50 Highest-Grossing Movies Of All Time Ranked
45. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
Box Office: $1.123 billion (#18)
Easily the best of the Transformers sequels, Dark of the Moon ain't a masterpiece, but it does benefit from its amusing space race plot, fun supporting performances from a paycheck-grabbing John Malkovich and Frances McDormand, and arguably the best action sequence of Bay's career (the near hour-long Battle of Chicago).
That's not to forget the fact it's still rife with embarrassing humour, an awful female lead (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), a bloated run-time and basically every other issue that harangues the entire franchise. Just skip to the awesome finale and save 90 minutes of your life.
44. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Box Office: $1.027 billion (#30)
Though it's undeniably one of the most crushing let-downs in cinema history, The Phantom Menace certainly isn't an awful movie when viewed today, almost two decades removed from all the hype.
It's full of issues, absolutely - the atrocious dialogue, excessive green-screening and overdone set-pieces - but Darth Maul (Ray Park) is an iconic antagonist (if underused), and both Liam Neeson and especially Ewan McGregor bring plenty of gravitas to the table as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
It's certainly better than Attack of the Clones, anyway, if undeniably messy and failing to get anywhere close to most fans' expectations.
43. Jurassic World (2015)
Box Office: $1.671 billion (#5)
To call Jurassic World the best of the three Jurassic Park sequels up to this point isn't really saying much. Despite the appealing presence of Chris Pratt, this is a pretty underwhelming soft reboot of the franchise, suffering from Colin Trevorrow's slack direction, mediocre visual effects, by-the-numbers plotting and thoroughly uninteresting characters.
The dino destruction mostly delivers, but it's still a far cry from the tightly-wound suspense of the original Spielberg classic, and the constant nostalgic references feel rather pandering and on-the-nose.
It's...fine, but given the hype and how long fans had to wait for it, it should've been so, so much better.
42. Despicable Me 3 (2017)
Box Office: $1.034 billion (#27)
Despicable Me 3 is certainly the worst of the three core movies, and it's absolutely guilty of resting on its laurels a little too eagerly, but it's also another charming, stylish, well-acted romp for the majority.
Trey Parker steals the show as the 80s-obsessed antagonist, the Minions are fun without being too overbearing and the usual familial shenanigans still hit the sweet spot. Gru (Steve Carell) having a twin brother, Dru, isn't nearly as funny as it should be and the movie doesn't really do anything new, but it's fun enough.
It's cute and it doesn't outstay its welcome: what more could you want from a Despicable Me sequel?
41. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014)
Box Office: $956 million (#43)
Peter Jackson's eyebrow-raising Hobbit trilogy concluded with this action-packed, emotionally resonant finale, which while overlong and often poorly paced, at least delivers the thrilling titular battle fans have been waiting for (bar some dodgy CGI and cinematography).
Martin Freeman's Bilbo once again just feels like part of the furniture here and there's still the overall feeling that a third Hobbit movie shouldn't even exist, but as a capper to this most improbable franchise, it at least ties things together well enough. Unless you're a huge Rings fan, though, you might never want to sit through it again.