Robert Downey Jr.’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

Out of all the actors working in Hollywood today, few actors have had a rollercoaster ride of a career like Robert Downey Jr. He got started as a performer when he was just a little boy appearing in the films of his father, Robert Downey Sr. and transitioned into teen films during the 1980s. Although he began working on a number of prestige projects in the 1990s, his career was derailed by drug abuse and run-ins with the law that saw him serve prison time. By the early 2000s, he was essentially uninsurable, meaning that no studio would take on the risk of hiring him.

But after a stint in rehab, Robert Downey Jr. clawed his way back, working on small, independent films to prove that he wouldn’t disrupt production. As his rocky reputation became a thing of the past, he was cast in the role that defined his career for most of the 20th century: Tony Stark, aka Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although he’s acted in some less than stellar films over the years, he also has a number of stone-cold classics to his name. 

Here are the best films of Robert Downey Jr.’s career, according to Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

“The Avengers” isn’t just a solid superhero flick — it’s the proof of concept for the biggest gamble in comic book movie history. Until “The Avengers” came out, Marvel was betting on the fact that superhero fans would respond to all of these individual characters in their own solo movies and have the patience to stick around for the ensemble film that would finally see them all team up. Their gamble paid off when “The Avengers” came out, earning a 91% over at Rotten Tomatoes and massive returns at the box office. 

As the superhero team known as The Avengers face off against the trickster god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), each of the main players gets their moment in the sun, but Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark quickly becomes a fan favorite. He has great chemistry with each of the actors he appears on screen with, and his sarcastic sense of humor ensures that the film maintains a lightness that allows it to stand in contrast with Marvel’s greatest cinematic rival, DC Comics. The fame of “The Avengers” franchise within the MCU only grew from here.

In “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Robert Downey Jr. takes a step into the background, but his character still looms large over this iteration of the wallcrawler. After getting bitten by a radioactive spider and developing spider-themed powers, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) receives the financial backing of billionaire Tony Stark, who also becomes an unlikely (and often reluctant) mentor for the teen superhero. He may be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man from Queens, but now he also has state-of-the-art military-grade tech built into his super-suit. Appearing periodically to mentor (or chastise, as the case may be) Peter Parker over the course of the film, Downey Jr.’s Stark puts his Spider-Man on the path to eventually become a member of the Avengers. 

“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the first in a trilogy launching Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker, succeeds on the charms of its lead actor, who lends a breezy, naturalistic performance to one of Marvel’s funniest superheroes — Robert Downey Jr.’s cameo appearances are just the icing on the cake. Thanks to Holland and Downey Jr., this one earned a 91% at Rotten Tomatoes.

George Clooney’s sophomore directorial effort “Good Night, and Good Luck” captures a moment in the professional life of the famous journalist Edward R. Murrow, played by David Straitharn. Hosting a news program against the alarmist backdrop of the Red Scare in the 1950s, Murrow struggles to maintain his journalistic integrity when the prevailing sentiment is to embrace the ratings born out of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist fearmongering. As it tackles the idea of the responsibility mainstream media owes to the general public, “Good Night, and Good Luck” has only grown in relevance in the years since its release.

It features a career-best performance from David Straitharn, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his work, the rest of the production did not go unheralded — it also received nominations for best picture, best director, and best original screenplay. In it, Robert Downey Jr. takes on the role of Fred W. Friendly, the co-creator of Murrow’s news show “See It Now.” Released in 2005, “Good Night, and Good Luck” was part of a wave of independent films that helped resurrect Downey’s post-rehab career in the mid-2000s, and it still sits pretty with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

After spending a decade working on Marvel superhero films, it was important for Robert Downey Jr. to signal to audiences that he was still capable of doing something besides playing Tony Stark. He got that opportunity with Christopher Nolan’s biopic “Oppenheimer,” in which he played Lewis Strauss, an antagonistic figure who devoted himself to dismantling Robert J. Oppenheimer’s influence in Washington D.C. during the post-World War II era. 

A petty man with a list of grievances against Oppenheimer as long as his arm, Strauss plays the political game to the point where he is inches away from a presidential appointment as U.S. secretary of commerce, only to see his past actions towards Oppenheimer come back to haunt him. Downey Jr. plays Strauss as a cold, savvy politician with a seemingly endless capacity for vengeance against those who he perceives to have wronged him. “Oppenheimer” was a massive success at the box office, and Downey Jr.’s performance as Strauss earned him his first Academy Award for best supporting actor, as well as an extremely respectable 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

When Robert Downey Jr. stepped into the role of Tony Stark in “Iron Man,” it was far from an guaranteed success. Iron Man had never be considered one of the top-tier Marvel superheroes from his appearances in the comics, and comic book films at the time were just as likely to crash and burn as they were to be a major hit. But although Marvel had a multi-year plan for the future of the characters they would feature in this film and the ones that would follow it, their strategy largely has Robert Downey Jr. (and Jon Favreau’s confidence in the actor) to thank for its success. 

