All 4 Gareth Edwards Movies Ranked from Worst to Best

A comprehensive list ranking Gareth Edwards movies, including Godzilla, Rogue One, and The Creator

gareth edwards godzilla bryan cranston 2014 — Gareth Edwards and Bryan Cranston on the set of Godzilla (2014)

Gareth Edwards has carved his own style of blockbuster filmmaking that I’m not sure anyone could replicate even if they tried. He has a way of amplifying a budget into a film that looks like it costs much, much more to produce. And he’s also been able to mold his talents to both original storytelling and mainstream franchise material – another skill that few directors have perfected quite like him.

That’s not to say that he’s batting a perfect 4-for-4. Each of his movies is, at the very least, quite interesting and revealing of an auteur interested in smaller scale to the backdrop of sci-fi destruction. Whether it be in intergalactic galaxies spanning the Star Wars canon, or under the monstrous foot of Godzilla, he finds personal moments that ultimately make the worlds he is interested in more lively and fruitful.

But that’s also where you could begin to pick some nits within the Gareth Edwards filmography. His $60 million movies look like $200 million movies, but with a lack of emotional catharsis and thematic density to match. What he lacks for depth in story, he makes up for in visual spectacle. But he’s got a mainstream classic bubbling inside, and I don’t think we’ve seen the best movies from him yet – even if the best Gareth Edwards movies go toe-to-toe with about any mainstream science fiction material this past decade-plus.

Which is to say that we need more filmmakers like Gareth Edwards and Alex Garland and M. Night Shyamalan, who play with genre and expectations effortlessly, positing your own beliefs in franchise material against their own sensibilities. Although Edwards has only made four movies in his short career (with rumors of the 5^th being a new Jurassic Park entry), he’s had the mainstream success that few can even dream of, capitalizing on a blend of commercial and critical success. He can kinda get mostly anything funded that he desires, which will make the next decade for him one to watch closely.

But that’s for another time. For now, here’s how I’m thinking I’d rank the Gareth Edwards movies from worst to best:

4. Monsters (2010)

3. The Creator (2023)

Gareth Edwards’ latest movie, The Creator, blasts onto the screen with the force of a nuclear warhead, throwing audiences into a sprawling sci-fi epic that’s equal parts awe-inspiring and occasionally frustratingly shallow. Like a perfectly sculpted sandcastle frailly built on a windy beach, The Creator boasts breathtaking visuals and an ambitious scope, only to crumble under the weight of its own narrative shortcomings. The Creator movie review