Summary
- Margot Robbie's career skyrocketed in a short amount of time, landing prestigious roles and earning two Oscar nominations.
- While she has delivered standout performances in movies like Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, not all of her films have been equally successful.
- Robbie's range as an actress is evident, as she has excelled in both adult dramas like The Wolf of Wall Street and family-oriented films like Peter Rabbit, proving her versatility.
From The Wolf of Wall Street and Birds of Prey to Barbie, Australian actress Margot Robbie has come to dominate Hollywood. Like many stars from her country, Robbie got her start on the soap opera Neighbours. However, unlike some actors who spend years working their way up, Robbie was catapulted to the top of the pile in a staggeringly short amount of time. Landing a role in the much-hyped but quickly canceled ABC series Pan Am quickly became stealing scenes in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Margot Robbie's most recognizable roles now are as two live-action versions of beloved IPs; the DCU's Harley Quinn and Barbie.
Margot Robbie demonstrated shrewdness for the industry, establishing her own production company and picking several prestigious projects as well as taking control of Harley Quinn in a way that no other actor signed up to the DCU at the time was able to. On top of that, she’s also committed to providing opportunities for up-and-coming women writers and directors, such as Cathy Yan and Emerald Fennell. This has allowed Robbie to find success, with two Oscar nominations and a filmography including work with directors Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Greta Gerwig. Her movies aren't all equal though, and the best Margo Robbie movie stands out from the pack.
23 I.C.U. (2009)
- Not available for streaming
Margot Robbie's movie debut came in the form of a little-seen Australian horror movie named I.C.U. She played one of a trio of teenagers who ended up being the unsuspecting voyeurs to a murder while spying on their neighbors. It’s one of the hundreds of Rear Window knock-offs, and it’s also one of the lesser interesting versions of that classic film. There’s a reason this one is typically overlooked in discussions of Margot Robbie movies.
22 Terminal (2018)
- Stream now on Roku
On paper, the appeal of 2018's Terminal to Margot Robbie seems clear: a stylish neo-noir thriller about assassins featuring a major twist and tons of stylish costumes. The final product, however, has been better executed in other movies. The Tarantino influence is clear, but the movie doesn't match up to his movies. It's a classic case of style over substance, but the style isn't always impressive. Robbie is fine and certainly has it in her to be a classic femme fatale in the mold of Barbara Stanwyck or Lauren Bacall, but Terminal doesn't give her the room to breathe. She's reduced to window dressing, which feels like the biggest crime of all.
21 Suicide Squad (2016)
- Stream now on HBO Max
Robbie took on the iconic role of Harley Quinn in the DCU movie Suicide Squad. The behind-the-scenes drama that befell David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad led to dramatic and costly reshoots to change the film’s tone, multiple edits including one done by a trailer company, and the continuing panic from Warner Bros. over the expensive franchise’s ultimate direction. Robbie ends up being a bright spot for much of Suicide Squad as she proves herself to be the perfect Harley Quinn. It’s no wonder Warner Bros. let her have full reign over the character after this, both in the now-cult-classic Birds of Prey movie and the James Gunn sequel The Suicide Squad.
20 The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
- Rent now on Prime Video & Apple TV
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan stories have been the stuff of film history for decades, so it’s no surprise that Hollywood is so keen to reboot it in the blockbuster age. 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan attempted to launch a mega-franchise centered on the ape-man icon, but the project didn't reach the levels of previous efforts. Audiences wanted to see this version of this character, as the movie made $356 million on a $180 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). However, even with this Margot Robbie movie's attempts to circumnavigate the deep-seated colonialist themes of the stories, critics shredded the film, giving it a 35% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes.
19 Dreamland (2019)
- Stream now on Showtime
In 2019, Dreamland tells the story of a woman wanted for bank robbing and murder and the stepson of a lawman named Eugene who finds her and offers to help her get to Mexico when she tells him what she claims happened at the robbery. When Eugene ends up involved in a robbery himself, things spiral out of control. The movie premiered on the festival circuit but only got a limited release and went quickly to home streaming. Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a middle-ground 60% rating, and it isn't one of the best Margot Robbie movies, being an OK drama in which she performs well but, ultimately, Dreamland is a movie that pales in comparison to many of Robbie's others.
18 Peter Rabbit (2018)
- Stream now on Fubo
People who grew up reading Beatrix Potter’s beloved tales of adorable animals in the quaint British countryside saw them come to life in the Hollywoodized adaptation of Peter Rabbit. The deliberate quietness of the stories had been replaced by a veritable assembly line of kids’ movie clichés. James Corden voices the eponymous bunny and delivers a performance that splits between pathos and arrogance. The real-life humans, particularly Domhnall Gleeson, fare better, but it's hard not to watch Peter Rabbit and think of the Paddington movies, which fared better. Robbie doesn’t get as much to do as the voice of Flopsy Rabbit, but her performance proves she's suited to family-oriented pictures as well as adult dramas like Wolf of Wall Street
17 Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021)
- Stream now on Netflix
While fans and critics found the first Peter Rabbit movie slightly disappointing thanks to its veering away from the source material, the Peter Rabbit sequel received much higher praise. The movie left Sony Pictures Animation, and the sequel brought back the main cast and improved on its connection to the classic Beatrix Potter stories. This time around, Bea is writing books based on Peter and his friends, but the rascal rabbit doesn't like being painted as a villain in the proposed stories. Peter Rabbit 2 made nowhere near what the first movie made, thanks to theater closures, but the reviews were better.
16 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
- Stream now on Paramount+
Based on a book by Kim Barker, Tina Fey stars as a dissatisfied journalist who takes a short assignment as a war correspondent in Afghanistan and finds her calling amid the chaos of the American occupation of the country during their war on global terrorism. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is aiming for something sharper than it ultimately ends up being and often seems too timid to tackle the rawness of its central hook. The stark contrast between the hard partying of the well-protected American journalists to the backdrop of an endlessly bombed nation isn't given the room it needs to breathe. Robbie doesn't get much to do, playing a BBC correspondent who befriends Fey.
15 Focus (2015)
- Rent now on Prime Video & Apple TV
One of the highlights of Suicide Squad was the chemistry between Margot Robbie and Will Smith, so if you enjoyed that then Focus is the movie for you. Taking its inspiration from conman capers like Charade, Focus paired up Smith and Robbie as a pair of grifters with Robbie being trained in the tutelage of the scam by Smith's seasoned veteran. The locations are sunny and gorgeous, the banter is fun, and the crimes themselves are juicy to watch unfold. It's a good, if not great, movie that's buoyed by the crackling sparks between its two highly attractive and charming stars.
14 Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)
- Rent now on Prime Video & Apple TV
Don't expect anything especially radical in this biopic of beloved children's author A.A. Milne and his son for whom the world of Winnie the Pooh was created. It stridently follows the rulebook of the biographical genre, right down to Robbie in a spouse role that seems mandatory for such narratives. What lifts Goodbye Christopher Robin up is its examination of the impact that celebrity has on the lives of the famous and their families. The media frenzy that followed Milne and would plague his son well into adulthood thanks to the popularity of the books inspired by his childhood is shown as a fracturing and contradictory force.
