Hugh Jackman’s 10 Best Movies (Excluding The X-Men Franchise), According To Rotten Tomatoes

Some actors are said to be born for a specific role. Few are good enough to get this accolade, but Hugh Jackman is undoubtedly one of them when it comes to playing the Marvel superhero, Wolverine. Not only did he carry the mantle and virtually the entirety of the X-Men franchise for 17 long years, but he did it so well that it’s near impossible to imagine anyone else in the role  – the two are practically synonymous.

As such, it isn’t unusual to forget that outside of his role as Wolverine, Jackman has appeared in plenty of other successful movies, not to mention, he isn’t lacking in the awards and accolades department either, being close to achieving EGOT status.

10 Real Steel (2011) – 60%

Mixing classic sports-drama elements with sci-fi, Real Steel takes place in an alternate future where robots have replaced humans in the boxing industry and robot boxing is seen as a popular sport.

Hugh Jackman’s character, Charlie Kenton, is struggling to succeed in the world of robot boxing. He finds a dysfunctional robot in a junkyard and works with his son, Max, to fix it up. A former boxer himself, he trains the robot in the art of fighting, and together with his son the three topple many opponents to rise up the ranks.

9 Les Misérables (2012) – 70%

The film that earned him his first and only (for now) acting Academy Award nomination of his life, Les Misérables is a period drama based on the 1980 French musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

Among the star-studded cast of some of Hollywood’s biggest names, such as Anne Hatheway, Russel Crowe, and Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Jackman plays the protagonist, Jean Valjean, a prisoner turned philanthropist who takes in the daughter of an acquaintance. Although he did miss out on an Oscar, Jackman was luckier in the Golden Globes department.

8 Flushed Away (2006) – 73%

Aardman Studios are known for their hit stop-motion clay animation film franchises, such as Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, and 2006’s Flushed Away was their first fully computer-animated film. Rats aren’t exactly the top choice when people think of pets, but in Flushed Away, Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman) is the spoiled pet rat of a wealthy family who gets flushed down the toilet by another rat.

Discovering a whole new world of mice down in the gutters, called Ratropolis, he teams up with a female rat to try and get back to the life that he was forced out of.

7 Rise Of The Guardians (2012) – 75%

From penguins to rats, Hugh Jackman has certainly had an interesting career as a voice actor, and Rise of the Guardians finds him as the voice behind the character of the Easter Bunny. As a part of a group of protectors who call themselves the Guardians, he works with other mythical beings, such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, who band together to fight against the evil Bogeyman.

The other guardians are voiced by popular actors as well, such as Star Trek star Chris Pine as the Winter spirit, Jack Frost, and Alec Baldwin as Santa Claus.

6 Happy Feet (2006) – 76%

A film that is as much about a group of happy-go-lucky penguins as it is about the environment and wildlife and how they are affected by the actions of human beings, Happy Feet was directed, produced, and co-written by Mad Max creator, George Miller. It focuses on a tap-dancing penguin by the name of Mumble who can’t sing, a very vital talent that is necessary for every penguin in their society.

Hugh Jackman is the man behind Mumble’s father’s voice, Memphis. Besides winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, it is Warner Brother’s highest-grossing animated film.

5 The Prestige (2006) – 76%

One of his earliest and most underrated films, Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige is as close to a Wolverine vs Batman film anyone is getting for now. Set in the late 19th century Victorian Era, it is a tale of extreme rivalry adapted from the pages of the book of the same name by author Christopher Priest.

Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play the part of Alfred Borden and Robert Angier respectively, two fellow magicians who go from being close friends to resentful enemies. Each trying to beat the other, they stop at nothing while destroying each other’s lives in the process.

4 Prisoners (2013) – 81%

Director Denis Villeneuve has gained widespread popularity in recent years for his sci-fi hits like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 and the upcoming Dune, but before all these movies was his psychological thriller, Prisoners. Written by Raised By Wolves creator Aaron Guzikowski, it tells the story of the Dover and Birch family, whose young daughters go missing.

As a man hellbent on locating his daughter, Hugh Jackman plays the father of the Dover family who pulls out all the moral and legal stops in desperation, even working against the police detective trying to help him, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

3 Eddie The Eagle (2016) – 82%

English athlete Michael Edwards became known as “Eddie the Eagle” when he became the first person to represent Great Britain in ski jumping at the Winter Olympics since 1928. Kingsman star Taron Egerton portrays the titular Eddie in this biopic, while Hugh Jackman can be found in the role of Bronson Peary, Eddie’s coach and mentor.

A classic feel-good underdog story, it was directed by Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher and grossed $46 million against a budget of half that.

2 Missing Link (2019) – 89%

The myth of the creature Bigfoot, like many of its kind, has made its way into various movies and other media, and 2019’s Missing Link from Laika Studios is one of the best. The Hangover star Zach Galifianakis plays (voices) the Sasquatch, dubbed Mr. Link in the film, while Hugh Jackman appears as Sir Lionel Frost, a myth investigator who teams up with Bigfoot on an expedition to the Himalayas in search for Yetis.

Although the film received fairly positive reviews from fans and critics, it was a massive box-office flop that grossed $26 million against a budget of over $100 million.

1 Bad Education (2019) – 94%

The most critically acclaimed role of his career (even after taking the X-Men films into account, including Logan which has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), Bad Education is yet another biographical film from Hugh Jackman. The 2004 Roslyn Union Free School District scandal was one of the biggest cases of embezzlement in a public institution in America’s history, and HBO’s crime-drama is a retelling of that event.

Jackman plays Frank Tassone, a superintendent who, with the help of an accomplice, steals a total of $11 million from the school district he was in charge of.

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