British Actress Blog

Top 10 Emma Watson Movies

Review: So this review focuses on the movies that bring out the best of Emma Watson’s celebrity talent. I’m not focusing mainly on which Emma Watson character is the best or most liked. If I did that Hermione Granger will win out every time. I will be looking at which movies show the full range of emotions and brings out the most change in the her character.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

Number 10: Noah (2014)

A truly heart felt performance. Emma shows her skills but the movie does not give her a very big part in the story. Granted this is not the fault of the creators but the story its self. The ancient world is not known for being very gynocentric, so there is no way she would have a more significant role if the creators are trying to stick to the original mythologies as close as possible. But for what we have in this film, I’m very glade the creators where smart enough to choose Emma Watson for the role, Thank you! I think the best scene is where Emma Watson’s character Ila sits down with Noah and they have a very human talk. This encourages Noah to look to the future. I know it seems kind of boring or ‘flat’ so to speak but this kind of dialog and scene is very real. Instead of people being very political and angry, we get to see a much more nature synthesis between the two polarities. When both the peaceful characters are working together, life, gratitude, and peace are the results. When the dominant characters Tubal-cain and all the selfish followers of his are treating others badly, the results are death, chaos, and destruction. This movie gets number ten spot because it does not show us the best of Emma Watson’s abilities.

Number 9: My Week with Marilyn (2010)

Emma’s character knows her self well. She does not compromise her self or her beliefs. When Colin chooses Marilyn over Emma Watson’s character ‘Lucy‘, she does not break. She knows her worth. Later in the film Colin tries to get back with Lucy and she tells him that she is busy, Colin smiles. Its a small role in the movie but the character has her principles. The film focuses more on Marilyn Monroe rather than Emma’s character. This is a movie about making movies. So this film gets ninth place for having a much stronger character but not exploring Emma Watson’s full acting abilities enough.

Number 8: Ballet Shoes (2007)

Interestingly enough we have another movie about making movies. In this film we see Emma’s character ‘Pauline’ learns how to theater act. She later goes onto motion picture film and learns how deferent the two platforms are. She has to summon her emotions in a small amount of time when she is acting in motion picture film. She says that when she is theater acting, she takes time to build up the character. You can most definitely see true star quality in Emma Watson in this film. Again, the other characters take up a lot of the screen time but what we do get from Emma is great. Her character can absolutely be a spoiled emotional disaster in this movie making for some truly hilarious scenes when she has her ‘fits‘. You can see that Emma was an up and comer in the film business back in 2007 at her young age, exploring more of her acting range. Luckily later films would show us more of her abilities by giving her the leading roles on movies rather than just the supporting roles.

Number 7: The Bling Ring (2013)

Nikki is one hell of a bad girl, a liar, and a thief. Emma Watson’s characters is not as bad as the real life Nikki, but there are times when this character is unintentional and intentional hilarious how she is completely self absorbed and even tries to promote her own brand with all of the bad press. The fictional character version of Nikki is not so classy though. Emma does well with the character but we are used to seeing her play in the most classy roles in show business. At the very least we see more of her acting range. We finally get to see more of Emma Watson in this film but we don’t actually get as much of her acting range as we would want.

Number 6: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

So one of the reasons I like this one is because Hermione has something to offer the film a little more than some of the earlier Harry Potters films. When Harry needs something his friends are there to support him. This is one of the first time we really get to see a character played by Emma Watson really take control and handle her business. She is not just a spectator but more of a participant in the whole film. I have to say Hermione is cheating by using the Time Tuner device to get to her classes on time. Not very ethical of her but Dumbledore didn’t care too much. This is some crazy subject matter for a kids movie though.

Number 5: Regression (2015)

Emma Watson is extremely devious in this movie. She is an excellent liar and sinister social engineer. She can be look at as either an evil person, a victim, or both. Interestingly, her character knows people very well for her age. She has every one wrapped around her finger and uses their own psychology against them. Its kind of scary how good Emma is at playing such a nefarious character. I suppose you could call her a villainess. Ethan Hawke takes most of the screen time. Make no mistake, this guy is good but for Emma’s character we see her as someone who is throwing obstacles at the main protagonist rather than showing more of her range. I am reminded of the film Inferno (2016). Sienna Brooks ( Felicity Jones ) have very similar role in that movies. You think they are good and innocent all the while they are the enemy playing everyone with game theory much like Palpatine in the Star Wars films. This is a very interesting role. We usually don’t see Emma playing this kind of devious role. For what we get in this movie, her role is not bad at all. I just wish we got to see more of her, but that may have given away too much of the plot twists too early in the film.

