Since arriving on the Hollywood scene in the '90s in films like Rudy and Swingers, Jon Favreau has developed into one of the most talented and influential figures in Hollywood. From being Vince Vaughn's right-hand man, to directing some huge blockbusters, to reviving Star Wars with The Mandalorian, Favreau has nearly done it all in the entertainment business and still has plenty to give.
With a wide variety of films under his belt ranging from independent comedies to star-studded superhero flicks and Disney live-action remakes, here are all nine movies directed by Jon Favreau ranked from worst to best, according to their combined average score on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
9) Cowboys & Aliens - Average Score: 47
With a title that instantly draws audiences along with incredible talent in the cast and crew, it's surprising that the film adaptation of the graphic novel Cowboys & Aliens turned out to be a disappointment. For Favreau, this combination of a western and sci-fi movie was an unbalanced swing and a miss. Critics were lukewarm to the film whose only saving grace was its star-power. Nick Schager of Slant wrote, "Cowboys & Aliens mashes up genres with a staunch dedication to getting everything wrong, making sure that each scene is more inane than the one that preceded it."
8) The Lion King - Average Score: 53.5
Although it's Favreau's highest grossing film as a director, his live-action remake of The Lion King had no shot at recapturing the magic of the animated original. Despite creating the famous characters to appear exactly as they would in real life, the computer-generated characters don't come close to recreating the personalities and emotions of their cartoon counterparts. Critics were impressed with the film's realism, but not impressed with much else. In his review from the Chicago Reader, Ted Piekarz recommended audiences to "Watch this Lion King for the technical achievement and musical numbers, and then watch the original to feel satisfied."
7) Iron Man 2 - Average Score 64.5
Iron Man 2 was regarded as a step down after the highly-praised Iron Man, but not down enough to sink the following Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that would kick off franchises of their own. Still, the average Iron Man movie is still very entertaining thanks to the charisma of stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle. Arguably, Iron Man 2's biggest contribution to the MCU was introducing Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, who continues to be a popular movie character to this day. Nick de Semlyen from Empire gave a tepid review saying, "Shame this sequel feels inessential, over-busy and a little, well, mechanical."
6) Made - Average Score 66.5
Favreau wrote the screenplay for his directorial debut and reunited with his Swingers co-star Vince Vaughn. This time the duo play two boxers who decide to take part in a money-laundering scheme with a Manhattan gangster squad. While it didn't get as much praise as Swingers, Made was well-received by critics as they saw potential in Favreau as a director. Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas lauded Favreau and Vaughn's undeniable onscreen chemistry saying, "that they recall fond memories of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau."
5) Zathura - Average Score: 69
Between directing Elf and Iron Man, Favreau helmed the space-fantasy flick Zathura, a spin-off of the original Jumanji movie. The cast features a young Josh Hutcherson, Kristen Stewart and Dax Shepard, whose characters are stuck in a house that's suddenly launched into the middle of space thanks to their magical board game. Critics liked this family feature as it has a 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but just 51 percent of audiences approved of it on the aggregator. Scott Brown from Entertainment Weekly called it "a stellar fantasy that faces down childhood anxieties with feet-on-the-ground maturity."
4) Chef - Average Score: 70
In 2014, Favreau took a break from making blockbusters and wrote, directed and starred in this independent dramedy about a head chef who decides to start his own food truck business with members of his family. Despite the low budget, Favreau delivers an all-star cast featuring John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Sofia Vergara, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson and a cameo by Robert Downey Jr. Critics adored Favreau going back to basics with Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle even proclaiming that "Chef is the best thing [Favreau] has ever done, as writer, director or actor. It's the sort of thing of beauty that filmmakers are ultimately remembered for."
3) Elf - Average Score: 74.5
Fans of the MCU and The Mandalorian may forget that Favreau also directed one of the most beloved Christmas movies of the past 20 years. Favreau's directing, along with a star-making performance by Will Ferrell, turned what could have been another forgettable Christmas comedy into one of the better comedies of the early 2000s. The legendary Roger Ebert warmed up to it, saying, "This is one of those Christmas comedies that has a heart, a brain and a wicked sense of humor, and it charms the socks right off the mantelpiece." Today Elf stands alongside the likes of A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life as essential viewing for families every Holiday season.
2) The Jungle Book - Average Score: 85.5
Although the era of the Disney live-action remake has been polarizing to fans, a big reason why that trend began was Favreau's wildly successful remake of the 1967 animated classic The Jungle Book. This version broke new ground in filmmaking with most of the characters being computer-animated and backed by an amazing voice cast. It also injected thrilling moments reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling's original work while still maintaining the charm and fun of the original film. Critics adored Favreau's game-changing film, including Joe Morgenstern from The Wall Street Journal, who wrote, "The new production...isn't pretty or sweet but utterly stunning, as well as very funny; all those vaudeville antecedents haven't been forgotten."
1) Iron Man - Average Score: 86.5
Although it was released the same year as Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, it could be argued that Jon Favreau's Iron Man is just as important in comic book movie history because it officially kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Iron Man was not as popular as his fellow Marvel peers at the time, he ascended into icon status thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s perfect comeback performance as Tony Stark. Pulling double duty as director and playing the character Happy Hogan, Favreau provides Iron Man with the right balance of action, humor and heart. The critics who weren't always impressed with Marvel movies of the early 2000s universally lauded the film, including critic Stephen Whitty from the Newark Star-Ledger, who wrote, "Iron Man is fresh and fast enough to remind you of why you liked comics to begin with."