The Jon Watts Movies Ranked
I had a theory that Jon Watts was of a class of white millennial filmmakers scooped up by the Marvel/Disney machine on the merit of some mediocre start. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but the director best known for his trilogy of Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man movies has made a couple things more interesting than that (and I actually like those MCU installments, to my slight shame, as you shall see). Working steadily on music videos and for the Onion through the 2000s and early 2010s, Watts has directed eight films (by my estimation of what is available online from his early career). These two shorts and six features have been made in the 19 years since 2005, with the features coming into the picture ten years ago in 2014. This exploration into the filmography of a name associated with a banner of artlessness yet huge popularity yielded some surprises…namely one.
#8 — CLOWN (2010)
Not to be confused with his feature of the same name made four years later, CLOWN is barely a “short film.” It is a fake trailer for a horror movie about a man who turns into a murderous clown and ironically included billing for Eli Roth’s involvement (which wasn’t true). Roth apparently found it funny and bold and helped shepherd a real feature into existence. The ramifications of such an act are up for debate, but it is pretty crazy to think this one minute spoof essentially led to Watts’ full-blown directing career. It came after the biggest gap between releases included in this piece, at five years, but it’s not exactly like Watts wasn’t working on anything in between his student film and this. As its own work, though, CLOWN isn’t exactly substantial. And I don’t think it was meant to be!
#7 — THE INVISIBLE DOG (2005)
I’ve heard tell THE INVISIBLE DOG was Watts’ NYU thesis film. It does have that “student film” tone to it, which isn’t necessarily derisive. I mean, in this case, the tone doesn’t help a story that feels slight even for a 20-minute short. The transition from a sunny display of Disney Channel-esque saccharine sweetness to disturbing horror is a good idea, but the latter part of the short doesn’t really have the spooky impact. THE INVISIBLE DOG is basically clever in premise, but its execution does indicate a filmmaker with much room to grow.
#6 — CLOWN (2014)
Watts’ first feature wasn’t even released in the United States until after his second and neither exactly set the world on fire, supporting my initial thesis that a number of people can fail upward into the highest paying spots of Hollywood. In any event, CLOWN, of course based on his short of the same name, is not unlike Watts’ early work: its premise is intriguing, its execution not so much. I actually appreciate how earnest this is compared to the obvious irony of the short, the practical effects are admirable, and Peter Stormare is always a welcome presence. But the often flat lighting and set design make the film feel cheap; not low-budget, but cheap. There are a couple exceptions, like a great scene set in a Chuck E. Cheese, but the pace of CLOWN also served to exhaust me rather than keep me on the edge of my seat.
#5 — WOLFS (2024)
WOLFS comes after the biggest gap between Watts’ features at just shy of three years and is his latest movie at the time of this writing. It’s also Watts’ return to non-franchise filmmaking after three Spider-Man movies, although apparently there is already a sequel to this in the works. But it doesn’t exactly return to the aesthetic of his pre-Disney works (as in, low-budget). WOLFS is a relatively slick installment in the fixer “genre,” starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney in relatively slick roles with relatively slick dialogue and jokes. But it’s all relative. WOLFS doesn’t exactly stand out even in modern “A-list” filmmaking, but it’s totally entertaining and reflects the American film industry’s need for smaller-scale, original movies with charismatic stars and less of a focus on cost-soaring special effects (the purported salaries of Watts, Clooney, and Pitt notwithstanding). I was impressed by its more real-feeling sets after bluescreen city in the Marvel movies but then it looked more like…bluescreen city once too often. WOLFS is a little too understated, with lackluster punchlines here and there and especially visually with at times flat lighting, but it’s relatively (there’s that word again) refreshing.
