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The best Aaron Taylor-Johnson movies prove he is one of Hollywood's most exciting young actors. Born Aaron Johnson in 1990, he began his film career as a child actor in the early 2000s. He broke out into stardom with his performance as the young John Lennon in the biopic Nowhere Boy in 2009. During that star-making production, he met his now-wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson, who made her directorial debut with the film. Since then, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has appeared in all manner of Hollywood productions, from a litany of comic book adaptations to elaborate costume dramas.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is continuing his career streak as a Hollywood leading man with 2024's Kraven the Hunter,where he's playing the titular character as part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), in the same multiverse as Venom and Morbius. He is also slated to appear in David Leitch's The Fall Guy alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, following their previous collaboration in 2022's Bullet Train.
28 Chatroom (2010)
William Collins
Chatroom is a psychological thriller directed by Hideo Nakata, focusing on five teenagers who become entwined in a virtual chatroom. As they engage online, they fall under the influence of William, a charismatic but troubled individual who manipulates their interactions, leading to darker, unsettling dynamics.
Release Date August 11, 2010
Runtime 97 minutes
Director Hideo Nakata
Chatroom does not seem to understand the internet or teenagers, which is a major issue for a film about teenagers talking to each other on the internet. The film commits the crime of completely wasting an incredibly talented cast that would go on to immense success: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Daniel Kaluuya, Imogen Poots, and several members of the cast of Game of Thrones in Hannah Murray, Michelle Fairley, Jacob Anderson, and Richard Madden.
Chatroom's stilted dialogue could have hurt their careers, but luckily, they all seem to have prospered despite the film. Ultimately, Chatroom feels like a rejected Black Mirror script. The film has a low 9% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was a box office flop.
27 Dead Cool (2004)
George
Dead Cool depicts modern family dynamics through the perspective of 15-year-old David. Following his father's death, David's mother remarries, blending families, including siblings and a grandmother. David envisions his father's ghost challenging the newly formed family unit.
Release Date September 1, 2005
Runtime 99 minutes
Director David Cohen
Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes an early appearance in the forgotten British drama-comedy Dead Cool. The plot concerns a teenager named David Cohen (Steven Geller), a young man whose father died and whose mother has met and married a new man. David then sees his father's ghost, and he sets out to try to ruin his mom's new relationship.
Pulp Fiction's Rosanna Arquette appears in the film as David's mom, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays David's younger half-brother. Critics mostly dismissed the film, pointing out weak dialogue and its unfocused feel, so most reviews ranged from average to poor. Taylor-Johnson had a very small role in the mostly forgotten project.
26 Savages (2012)
John "Chon" McAllister Jr.
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Savages
Savages is a 2012 Oliver Stone-directed film starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, and John Travolta. Taylor-Johnson and Taylor Kitsch play Ben and Chon, pot growers who get on the wrong side of the Mexican drug cartel who have kidnapped their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively).
Release Date September 27, 2012
Runtime 143minutes
Director Oliver Stone
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
Savages director Oliver Stone has always been a controversial filmmaker, but this movie does not have a sharp enough script to match his earlier, more successful efforts. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his co-star, Taylor Kitsch, are surrounded by a barrage of other actors wandering into the film and devouring every piece of scenery. The film fails to establish their love triangle with "O" (Blake Lively), which was the purpose of Savages' plot.
It all culminates in a twist ending that feels more like a cop-out than a genuine surprise.
The movie follows two best friends who grow marijuana with seeds smuggled out of Afghanistan. Both are dating "O," but things go badly for them when a Mexican cartel moves into their area and demands they fall in line. It all culminates in a twist ending that feels more like a cop-out than a genuine surprise. However, one upside to the film is the gorgeous, highly saturated cinematography that truly captures Savages' setting.
25 Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass
The sequel to Kick-Ass sees Aaron Taylor-Johnson reprise his role as the titular vigilante. Kick-Ass 2 sees Dave Lizewski - A.K.A. Kick-Ass - join the vigilante team Justice Forever. Meanwhile, Mindy Macready (A.K.A. Hit Girl) tries to live a normal life, even as Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) takes on a supervillain persona and forms his own team with the intention of killing Kick-Ass.
