Ranking: The Biggest Protagonists From 2017's Summer Blockbusters
Who comes out on top?
Love or hate this year's summer of movies, it certainly hasn't left fans wanting for a diverse array of protagonists, be they bonafide, spandex-clad heroes or more ambiguous anti-heroes.
Focusing on the characters rather than the overall quality of the movies themselves (though largely one will be informed by the other), it's time to pit the protagonists of the summer's biggest and most talked-about movies, good or bad, against one another and see who rules the roost.
Has superhero fatigue caused comic book origin stories to lose their luster? Were awesome actors able to overcome some frankly mediocre scripts? And did the animated realm manage to serve up characters with more personality than their live-action counterparts?
From family-friendly fare through to the summer's bleakest and most violent films, this summer's roster of protagonists definitely had it all on paper, though of course, the execution is another matter altogether...
20. Gene - The Emoji Movie
It shouldn't be surprising that the worst movie of the summer also features the worst and least-interesting protagonist of the summer.
The Emoji Movie is headed up by Gene (T.J. Miller), a "meh" emoji who nevertheless possesses the rare ability to express multiple emotions, sending him on an epic journey of self-discovery. Yep, it's as bad as it sounds.
What a waste of T.J. Miller's talents this role was, a hollow shell of a character with, ironically enough, little-to-no personality despite the movie's overarching message about freedom of expression.
Kids deserve much, much better than this bottom-rung, lowest common denominator slop. Hopefully Miller got a nice, easy payday out of it, at least.