Michael Fassbender has gone from a standout performer in smaller projects to one of the most interesting actors in Hollywood. His movie-star good looks make him a perfect leading man type, but his versatility as an actor finds him taking more risks and following the path of a character actor.
Critics have often praised him as a powerful and intense actor who can always be counted on to deliver a stellar performance. His skills have allowed him to be a part of some truly great films that have received plenty of acclaim. Here are Michael Fassbender’s best movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Jane Eyre (84%)
Fassbender is an actor who feels at home in a story from any period. In Jane Eyre, he helped bring one of the most intriguing literary characters to life in the story of a young woman who is sent to work for a reclusive master Rochester (Fassbender). As she grows closer to the man, she learns of his darker secrets.
The movie skillfully balances a tricky tone between feeling elegant and romantic as well as eerie and foreboding. Mia Wasikowska received a lot of praise for her powerful performance as the titular character while Fassbender provided a complex love interest.
X-Men: First Class (86%)
As Fassbender started to get more notice in Hollywood, he made the classic movie star leap to the superhero genre. X-Men: First Class told the origin story of how the X-Men formed as well as the early friendship and eventual falling out of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender).
Taking over roles made famous by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan was surely a daunting task, but McAvoy and Fassbender impressed many with their performances. The film itself was a fun throwback adventure that transplanted the fun mutant world of the X-Men into a Cold War setting.
Steve Jobs (86%)
Steve Jobs is one of the most recognizable figures of the modern world so Fassbender had his work cut out for him playing within this Danny Boyle film. The movie avoids feeling like a typical biopic by only focusing on three periods of Jobs’ life, each occurring before the launch of a new product when he must contend with the various relationships in his life.
Fassbender is pitch-perfect in the lead role, balancing the likable and not-so-likable elements of Jobs’ personality wonderfully. The rest of the cast, that includes Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels, is stellar and they all do a great job bringing Aaron Sorkin’s sharp and witty script to life.
Inglourious Basterds (89%)
Just about any actor would jump at the chance to work with Quentin Tarantino and Fassbender got the pleasure of being a part of his insane war epic, Inglourious Basterds. The film follows a group of brutal Jewish soldiers knows as the Basterds who hunt down Nazis with a vengeance during World War II. Fassbender plays a British officer who partners with the Basterds.
The movie is filled with amazing dialogue, extreme violence and memorable characters we expect from a Tarantino movie. Christoph Waltz stands out among the brilliant cast as a clever and sadistic Nazi. It is the movie that when Tarantino approaches any story, you really don’t know how it’s going to end.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past (90%)
Fassbender returned to the X-Men world for this ambitious sequel that combined the old X-Men movies with the new. In the future, when mutants are being hunted and killed, Wolverine is sent back in time to prevent this from happening with the help of young Professor X and Magneto.
The movie is a big, bold science-fiction adventure that somehow pulls off weaving these two storylines together in a clever and satisfying way. There are some inventive sequences, great character moments and a lot of fun to be had.
Hunger (90%)
In one of his first starring roles, Fassbender proved he was one of the most powerful actors working in films today. Based on a true story, Hunger stars Fassbender as Bobby Sands, an IRA Northern Ireland who leads a hunger strike while in prison.
Fassbender is incredible in this very challenging role. He lost a considerable amount of weight which makes it hard to watch him at times. It is a harrowing tale told honestly and without any glamor by filmmaker Steve McQueen which makes for an unforgettable experience.
Fish Tank (91%)
Even as he was getting more notice in Hollywood, Fassbender continued to appear in smaller projects that showed off his versatility. Fish Tank is a small indie drama about a lonely and volatile young woman living with her mother in a poor area of the city who begins a relationship with her mother’s new boyfriend (Fassbender).
The raw and grounded drama impressed many critics for its honest look at the young central character’s struggles. Newcomer Katie Jarvis received a lot of acclaim, as did Fassbender for his strong supporting role.
Slow West (92%)
Fassbender got the chance to show off his cowboy with this acclaimed yet underseen Western. Slow West follows a young boy who travels to America from his homeland of Scotland to pursue the woman he loves. He is joined in his journey by an outlaw, played by Fassbender.
Though not as action-packed as some Westerns, the movie is nonetheless compelling. Fassbender is great as a man who walks the line between good and bad. There is a fun sense of humor throughout as well as some great tense moments.
Frank (92%)
It’s great to see that even after finding fame, Fassbender is still willing to take on some risky projects. Frank stars Domhall Gleeson as a young aspiring musician who joins an unusual pop group led by the eccentric Frank (Fassbender), who always hides his face under a giant, oversized doll’s head.
For an actor as famous as Fassbender to hide his face for an entire movie and still give an electrifying performance is quite a feat. He is funny, strange and moving without any facial expressions. The movie itself is a wonderfully weird ride and totally unique.
12 Years A Slave (95%)
12 Years a Slave has been called one of the most harrowing movies of all time. It is the tragic true story of Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a black man who was born free but is abducted and sold into slavery. Fassbender plays the cruel plantation owner who buys Solomon.
The movie is certainly not easy to watch as director Steven McQueen does not spare the viewer any of the horrors of slavery. However, it is still a powerful film that tells this incredible story honestly with an outstanding cast giving unforgettable performances.