Release Date July 17, 2013
Runtime 113 minutes
Director Jeff Wadlow
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
Kick-Ass 2 fails to capture the chaotic and fun atmosphere that made the first film entertaining. Kick-Ass 2 suffers from the loss of the first film's director and Nicolas Cage, who provided some of the best moments in Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass 2 loses sight of the careful tone of the first Kick-Ass and, as such, becomes an exercise in ever-increasing levels of violence.
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Not even adding the usually hilarious Jim Carrey and a Mean Girls-esque subplot manages to save the tone of Kick-Ass 2. The action scenes were considered disappointing, with many scenes shot against a painfully obvious green screen. The source material was also controversial for going too far over the line concerning the gratuitous violence, which the movie chose to elevate.
24 Kraven The Hunter (2024)
Kraven The Hunter
Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.
Release Date December 13, 2024
Runtime 127 Minutes
Director J.C. Chandor
Kraven the Hunter had the misfortune of taking place in the Sony Spider-Man universe, where the company wasn't allowed to use Spider-Man and instead moved on by making films about his villains as mostly anti-heroes. While the Venom movies were successful, they dropped in critical acclaim as they wore on and both Morbius and Madame Web received poor reviews. Fans mostly went into Kraven the Hunter, expecting bad things as well. However, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and director J.C. Chandor tried to make it work.
In the comics, Kraven is a villain because he is a master hunter and chooses to prove himself against the best and most elusive targets. He eventually set his eyes on Spider-Man. The movie couldn't use Spider-Man, but it did keep his familial relationships intact by bringing in his half-brother, a classic Spider-Man villain known as The Chameleon (he was Spider-Man's first-ever villain in the comics). The film had Kraven target evil people in the name of vengeance.
23 Shanghai Knights (2003)
Charlie Chaplin
Shanghai Knights follows Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) as they travel to London in the 1880s to avenge the murder of Chon's father and retrieve a stolen Imperial Seal. The film combines martial arts action with comedic elements, featuring Victorian-era settings and historical figures. Directed by David Dobkin, this sequel to Shanghai Noon expands on the dynamic between the two protagonists while introducing new characters and challenges.
Release Date February 7, 2003
Runtime 114 Minutes
Director David Dobkin
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a young Victorian street urchin named Charlie in the martial arts comedy sequel Shanghai Knights. The film is a follow-up to the comedy Shanghai Noon, in which Jackie Chan plays a Chinese detective who comes to the American West to investigate a case and teams up with Owen Wilson's Cowboy, Roy O'Bannon. In this sequel, both men end up like fish out of water when they head to London to investigate another case. While there, they meet a litany of historical figures.
It was a scene-stealing performance for the 13-year-old actor.
The movie has plenty of great gags, including why Jack the Ripper stopped killing and disappeared. It also included an appearance by "Artie," a young Arthur Conan Doyle who used these adventures to create Sherlock Holmes. There was also a young street urchin who made Chon and Roy's life miserable, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. This child grew up to be Charlie Chaplin. It was a scene-stealing performance for the 13-year-old actor.
22 A Million Little Pieces (2018)
James Frey
A Million Little Pieces follows a young, drug-addled writer as he undergoes a harrowing detoxification process at a treatment center in Minnesota, confronting his addiction and seeking redemption. Released in 2019, the film explores themes of recovery, resilience, and self-discovery amid personal turmoil.
Release Date August 30, 2019
Runtime 113 minutes
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson
A Million Little Pieces is the second collaboration between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife, director Sam Taylor-Johnson. The couple co-wrote and produced the film together, with Sam directing and Aaron starring as drug addict James Frey. The book that the film is based on was sold as a true story, with the real Frey appearing on Oprah Winfrey's show, only for many segments of the memoir's story to be later revealed as pure fiction.
The film adaptation bizarrely decides not to acknowledge this and plays the story straight. As a result, A Million Little Pieces could have been an affecting drama but merely plays as a collection of clichés. Critics mostly panned the movie, with a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While they praised Taylor-Johnson's performance and his wife's direction, it could never escape the shadow of its problematic memoir.
21 Tom & Thomas (2002)
Tom & Thomas
Tom & Thomas is a 2002 film in which a young boy named Tom encounters his lookalike, Thomas. As they discover their shared connection, the boys interchange their home lives, setting off a series of events driven by mistaken identity and adventure.
