One of the 2000's most recognizable faces, Megan Fox became a sex symbol practically overnight with her turn in Michael Bay's Transformers when it premiered in 2007. Suddenly bankable, Fox struggled to leverage her fame and famously burned bridges when she spoke out against Bay's methods, leading to a career that seemed to fizzle before it even began.
Though initially characterized as something of a diva, Fox is actually a fairly reserved and shy celebrity presence, and, though she still performs, seems have stepped somewhat out of the spotlight to focus on raising kids and her burgeoning relationship with rapper, Machine Gun Kelly. Though the majority of her film output is maligned, Fox is never anything but a compelling presence on screen, deserves better work than she has gotten, and is often at her best lampooning her vamp image. Below, is her 10 best films, according to their Rotten Tomatoes score.
How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) - 37%
When down and out journalist Sidney Young (Simon Pegg) lands a gig at a prestigious New York celebrity magazine, he thinks he has it made. Unfortunately for him and his ball-busting editor, Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), Sidney is prone to antisocial behavior and antics, threatening his position at the magazine and his budding romance with Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst).
Though the film's satire of the glitterati is fairly limp, Fox's opportunistic starlet "Sophie Maes" is a sharp and self-aware turn and an early example of the actress outshining the rest of her cast in a small but mighty role.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (2016) - 37%
Shredder (Brian Tee) breaks out of prison at the start of this sequel to the 2014 reboot, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles again team up with April O'Neil (Megan Fox) along with Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) and Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) to take down their nemesis before he and a mad scientist can hold the world hostage with a deadly serum.
Better received than its predecessor, this sequel ups the ante in terms of turtle-centric action and glides along on the charisma of Fox and the rest of the supporting cast.
The Battle Of Jangsari (2019) - 38%
This dramatized account of an actual event is set during the Korean War when a squad of 772 students is enlisted to stage a diversion at Jangsari to fake out North Korean forces. Maggie (Fox), an American correspondent, covers the operation to bring international attention to the struggle.
Fox plays a fictionalized fusion of reporter Marguerite Higgins and photographer Margaret Bourke-White with less than stellar results in this melodramatic war story.
Jennifer's Body (2009) - 45%
When a satanic ritual goes wrong, Jennifer Check (Fox) is transformed into an immortal succubus with a taste for boy flesh, leading to a confrontation with her best friend "Needy" (Amanda Seyfried), who seeks to stop her former bestie before she can cut a bloody swath through their high school's male populace.
Though roundly dismissed by critics and audiences upon release, Karyn Kusama and Diablo Cody's female-centric horror opus is finally getting its dues in the #Metoo era. Jennifer Check is one of Fox's crowning achievement, capitalizing on her otherworldly beauty and poking holes in her "mean girl" reputation to create a screen villainess that's subversive and complex. In a fair world, Jennifer's Body would have been Fox's launchpad to bigger, better roles.
This Is 40 (2012) - 52%
In this loose sequel to Knocked Up (2007), Judd Apatow trains his eye on supporting characters Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) to explore the emotional and existential struggles that emerge as one approaches middle age.
Fox is featured as Desi, Debbie's fun-loving and flirty employee who she suspects is stealing money from her store. Though she largely exists to feed Mann's anxiety about losing her looks, Fox still gets a chance to show off her comic chops in a way that's all too rare for her.
Above The Shadows (2019) - 57%
Olivia Thirlby stars as a young woman who has become invisible due to the neglect of those around her in this romance. When she meets a defamed MMA fighter who can actually see her (Alan Ritchson), she realizes she has to help him to become corporeal once again.
Surprisingly, perpetual bright spot Fox barely registers in what feels like five minutes of screen time in this forgettable supernatural snoozefest.
The Dictator (2012) - 57%
Sacha Baron Cohen's follow up to Bruno (2009) sees the chameleonic provocateur inhabiting the role of General Aladeen, the cruel and hapless ruler of the fictional African Country of Wadiya.
Fox plays herself in this cameo, which is really only notable because The Dictator was a rebound after the actress compared Michael Bay (director of Transformers) to Hitler.
Transformers (2007) - 58%
The 1980s favorite shape-shifting robots from outer space come to life in this 2007 action spectacle from Michael Bay. When teenage Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) buys a rusted-out Camaro to impress his crush (Fox), he has no clue it will draw him into a centuries-long war between the Autobots and the villainous Decepticons.
Though she was eventually fired from the franchise, Fox's turn as LaBeouf's romantic interest was a star-making role that led to her emergence as a household name and sex symbol.
Friends With Kids (2012) - 67%
As more and more of their friends get married and procreate, friends Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) and Jason (Adam Scott) feel increasing pressure to join them in starting families. When they hit upon an idea to have a kid without getting romantically involved, it seems like a foolproof plan to enjoy parenthood with no strings attached, until, of course, amorous feelings begin to arise.
Playing one of Jason's paramours, Fox gets to flex her acting muscles amongst a better-than-usual cast (for her), including Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm.
Think Like A Dog (2020) - 70%
Oliver (Gabriel Bateman), a pre-teen genius, becomes telepathically linked to the family dog when his science experiment goes haywire in this family comedy from Gil Junger.
Fox reunites with Transformers co-star Josh Duhamel as Oliver's parents in this insipid but harmless comedy that calls to mind Disney live-action classics of yesteryear, like The Shaggy Dog or That Darn Cat!