Edgar Wright may be one of the best directors alive today. The man only has five major feature films to his name, but every single one of them is good. But which is the greatest? We're going to try to answer that question by ranking Edgar Wright's five big movies in order.
To start, let's make one thing perfectly clear, shall we? All five of these movies are great. Edgar Wright is an amazing director. I personally love all five of them and would compare the movie at the bottom of list favorably to most of the movies I've seen in my life. Still, somehow we must figure out how to distinguish the best from the "not quite as good" so here we go.
5. Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Scott Pilgrim vs the World may be one of Edgar Wright's most divisive films. Many might believe the film belongs higher on the list, while the rest consider this the only bad movie Edgar Wright has made, thus earning it a place at the bottom. While I personally love the film, I can also appreciate those that just don't find it nearly as much fun. The film is so utterly unique with its use of video game imagery and action in an otherwise grounded story that it resonated with many. For me, Scott Pilgrim is here not because the film is bad, but because everything else is so much better.
4. Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead was the film that introduced most American audiences to Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright, and launched a "trilogy" of films that we'll never forget. The movie is both a send-up of the overdone zombie movie genre, and also a fantastic addition to the zombie movie genre that it mocks. In the end, Shaun of the Dead is a fantastic film, one of the best comedies in recent memory, but the Cornetto Trilogy only improves from here, and there are only five slots on this list.
3. Hot Fuzz
In the same way that Shaun of the Dead takes aim at the zombie apocalypse genre, Hot Fuzz does the same with the "one man vs the world" action movie, and like Shaun, Hot Fuzz also embraces every cliche about the genre while poking fun at it. Hot Fuzz is a clear improvement over everything that Shaun of the Dead tries to do. It's a better comedy because the movie works so hard to deliver everything straight, and the third act belongs alongside any classic action movie as one of the best of all time.
2. The World's End
The third time was the charm for the Cornetto trilogy. With each entry, Edgar Wright found something new to do with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and while The Word's End isn't the biggest, boldest version of this partnership, the slightly smaller focus allows for a more emotional and personal story than the previous iterations. That doesn't mean that the plot is any less bonkers than anything else Edgar Wright has ever done. However, his ability to balance the bizarre and the emotional shows a unique skill that few other great directors have, making The World's End (just barely) the best of his work with Simon Pegg, though not quite his best movie.
1. Baby Driver
Edgar Wright's newest film is his best, end of story. It may not be as funny as some of the movies on this list but it's got compelling characters and great action and is a love letter to a type of movie that we just don't see anymore. There's just nothing wrong with Baby Driver from start to finish. It's a movie that combines its soundtrack into the story in a way that no movie has done, making the music an actual character in the film. Baby Driver is going to be one of those movies that people watch over and over again because it will be just as good the tenth time as the first.