Number 4: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

So this is the first time we see Emma as Hermione Granger and she knocks it out of the park. The character comes off as misunderstood but she develops her character over the course of the whole Harry Potter series and in this fashion we get to see Hermione grow as a character and learn what she is capable of. J.J. Abrams should have taking lessons from this series on how to properly develop a female character over the course of a movie series instead of jam packing ‘Rey’ with skills she did not earn and forcing the character down our throats. The Harry Potter series has excellent use of character development. In fact, Emma Watson didn’t like the character Hermione Granger at first, but she learned to like and appreciate the character over time, which shows you the superb writing of this character. This is one great example of how to how to develop a female character. Little Watson brings so much to the table with her acting ability at such a young age, who has grown into a super star! I guess some people in this world are destine to be great and Emma Watson is one of them!

Number 3: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 1 (2010)

We all love the character Emma Watson plays in these movie. Its shows a very human and real female character rather than some weird stereotype. There is no rivalry with the boys here, only a person that is a member of the team. She looks out for Harry and Ron just like a real person would. Hermione Granger is such a great character. As a film critic I see a lot of female characters and Hermione has to be one of the most realistic and human characters that interacts with the people around her in a very real way. She is not one of those stereotypical characters the has a chip on her shoulder. Hermione is very human. She represent a major high point in female characters. I wish more characters were like her instead most movie are full of thrown together empty shells. Worst yet, a lot of films get green lit because the producers have connections and not because anyone has any real talent or artistic creativity. So we get a mountain of b-movies in grocery store bargain bins for absolutely a fraction of the retail price! Talk about quantity over quality. Luckily for us, all we are alive to finally see what a real female character should be like. Thank you very much Emma Watson!

Number 2: Colonia (2015)

Emma Watson plays a very strong character in this film. Its so refreshing seeing how women really act rather than the typical damsel in distress that needs to be rescued by someone else ( I‘m looking at you Princess Peach! ‘Mario games‘). I don’t know any women like that. Here Emma’s character looks for every opportunity to complete her objective and if a way does not exist? She makes a way. If she needs to social engineer people into getting what she needs, she’ll do it. This is an exciting film that definitely tells a story. Survival skills are a must in order to escape your captures. This is probably one the strongest characters Emma Watson has ever played, even rivaling Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films. It really is a deep breath of fresh air to see a character that can actually think and not play dumb just so the screen writers can draw out the film for two hour because of lack of creativity. Its concerning that this movie is based on a true story. Its kind of messed up really. Regardless, the movie is very good. Its so much better watching films that focus on what this incredible actress can do rather than her taking a back seat to others characters. That’s one of the main reasons why this film is ranked so high on this list.

Number 1: The Circle (2017)

The Circle takes number one place as the top Emma Watson movie. I know the Hermione fans are going to be mad at me for this! In this film we get to see the full range of acting from the top British actress in one movie unlike the Harry Potter films which spreads her acting range across the whole movie series. I love the fact that we get to focus on Emma Watson’s character instead of Harry Potter taking up all the screen time. Her emotions are real in this movie. The subject matter is relevant to everyone who is watching the film. Big data collection is a reality that some people worry about while others don’t seem to care. What are the big fictional social media conglomerates doing with their users location, meta data, and search history in this movie? What I love about this movie is that it dares to ask the question ‘What if?’. This movie has guts I’ll tell you that. The film makes you wonder if this is the direction we as a human species is headed. This film is creative, different, and adventurous. We see the very realistic technological of the modern world rather than a fantasy world of magic and wizards. The real magic is electricity, hardware, and computer code. The IT infrastructure and architecture are the fabric of the cyber world we dive into with are smart phones. This movie shows the dynamic effects that social media has on so many people‘s lives and reputations. Again the adventure that Emma’s character is thrust into is very interesting and fun to watch.

Conclusion: Keep in mind this is just my opinion. If I had to choose the best Emma Watson character it would be Hermione but this review is deigns to focuses on the movies that bring out the best of her full acting range.

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