Release Date January 23, 2002
Runtime 110 minutes
Director Esmé Lammers
Aaron Taylor-Johnson pulls double duty as a pair of identical twins in Tom & Thomas. Thomas' father (Sean Bean) insists that Tom is merely Thomas' imaginary friend until a corrupt orphanage sends both of the boys into a child smuggling ring. This British-Dutch co-production has a plot several shades too dark for a film aiming to be mainstream family entertainment, but Taylor-Johnson is impressive in playing both twins at such a young age.
The film does attempt to be a holiday classic for families, and Taylor-Johnson was very impressive in his role, playing two different characters, but things were mostly on the nose throughout the movie, and it never really caught on like the studio might have hoped.
20 The King's Man (2021)
Archie Reid
The third installment of the Kingman movie franchise, The King's Man is a prequel set in 1914. It follows Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), a British aristocrat who forms a spy network in order to hunt a shadowy organization attempting to spark World War I. It details the origins of the Kingsman agency of spies, with Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson, and Matthew Goode starring alongside Fiennes.
Release Date December 22, 2021
Runtime 131 Minutes
Director Matthew Vaughn
Distributor(s) 20th Century Studios
The King's Man is the third entry in the Kingsman franchise. Rather than following on from the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The King's Man is a prequel, taking place around the First World War. Aaron Taylor-Johnson has little more than a cameo as Lance Corporal Archie Reid, a soldier with whom Conrad Oxford (Harris Dickinson) fatally switches places to fight in The Great War.
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In addition, The King's Man is a complete tonal mess, never deciding whether to commit to the goofy nature of the first two Kingsman movies or to attempt to capture the seriousness of war movies like 1917. Critics gave it a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with praise going to the acting, especially Ralph Fiennes's performance. However, Taylor-Johnson wasn't in it enough to warrant more than a mention.
19 The Thief Lord (2006)
Prosper
The Thief Lord is a 2006 adventure film about orphaned brothers Prosper and Bo, who escape to Venice and join a group of street children led by the enigmatic Thief Lord. As they elude a detective, they uncover a magical treasure capable of altering time, confronting challenges from their past.
Release Date January 4, 2006
Runtime 98 minutes
Director Richard Claus
Based on the best-selling children's novel by Cornelia Funke, The Thief Lord tells the fantastical story of a group of Venetian child street urchins tasked with stealing a segment of a magical merry-go-round, which can alter its rider's age. The cast of The Thief Lord includes the young Aaron Taylor-Johnson and 1917's George MacKay as two of the young pickpockets.
The film tries to capitalize on the then-relevancy of the Harry Potter movies but lacks the budget or script to match the boy who lived. Critics, though, were mixed on it, with an even 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and praise going to the young cast.
18 Dummy (2008)
Danny
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Dummy
Dummy is a coming-of-age drama centered on two brothers coping with their mother's sudden death. The film explores their divergent paths of grief as Danny immerses himself in escapism, while Jack creates a surrogate mother figure out of a mannequin, leading to tension and comic missteps.
Release Date June 24, 2008
Runtime 94 minutes
Director Matthew Thompson
Dummy is an earnest attempt at drama but never entirely lives up to its potential due to its low budget. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the eldest of two brothers, now left alone following the tragic death of their mother. His performance is rage-fueled, yet his vulnerability is still visible below the surface. The anger aimed at his younger brother is hard to watch at times, but Taylor-Johnson sells it well.
The story follows Danny as he has to watch after his younger brother and care for him, although he is in no way equipped to deal with this. While the film doesn't have a high budget and lacks in many aspects of more expensive films, Taylor-Johnson's performance and original script make it worth seeking out, although it is one of the actors' lesser-known films.
17 The Greatest (2009)
Bennett Brewer
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the doomed would-be father, Bennett Brewer, in The Greatest, a drama about grief. Bennett is killed early in the film's runtime in a car crash, and his girlfriend, Rose (She Said's Carey Mulligan), quickly discovers she is pregnant with his child. The Greatest has an all-star cast, rounded out with Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, and Michael Shannon, who give great performances.