He brought an arrogant but charismatic and immediately likable presence to the role of Tony Stark, taking Iron Man from a C-List superhero to one of the most beloved in one fell swoop. As we follow Tony Stark, held hostage in the desert and forced to engineer a super-suit out of scraps, we’re watching the beginnings of the Marvel juggernaut construct itself as well. “Iron Man” was an instant hit, with a certified fresh 94% rating – it even ended up earning nearly $600 million at the box office.

“Avengers: Endgame” was not just the end of a pre-determined Marvel phase: It was the end of an era. (And its place in the hearts of fans is evident, considering that it currently holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.) In it, the team of superheroes — their numbers severely depleted after Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet in “Avengers: Infinity War” to wipe out half the universe’s population — struggle to execute a plan to bring back their fallen brethren and defeat Thanos once and for all. 

It’s also the film where we say goodbye to Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, who sacrifices himself to take out Thanos and his army. In the world of comic books, characters come back from the dead all the time. But there’s an aura of permanence around Tony Stark’s death, which is largely related to Robert Downey Jr.’s one-of-a-kind performance and how beloved it was among fans, many of whom are so attached to the character and his demise that they believe it would be cheapened by bringing him back. Sure, he’s coming back as Doctor Doom, but Earth 616’s version of Stark is still gone. 

Directed by Robert Altman, “Short Cuts” is more of an anthology than a traditional film, taking inspiration from a series of short stories in which the characters are only loosely connected to one another. Robert Downey Jr. plays Bill, who is a makeup artist married to Honey (Lili Taylor). With a large ensemble cast, Downey Jr. is merely a small piece in a larger whole, but still brings his trademark personality to the role of Bill. “Short Cuts” was a critical success: It has a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and landed an Academy Award nomination for best director for Robert Altman (he ultimately lost out to Steven Spielberg for “Schindler’s List”). 

Angie Errigo of Empire Magazine sang its praises, calling it, “Cool, clever and complex, Altman succeeds in bringing out the best from a highly talented cast.” Released on the heels of “Chaplin,” in which Downey Jr. was Oscar-nominated for his performance as Charlie Chaplin, this era represents a high point in his career, when he was working with esteemed directors on critically acclaimed films.

The late 1980s and early 1990s were a veritable golden age of courtroom dramas, and it was only a matter of time before Robert Downey Jr. got himself a piece of the pie. In “True Believer,” he stars opposite James Woods as Roger Baron, a young, idealistic legal clerk. Roger sets the entire film in motion when he encourages his boss — played by Woods — to take on the case of a Korean man serving a prison sentence for a Chinatown murder that Roger believes he was falsely convicted of. Based on the true story of an Asian immigrant in San Francisco who went to jail for years for a murder he didn’t commit, “True Believer” has an earnest tone that embraces the nuance of the social justice issues at its heart.

Hal Hinson of The Washington Post mentioned Downey specifically for the strength of his performance, calling him “droll and likably callow in his button-down regalia.” Although the film serves as a vehicle for James Woods, who gets the meatiest material, the role of Roger is a smart role for someone like Robert Downey Jr. to take in 1989 — it’s a foot into the world of serious dramas, and a chance to shine opposite an older, more established performer, even though Woods and Downey Jr. reportedly had a contentious relationship on set. Despite the fact that “True Believer” has largely faded from the minds of audiences, it holds an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Most people would not automatically think of Robert Downey Jr. as a Shakespearean actor, but he’s certainly danced with the Bard a time or two — especially during the 1990s, when he was trying to establish a serious adult career for himself. In 1995, he played Rivers in a big-screen adaptation of “Richard III,” which also starred classically trained luminaries such as Ian McKellan and Maggie Smith. This film updated the setting of the play from the 15th century to the 1930s, lending its War of the Roses narrative a fascist tinge. 

The brother of Queen Elizabeth (Annette Bening), Rivers becomes a victim of Richard III’s ambitions, but Robert Downey Jr. nonetheless makes a name for himself in the ensemble cast. Tom Huddleston of Time Out referred to Downey as being in his “preening prime” as Rivers, and “Richard III” gives him the opportunity to bring his devil-may-care persona to a prestige production — not for the last time in his career. “Richard III” was critically lauded — currently sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes — and earned two Academy Award nominations for best art direction and best costume design.

Interestingly enough, the film that Robert Downey Jr. made that has the highest score on Rotten Tomatoes — a near-perfect 97% — doesn’t actually feature him as an actor. “Sr.” is a documentary directed by Chris Smith and produced by Downey himself, which pays tribute to the career of his father, Robert Downey Sr. He was an experimental independent filmmaker throughout the 1960s and 1970s, frequently casting both his wife, Elsie Ann Ford, and his two children, Allison and Robert Jr. in his productions. And this documentary, in which Robert Downey Jr. plays a key role, attempts to open a window into both his personal and professional life.

Without a doubt, “Sr.” is Downey Jr.’s most intimate project, as he reminisces about his time with his late father, who passed away from Parkinson’s disease in 2021, the year before “Sr.” was released on Netflix. First premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, “Sr.” was met with praise from critics; Adam Kempenaar of Filmspotting noted the intensely personal nature of the prokect, saying that, “[Downey Jr.] has developed this construct of a movie as a means to interrogate his father… to be able to ask him things he wouldn’t normally be able to ask; the artifice allows him to probe.”