#4 — COP CAR (2015)
Watts’ sophomore feature wildly improved on the results of his first. COP CAR is a restrained thriller that stands alone in the director’s filmography as perhaps his most…principled work? What I mean by that: there’s an artfulness, not an artiness (there’s a difference), that is missing from every single one of Watts’ other movies. As you can see, that doesn’t mean I view it as the best time sitting in front of a screen. But from the beautifully desolate shots to the varied yet wonderfully supportive score, COP CAR’s tone varies from meditative to tense. The performances of Kevin Bacon as the cocaine-snorting sheriff and the believably childish kid actors who kinda sorta know how to operate a car and have no idea that guns have safeties also slot into the vibe of the movie so well. I don’t detect any kind of thematic through line to Watts’ work. All art is inherently political, but even this film about a corrupt cop doesn’t seem to have much to say about any real-world situation, even in an ambiguous way. Perhaps Watts really is just a chameleonic genre-pumper. But COP CAR illustrates he can do something different from the blockbuster productions that will probably define the rest of his career.
#3 — SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)
Now, in spite of the positive things I just wrote about COP CAR and the implicitly negative things I wrote about the MCU, I must admit it is difficult to take the comic book nerd out of me, even as I acknowledge the monolithic and often ugly force of superhero movies obliterating other ideas in the American film industry. However, I think the genre is on the wane and Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, a character that really appealed to me and provided some solace in the difficult times of my youth. And when all is said and done, I’ll be able to return to some of the Marvel movies and just have fun with them. SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME is one of those, although as will be shown, I think it’s the least impactful of Watts’ Spider-Man movies and is indicative of the flailing energy of the latest MCU movies. The multiversal fan service of NO WAY HOME admittedly tickles an aspect of nostalgia for me as a big fan of both the Maguire and Garfield Spider-Man movies, but I can detect the focus group rot behind it. The bland and poorly lit digital look of these movies is only getting worse and NO WAY HOME is guilty of that. And this movie especially suffers from an epidemic of jokes without actual punchlines; what I call “well that was weird” humor. And yet, I just turn my brain off and watch the costumed people fight each other (and get genuinely invested in at least Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe’s performance) and slip into consumer mode as NO WAY HOME’s sometimes exhaustive corporate energy proceeds.
#2 — SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)
If it seems like I’m wrestling with even caring about writing this whole piece, let alone praising the Spider-Man movies over something completely unexpected and more thrilling in many ways like COP CAR, it’s because I am. I hate to be reactionary and make some strawman arguments with no one in this piece, but I feel like I’m caught in between two camps of people: those who see a movie like SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME as a harbinger of doom in cinema and those who uncritically lap it up. “Can’t we all just get along?” I ask myself like a good little fence-sitter. In any event, FAR FROM HOME benefits from being smaller scale than NO WAY HOME, and its greater focus on the high school aspects of the Peter Parker character allows for better jokes. This also isn’t quite as drab in color palette and Jake Gyllenhaal is a compelling villain. FAR FROM HOME is no masterpiece, but then even Watts’ best movie doesn’t rate as something amazing.
#1 — SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
I remember that Spider-Man was finally receiving his own film in the MCU was exciting to me. In hindsight, that emotion is a little embarrassing, but what I was reacting to is still entertaining. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING embodies the semi-soulless scope and streamlining of the American film “product” even while it carries heart and genuinely funny humor. Perhaps the latter is due to the contributions of screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who in their collective directorial careers so far have been able to do the same thing. HOMECOMING is certainly the most focused of Watts’ Spider-Man movies as a very connected MCU installment that can nevertheless stand as its own enjoyable experience. It’s the brightest of the trilogy (although it has its share of hard-to-see night scenes, another epidemic in today’s film and television) and the visual effects don’t have as many glaringly bland displays that make me really wish for a return of good practical effects. HOMECOMING is Watts’ “best” movie, which is a dubious honor. But as I’ve explained, there’s a little bit more going on with the guy than I expected, even as he blends right into “market considerations” and unchallenging filmmaking since joining the Disney machine. HOMECOMING appeals to my desire for escapism, against my better judgement (and taste), which stretches back to long ago when a fascination for the comic book realm, and Spider-Man especially, meant a lot more for me. I fight the childish adult instincts, and the good little consumer ones, every day. Bread and circuses, bread and circuses.