Unfortunately, the film often delves into sheer melodrama that keeps it from being truly great. Critics awarded it with a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with many counting off for its predictable plot twists, even though they praised the acting.
16 The Wall (2017)
Sergeant Allen "Ize" Isaac
Doug Liman’s The Wall is a 2017 dramatic war-thriller that follows two American Soldiers pinned down by an Iraqi sniper, with only a wall of rubble separating them from danger. Sent to investigate a site where all the contractors end up dead, Shane and Allen are caught in a deadly sniper named Juba’s crosshairs and must hold out as they wait for help.
Release Date May 12, 2017
Runtime 88 Minutes
Director Doug Liman
Distributor(s) Roadside Attractions
The Wall is a two-hander war drama focusing on a U.S. sniper (John Cena) and his lookout (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), pinned down against a wall by an infamous Iraqi sniper. It's an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, the film does not live up to director Doug Liman's previous efforts, such as The Bourne Identity and the exemplary time loop action movie Edge of Tomorrow.
The Wall starts tense, but once Taylor-Johnson begins speaking to the unseen sniper over his radio, all suspense is lost in favor of an attempt to delve into themes that have been explored before in much better war dramas. However, as a mostly two-person movie (with a third as a voice), both Cena and Taylor-Johnson deliver in their performances, although the balance of tension and action was what dragged it down somewhat.
15 Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)
Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Earth's Mightiest must reunite and work with newcomers Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to battle a new antagonist Ultron, who receives an all-new origin story while dealing with a new level of inner conflict amongst the team. Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch may not necessarily agree with The Avengers and initially blame Tony Stark for creating the new villain and the death of their parents. Avengers: Age of Ultron was directed and written by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Feige for Marvel Studios. The movie was released on April 13, 2015, followed by its eventual sequels, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Release Date May 1, 2015
Runtime 141 minutes
Distributor(s) Disney
Avengers: Age of Ultron is the follow-up to 2012's The Avengers. The film spends much of its energy setting up future MCU storylines rather than telling one cohesive story. The film follows the Avengers as they have to battle a robot created thanks to the misplaced arrogance and negligence of Tony Stark's Iron Man. However, when that robot, Ultron, creates duplicates in his form, Earth's Mightiest Heroes have to find a way to beat all odds to save the planet.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen make their MCU debuts (outside of an earlier post-credit scene) as Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, a brother and sister duo whose family died when they were children and Hydra had been running tests on ever since. Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver gets some of the more memorable lines and action scenes ("you didn't see that coming"), but the MCU version of Quicksilver overall pales in comparison to Evan Peters' in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
14 Albert Nobbs (2011)
Joe Mackins
In Albert Nobbs, Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the villainous role of Joe Mackins, a man willing to con his way for a ticket to a new life in America. As a result, he orders his lover Helen (Mia Wasikowska) to romantically lead on Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close), a man assigned female at birth, so that they can get the money needed for a boat ticket.
Taylor-Johnson makes for an effectively cruel villain, and Glenn Close is as brilliant as usual. However, the drama never really explores the interesting theme of breaking the gender binary that it sets up. It did receive a slightly positive 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it earned Oscar attention, with Close nominated for Best Actress and Janey McTeer for Best Supporting Actress, although neither actress won an award.
13 Anna Karenina (2012)
Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky
Keira Knightley stars as Anna Karenina in the 2012 movie adaptation of the 1877 novel by Leo Tolstoy. Directed by Joe Wright, the period film follows a tragic love affair between the title character and cavalry officer Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Jude Law appears as Karenin, Anna's distant husband.
Release Date October 6, 2012
Runtime 130minutes
Director Joe Wright
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures , Focus Features
With Anna Karenina being an adaptation of a Leo Tolstoy novel, the film has a lot of ground to cover in its 130-minute runtime. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Count Vronsky, the lover of Keira Knightley's titular character. While the cast is fantastic, they are almost overshadowed by director Joe Wright's stylish but distracting vision for the film. Wright reimagines the novel as a grand opera contained within a gorgeous theater.
The entire filming process was a film that moved between scenes as if it were being told on a theatrical stage, and that alone made it one of the most breathtaking film releases of 2012. However, that also took some attention away from the acting, which was uniformly great, mostly from Knightley, Taylor-Johnson, and Jude Law. The film picked up four Oscar nominations, winning for Best Costume Design.
