Ranking Every Film by Gareth Edwards from Best to Worst

With the release of Jurassic World: Reborn, I decided to watch through all of Gareth Edwards' filmography. Gareth Edwards is a fairly new director having only directed 5 films with his first being in 2010. He got his start in visual effects with much of that skill and style carrying over to his directed films. Gareth Edwards' films have varied a bit in quality but look very good on the visual effects side with his unique visual style and color pallet being present in each film. With all that said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the 5 films of Gareth Edwards.

5. Monsters

Monsters is the first film from Gareth Edwards and starts right off by establishing his unique visual style. This is a small-budget Kaiju movie which is probably why he got tapped to direct Godzilla. The movie follows a cynical journalist as he agrees to escort an American tourist through a monster-infested infected zone. It is interesting to see a world where an alien invasion has already happened and humanity just has to live with them. However, as a whole I found this movie to be rather dull. There are very few monster moments in it with the majority of the movie following these two characters in a weird will they won't they story. The best way to describe Monsters is as a boring version of War of the Worlds. There are some similarities between the two in terms of plot and structure but this movie just lacks any sort of tension or excitement. I also didn't think that either character gave a very good performances. Specifically, the girl did not seem like a very good actress. Overall, the movie looks good and has an interesting basic premise, but it just isn't very memorable and was something I mostly forgot 5 minutes after watching.

Score: 5.5/10 Grade: C

4. Godzilla

While it is still entertaining, Godzilla is still one of the weaker Gareth Edwards films. The main issue keeping the film down is the lack of monster action. There is some monster action. We get to see Mothra and Godzilla duke it out a couple of times and there are some fun sequences with the human characters as things are being destroyed by Godzilla. However, the movie makes the odd choice of hiding the Godzilla action until the very end of the movie. Every time Godzilla gets ready to fight, the movie will either cut away and just show the aftermath of the destruction, close a door right before Godzilla begins to fight, or just show a portion of the fight on a TV. Doing this completely misses the point of a Godzilla as people are watching the movie to see Godzilla destroy stuff. Thankfully, we do finally get to see a big fight at the end of the movie which is the reason why this movie gets to 6/10. Overall, while the movie has some fun moments, it just doesn't have enough Godzilla action to be as enjoyable as the other movies on this list.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

3. Jurassic World: Rebirth

Jurassic World: Rebirth is essentially a middle-ground film between the Jurassic series and Gareth Edwards' film. It is considerably more exciting than the other films on this list. There is some solid dinosaur action, and the CGI dinosaurs look very good. You get a little bit of that signature Gareth Edwards visual style and color palette, but this movie is probably the least like the other in that regard. I liked how simple the story was. We don't get bogged down in nonsense like human cloning, locusts, or corporate espionage. I also like how the movie still captures a little bit of that awe of seeing dinosaurs walking around like the original film and Jurassic World do. However, while it doesn't do anything overtly terrible, there are still some aspects that keep the movie from being better. Much like the other Jurassic World films, the characters are all one-dimensional. There isn't much to any of them other than just being a likable character to follow. I also thought that the boating family didn't have any reason to be in the movie. They don't contribute anything to the overall mission and are just there. I also wasn't a huge fan of the mutant dinosaurs. I feel like the story could have had the same effect using actual dinosaur species. In the end, this is a fun summer blockbuster, but it doesn't have highs or standout moments to put it higher on the list.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

2. The Creator

The Creator is a significant step up from the other movies on the list. One of the best things about this movie is that it is an original big blockbuster sci-fi epic, something we just don't see in Hollywood these days. This movie tells a great story about a war between the USA and AI. It has a good performance from John David Washington. He manages to bring in such a layered and emotional performance while also having a great dynamic with the AI child. The world-building in this movie is very well done as well. It gives us a lived-in world where we get to see the lives of both humans and AI. I also thought the movie delivered a lot of solid action sequences that kept the film exciting. The visuals in the movie are fantastic. The way the film was shot was just so well done and so original. The CGI is also the best I have seen in a while. With so much poor CGI and green screens lately, it was refreshing to see something that actually looked good. The movie also has a great soundtrack that really matches the tone of the scenes the songs are in. Finally, I thought the movie delivered a lot of emotional moments through a story that keeps you invested from beginning to end. Overall, this movie is a great original film and proof that movies don't need to spend $250 million to make a film with visuals and CGI that looks amazing.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

1. Rogue One

Rogue One is surprisingly the best of the Disney-era films as well as the best since the original trilogy. It has a really interesting story and adds a different angle to the rebellion that isn't seen in the main films. This is an example of a spin-off done right. It has a story that is connected, but it is largely about a group of new characters. This film also has some great battle moments. The battle on Scarif is so much fun with both the land and space access. The movie is also really thrilling as these are all new characters and you are unsure which ones are going to make it. The movie also has a surprisingly emotional ending with the direction some characters go in. I also like how this movie manages to fill in some gaps in the original Star Wars film and explain how the rebels can attack the Death Star. Finally, that final scene with Darth Vader is absolutely amazing. It shows how cool of a character he is and is one of my favorite movie scenes.

In the end, this is a fantastic spin-off that is almost as good as the original trilogy and is the best of the films from Gareth Edwards.

Score: 9/10 Grade: A