Entering her third decade as an actress, Scarlett Johansson is one of the most recognizable people in the film industry, having a diverse filmography that shows she is passionate about her work, constantly aiming to exceed her artistic boundaries. She has starred in a wide spectrum of genres, ranging from blockbuster franchises to arthouse films, and also has several notable voice-over roles.
An actress as versatile as Johansson can experiment with different roles, but the strength of her best roles exemplifies how her lesser work pales in comparison.
Launched Her Career: Lost In Translation
The breakout role that saw Johansson starring alongside Bill Murray, Lost in Translation pictures Johansson as an ivy-league graduate of philosophy, named Charlotte. Wracked with ennui and wondering what to do next, she follows her distracted fiancee to Tokyo as he pursues his career in photography. At her Tokyo hotel, Charlotte coincidentally crosses paths with a melancholic actor named Bob Harris. As alienated in their personal relationships as they are from Japanese culture, the two form an unlikely cross-generational friendship that transcends into a doomed romance.
Yet to turn 20 years old at the time of filming, Johansson's on-screen chemistry with Murray and the delicacy of her performance displays an astute level of sophistication that announced her to the world.
Missed The Mark: Lucy
Of all the female-led action films to release in the past 20 years, Lucy stands out for its successful intersecting with the science fiction genre, and also for Johansson's visceral performance. The problem with the film does not necessarily lie with Johansson, but in the plot, which tries desperately to be smart yet comes across as silly.
The main idea about unlocking the dormant power of the brain is also derivative of the Bradley Cooper film, Limitless. Melodramatic dialogue and CGI heavy visuals necessary to uphold the film's scientific premise can undo some audiences' suspension of disbelief.
Launched Her Career: Under The Skin
Before the premiere of Under the Skin, no one would have imagined Johansson starring in a science fiction horror film set in Scotland, in which her unnamed character stalks unassuming men, lures them to her house, and then murders them. As unlikely as that may sound, it was one of the best films of 2014.
Johansson adopts a cold, quiet demeanor to personify her character's evil blend of extraterrestrial artificial intelligence. She gives a cold-blooded performance that is bone-chilling.
Missed The Mark: Don Jon
Everyone can agree that Johansson's casting to play the character of Barbara Sugarman in Don Jon was a misuse of her talents. The titular character, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, becomes infatuated with a startlingly attractive woman known as Barbara. They enter into a relationship, but Don's attraction to Barbara's appearance cannot counteract how her suburban outlook estranges him and intensifies his addiction to pornography.
The role perpetuates the stereotype that beneath their beauty, attractive blonde-haired women are shallow, raising the question of why Johansson would accept such a role.
Launched Her Career: Her
Since the beginning of her career, Johansson's recognizable deep voice has been one of her distinguishing characteristics. In no other film has her voice played a more important role than in Her. She stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix, providing the voice to the virtual Artificial Intelligence figure named Samantha, who Phoenix's character, Theodore, a lonesome middle-aged man living in a technologically advanced near-future, falls in love with.
As a disembodied voice, Johansson couldn't use the usual actor's tools of body language or facial expressions to communicate her character. Her is a great example of how time and again Johansson seeks challenging roles and pulls them off with great success.
Missed The Mark: Ghost In The Shell
Let's first acknowledge that Johansson nails her representation of Major in the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. From the beginning, the film was mired in controversy over her casting, rather than an Asian actress of equal capability and skill, attracting many whitewashing claims. But besides the controversy, the screenplay didn't match the same blend of action and existentialism that fans of the original were expecting.
The adaptation was an okay action film with impressive visuals, but missing the heart of the original anime. It's a shame because Johansson's tone and body language honor the visual style of anime director Mamoru Oshii's vision.
Launched Her Career: Ghost World
In one of her earliest films, Johansson showed she wouldn't shy away from art film roles. Appearing alongside Thora Birch of American Beauty and Hocus Pocus fame, the pair play two cynical best friends, named Enid and Rebecca, who have just graduated from high school. Not taking any pleasure in the conventional interests of others their age, the two are gripped in a cultural malaise without ambitions or plans for the future.
The film has a lot of deadpan and ironic humor, requiring Johansson to display her misanthropy in a controlled rather than boisterous way, as seen in lesser teen dramas. She was in a supporting role, but already showing, at a young age, her skill for subtlety, transitioning between humor and drama within a single sequence.
Missed The Mark: Girls' Night Out
Girls' Night Out is a female buddy comedy that rides on the coattails of other more successful films released when the genre was still fresh. The film recycles conventions of the genre and doesn't try to hide the fact that it does so. Its biggest ambition is to entertain, if even in a tried and true fashion.
Similar to the film's target audience, Johansson may have accepted this role as a break from the exhaustion of more demanding work, and as an opportunity to have some revitalizing fun.
Launched Her Career: Iron Man 2
Johansson's introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, occurred in Iron Man 2.
Ten years later and she has starred in a variety of Avengers related sequels and is the lead in the upcoming 2021 release of Black Widow. The film is also notable as initiating a resurgence in her career and being her first foray into the action film genre.
Missed The Mark: The Perfect Score
Depending on how old you were when this film came out, you may have fond memories of procrastinating for your own exams as you watched this gang of teenagers finding any means necessary to avoid studying for their SATs.
Now that the film and those who initially championed it have aged, some feel that The Perfect Score is a casualty of the popular, yet nonetheless conventional teen dramas Hollywood was producing at exquisite speeds in the early to mid-2000s. The film marked the beginning of a temporary slump in the actress' career.