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This list was originally published on December 5, 2019.
Its been updated with additional releases, including this weekendsFly Me to the Moon.
(How many people remember she was the star ofa Michael Bay movie?)
It wasnt until she became Natasha Romanoff that Johansson found a blockbuster role that she could fully embody.
Johanssons brilliant early promise has left us impatient, awaiting increasing greatness with each new role.
But thats our problem, not hers.
Below is a ranking of her best (and worst) performances.
We chose to skip a few that were either tiny or inconsequential.
And we decided to consider all the Black Widow performances as one.
The entire message ofHes Just Not That Into Youis Relationships!
Am I right??!?
and Johansson is stuck playing the sitcom-dumb version of her fun-loving personality.
Hunt survives a little bit better because she knew how to protect herself by this point.
Johansson has no such good fortune.
Johansson has the love interest role that she struggles in vain to make interesting.
Seriously, just check out the Twitter account instead.
You wonder if they ever looked back at this and just laughed and laughed.
We hope she had fun on the set, because theres little joy for anyone who watches the movie.
Johansson is effectively unaware of all that surrounds her, convincingly in a way that all teenagers are.
Oh, yeah, thats right: Michael Bay made this.
The first half ofThe Islandis impressively spare and feels like someone other than Bay directed it.
The real Bay takes over in the second half, and away the movie goes.
What a waste of a duo.
know that yes, there was.
If you rememberChefat all, its probably not because of Johansson.
She holds up her end.
ButThe Prestigedoesnt do her justice.
Hes aJersey ShoreesqueLothario obsessed with Johanssons character, who always seems just a little bit out of reach.
She actually has four Globe nominations … but no Academy Award nods, yet.
This is a meaningful distinction when considering this initially amusing but ultimately woebegone romantic comedy.
Will they butt heads?
Will they fall in love?
She might be great at it.
17.Hail, Caesar!
She plays DeeAnna, a movie queen whose photogenic smile belies her rotten core.
She knows shes playing a self-mocking cliche, and she has a blast with it.
The movie is minor Allen, but Johansson is legitimately funny in it.
But better things were in her future.
She ultimately doesnt mind, and the relationship between the three forms an unlikely familial bond.
Its worth revisiting this, now that shes one of the most famous people in the world.
She always adds something vital to these movies, but she rarely gets to own them herself.
(Sometimes its sort of absurd to say the plot of an Anderson movie out loud.)
8.MatchPoint(2005)
I was doing just fine until you showed up.
Suddenly, shes supersmart!
The action sequences never stop, and neither does the sly wink Johansson shares with the audience.
But Johansson is undeniably the breakout star.
Her infamously dry and sardonic voice fits perfectly with the bored, indifferent, deadpan Rebecca.
We want her to come back.
(Samantha was with us on set and was amazing, writer-director Spike Jonzelater toldVulture.
So we recast and since then Scarlett has taken over that role.)
Journalists and critics talk about actors disappearing into roles; this is the real deal.
Much like her character, Johansson transcends the confines of our expectations, becoming someone new.
But part of whats special about Johanssons turn is how it sneaks up on you.
In Charlotte, Johansson perfected a youthful disillusionment that, once it was achieved, shed quickly outgrow.
More than 15 years later, though, this film remains one of her peaks.
Earlier in her career, she was magnetic or sarcastic or the simple object of a mans affection.
Shes terrifying, and deeply moving.
