Mark Wahlberg has shown that he can do both action movies and dramatic ones. He is a good actor who can make you laugh and care about the people he plays. He has a lot of love for the troops, and movies like Patriots Day and Lone Survivor show that. But he can also make funny movies like Daddy’s Home.
1. Lone Survivor (2013)
The third movie that Wahlberg worked on with director David O’Russell, this one tells the story of real-life boxer Micky Ward and his brother. Wahlberg plays the down-on-his-luck Ward, and his performance is powerful and believable. He also gets to drop some serious badass moves like a knockout kidney shot.
Wahlberg stars alongside George Clooney and Ice Cube in this action movie about a gold heist during the Iraq war. This movie is a bit of a change of pace from his usual fare but it showcases his acting talents.
Wahlberg proves that he’s more than just a one-trick pony when it comes to films. He’s great when he has something to work with, such as this gripping disaster film about the Deepwater Horizon explosion. It’s clear that he’s much more at home with true stories than fictional ones.
2. History (2013)
One of Wahlberg’s better movies, this thriller about the oil disaster that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico stars him as a worker who must deal with the aftermath. Featuring some impressive action sequences, this movie is well worth checking out.
This is a great example of how Wahlberg can take on military genre movies and really make them work. Having a respect for the armed forces, he really digs into these roles and comes up with some powerful performances.
This is one of three movies 123 that he made with director David O Russell, and it might be the best of the bunch. Taking on the role of one half of the Ward brothers, Wahlberg showcases his acting and boxing skills in this gritty drama. He also has some impressive chemistry with his costars.
3. The Happening (2008)
The 2008 thriller was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starred Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, and Betty Buckley. Its story revolved around a former U.S. marksman Bob Lee Swagger who witnesses mass suicides due to an inexplicable natural disaster.
This movie is a bit of an oddity in that it is a war film but also includes a pretty significant amount of comedy. That comedy is mostly provided by Wahlberg’s deadpan delivery and it is a great counterpoint to the hysterical acting of George Clooney and Ice Cube.
4. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
This fourth installment in the supposedly dead franchise managed to keep up with its predecessors when it came to big explosions, a dramatic score, and a hero stepping in to save the day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save this muddled mess of sludgy CGI and berserk Arthurian legend.
This movie is one of the few times Wahlberg stretched outside his comfort zone and he does it well. His wry, deadpan delivery is perfect for David O’Russell’s biting satire of U.S. involvement overseas.
In this lookmovie film, Wahlberg plays Cade Yeager, a failed robotics engineer who finds the shape-shifting Transformers Optimus Prime on his property. The movie is surprisingly tense, but a little overlong and a bit stale in spots. Still, it’s worth a watch for the performances and action scenes alone. It’s the best of the TF series so far.
5. Planet of the Apes (2001)
A tense and gripping disaster film, Deepwater Horizon proves that Wahlberg is more than just an action star. The movie is based on true events, making it a much more realistic experience than most of the other movies in this genre.
While it’s not nearly as good as the original, this is a solid movie with some decent performances from its cast. In addition to Wahlberg, you’ll see Ice Cube and George Clooney in some of their best work here.
You’ve probably forgotten that Tim Burton once tried to bring Planet of the Apes back to life with this god-awful remake. The movie is a complete disaster, with curdled humor and a dull, boring story. But the one moment in the movie that’s sure to stick with you is the moment when Heston’s Taylor regains his voice and yells at those stinking apes.