Actress Megan Fox has, in a little over a decade, run the gamut of the Hollywood system, and has come out the other side as a performer with range and an ever-alluring media personality. With the kind of screen presence that’s entrancing and mysterious, she makes outrunning, fighting robots, munching on high school dudes, or dragging around a grown dude locked to her wrist more absorbing than they already are.
Across her years in the game, she’s been a part of blockbuster franchises and cult classics, and below I have listed some of her very best entries, ranging from her leading roles to her underappreciated supporting turns (but not including her cameo in The Dictator).
Friends with Kids
Despite the conventional rom-com aspects of the story, and the fact Adam Scott’s character is mostly a giant ass for much of it, Jennifer Westfeldt’s 2011 star-studded comedy is a funny examination of unique, modern relationships. As a vehicle for Fox when she was still in the early phases of her career when studios were trying to market her sex appeal, her role as actress Mary Jane allows her to tap into more of her natural charm and humor. It (along with one or two other entries on this list) proves that with the right script she can show off some solid comedic timing and hold her own against the likes of Scott, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, and more.
Jennifer’s Body
A victim of a misleading marketing campaign aimed at horny teenage boys still reeling after Fox’s role in Transformers, director Karyn Kusama and writer Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body has luckily found its place as a horror movie cult classic. This feminist horror fantasy begins with the quote “Hell is a teenage girl,” exploring puberty, sexual harassment, toxic masculinity, and more in a blend of comedy of slasher homages, with excellent work from Fox and Amanda Seyfried holding it down. Fox, in particular, showed her range during this early entry of her ascension, finding the comedy in playing it straight, and then bringing out the pathos in the tortured Jennifer. Whether you were turned off by negative reviews long ago, haven’t seen it in over a decade, or just want another excuse to watch it, this October season is the perfect time to give Fox’s arguably best movie another go.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
The first entry of the CGI-live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies was an ugly affair, trying to straddle the line between the ridiculous premise and a more grounded, modern approach. The sequel is far from great, but at least it has the good sense to have a more colorful abandon than its predecessor, embracing the ludicrousness of talking kung-fu turtles. As the returning April O’Neil, Fox has been in better movies that have made better use of her talents, but of the several CGI-heavy movies under her belt, this is certainly one of the least headache-inducing.
This is 40
One of Judd Apatow’s weaker directorial efforts still features some great work from the cast, including Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segel, Chris O’Dowd, John Lithgow, Albert Brooks, Charlyn Yi, and Fox. Like Friends With Kids, Fox stepped into a comedic supporting role that shows how funny she can be against the right performers, getting to lean into work with Segel and O’Dowd and chew on some R-rated dialogue. In fact, between this, Friends, and Jennifer’s Body, it’s a shame we haven’t had more rom-coms and or screwball comedies starring Fox, because with the right script she could easily kill. There’s still time.
Till Death
Standing toe-to-toe with Jennifer’s Body, a strong contestant for Fox’s best movie is also one of 2021’s strongest genre offerings. Like a Saw trap in the middle of nowhere, Fox plays a woman who is handcuffed to her husband, who then shoots himself in the head, leaving her stranded in the middle of the frozen tundra. A brutal, ever-evolving puzzle, Fox kills it in her most physically and emotionally demanding role, and…you know what, the less said the better. Go in as fresh as possible, and let each new twist and Fox’s work blow your mind.
Transformers
The film that catapulted Fox to fame and onto the walls of every man, prepubescent or otherwise, Michael Bay’s Transformers benefits from being the best entry in a series of increasingly loud and moronic robo-smash-‘em-ups (sans Bumblebee, I suppose). As he does with most of the women in his movies, Bay shoots Fox like a piece of eye candy and doesn’t give her character much to work with — but it’s also hard to blame him for that, in this case. Fox is such a stunning screen presence that she steals the show from fighting robots, and it’s no wonder why it only took this one movie to make her the next entertainment industry “it” girl.
Rogue
As Fox has entered into more genre territory in recent years, so too has she primed herself to become more of a leading action hero. In Rogue, which finds her as a mercenary facing both a terrorist group and a vicious mama lion, Fox is a commanding screen badass leading a group of typical, hard-nosed action dudes through bullet-blazing encounters and the wrath of nature itself. Much of the movie isn’t as strong as it could’ve been as a B-action movie, but Fox once again proves how well she can hold her own as a leading lady, carving out a new identity for herself on the screen which will hopefully lead to roles suitable for her obvious badassery.