12 Outlaw King (2018)
James Douglas, Lord of Douglas
Directed and partially written by David Mackenzie, Outlaw King is a Historical Action and Drama film created for Netflix and released in 2018. The release stars Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce and follows the Scottish War for Independence.
Release Date November 9, 2018
Runtime 137 Minutes
Director David Mackenzie
Distributor(s) Netflix
Outlaw King picks up where Braveheart leaves off, both in plot and historical inaccuracies. However, it takes a far more gritty and realistic tone. Taylor-Johnson plays James Douglas, a key ally to Chris Pine's Robert the Bruce, and steals the film out from under him with an incredibly charismatic performance. The film opens with a fantastic long take that establishes all the major players and conflicts, but the rest of the movie struggles to match up.
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Following the opening, the film is at its best in its brutal, bloody, and muddy battle sequences, but Outlaw King regularly fails the real history in favor of telling a well-trodden story. Critics appreciated the attempt, giving it a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score, but most of the credit went to the bloody and violent action scenes rather than the acting performances.
11 Godzilla (2014)
Lieutenant Ford Brody
Godzilla, released in 2014, follows Navy bomb expert Ford Brody as he aids his estranged father, Joe, in Japan amid a crisis involving ancient creatures. These titanic beings emerge to confront adversaries, leaving massive destruction in their path, culminating in a climactic confrontation in San Francisco.
Release Date May 14, 2014
Runtime 123 minutes
Director Gareth Edwards
Gareth Edwards' Godzilla acts as a reboot for the American side of the franchise following Roland Emmerich's colossal 1998 misfire. While the film impresses with several incredible set pieces, including the memorable skydiving scene, the characters, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's included, leave a little to be desired. Still, Godzilla has some truly impressive spectacle and is one of the few movies in which the titular monster is treated as a truly destructive force.
However, that violent aspect of the character would be better explored two years later in Hideaki Anno's Shin Godzilla. Amusingly, between their two MCU appearances as siblings, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen play lovers in Godzilla.
10 The Fall Guy (2024)
Tom Ryder
The Fall Guy is an action thriller from Bullet Train and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. Ryan Gosling stars as a stuntman who is forced to find a missing movie star, investigate a conspiracy, and repair his relationship with the love of his life. The film was written by Drew Pearce and inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name.
Release Date May 3, 2024
Runtime 126 Minutes
Director David Leitch
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
A very loose adaptation of the classic Lee Majors TV show of the same name, The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stunt performer who had been out of action since he broke his back during a bad stunt. However, he gets a job as a stuntman in a new movie directed by his ex-girlfriend Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), although she doesn't want him there because she is still bitter about their breakup. However, when the lead actor disappears, Jody asks Colt to help find him to save her movie.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the actor who disappears named Tom Ryder, a famous action movie star whose disappearance puts him and Colt on a crash course for disaster. The movie was praised as a love letter to stuntpeople in the industry, and critics lauded it for its comedy, action, and romantic plot points, offering something for everyone.
9 The Illusionist (2006)
Young Eisenheim
Set in 1889 Vienna, The Illusionist centers on Eisenheim (Ed Norton), a renowned magician, who uses his talents to rekindle a forbidden romance with Duchess Sophie. Their love affair is entangled with political conspiracy, leading to a series of mesmerizing performances and unexpected revelations that challenge reality itself.
Release Date August 18, 2006
Runtime 109 Minutes
Director Neil Burger
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a younger version of Edward Norton's titular character in flashback scenes, filmed with a warm, sepia-toned vignette. Taylor-Johnson wordlessly embodies his character's sense of wonder at the illusions he learns from a mystical old magician (David Forest). He then falls in love with Sophie, a young duchess, and their inevitable separation due to their class divide is heartbreakingly realized by Taylor-Johnson.
The sequence could have made for an excellent short film. Instead, the rest of the film plays out with Norton using his skills as an illusionist to concoct a plan that would allow him and Sophie to be together. Critics mostly praised the movie for its smart story about magic and intrigue, and while Taylor-Johnson did fine in his small role, this was Edward Norton's movie showcase.
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