wannabe slapstick comedy, received 87 percent negative reviews and only 13 percent positive, thus becoming Depp’s worst reviewed picture in a career spanning almost three decades.
Depp’s Best Reviewed Film
Of the dozen films he has made since 201o, only Rango, the animated feature, has received critical acclaim, with 87 of all reviews positive.
Depp’s Ensemble Movies
Into the Woods, the Sondheim musical made for the big screen by Rob Marshall, has been positively reviewed (74 percent), but it’s an ensemble piece, in which Depp played the small character part of the wolf, but didn’t carry the film on his own shoulders.
Depp Performances We Love
Cry-Baby
Edward Scissorhands
What’s Eating Ethan Grape?
Photo below: Leonardo DiCaprio as Depp’s younger, mentally challenged brother