If there’s one director currently working in Hollywood that I would say qualifies as being the most overlooked, that honor would easily go to Ryan Coogler. Despite being only 38 years old, he’s already achieved more behind the camera than most directors working in Hollywood would ever dream off. He was able to get a big-screen outing for his directorial debut with less than a million dollar budget at at the age of just 27, he was able to revitalized the Rocky saga when it felt like that series had ran it’s course, and he made history in making two smash box office hits involving the most popular black superhero in the history of Marvel Comics. And now with the release of Sinners, he has been given a blank check to craft his own original flick, involving vampires, religion, and lots and lots of blood and gore.
Because of that, we now have five films to rank! And thus far, he has yet to release an outright dud or anything that constitutes as being “mid” or “slop”. If that doesn’t say how talented this man is as a director, then I don’t know what does. Regardless, let’s not waste anymore time and get right to ranking!
5.) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is about as good and thematically rich of a sequel as it could have been given the circumstances surrounding it. Despite losing a main key piece and a few too many subplots that feel like they’re only here to tease future movie and shows, it is still able to follow the remaining characters and themes from the first one in a way that feels organic and right. It’s beautifully acted and made, the handling of Chadwick Boseman’s death is done to near perfection, and is certainly a film you will want to bring tissues too. If only the runtime had been trimmed down and there wasn’t subplots that put more focus on setting up future Disney Plus shows, then this might’ve have ranked higher on this list. Even so, the fact that Coogler’s weakest film can still qualify as being very good speaks volume to the superb quality of filmography this man has.
4.) Fruitvale Station
Ryan Coogler’s first ever feature film debut came with Fruitvale Station. Made on a budget of just 900k dollars, Coogler is able to explore themes surrounding life, tragedy, and police brutality. This is about a man that is just trying to make his way through the world to take care of the ones he loves but life always finds a way to make it difficult. While it’s fairly low budget is quite noticeable, this is still able to hold strongly together due to the top notch performance by Michael B Jordan and the sharp, clever direction from Ryan Coogler. Well acted and well directed with subject matter that is more than relevant over a full decade later, Fruitvale Station is about as good as these low budget debut films can be.
3.) Sinners
In a time where Hollywood desperately needs more creative voices than ever, Ryan Coogler comes on in to craft what is perhaps the most original and unique blockbuster in recent memory! Sinners is more than just an expertly well done horror period flick but it’s a glimmer of light of the creatively bankrupted nature in Hollywood. It’s prove that there are still distinct, creative voices in Hollywood and directors that are looking to push boundaries of what filmmaking can be in the year of our lord and savior in 2025! The cast is top tier from top to bottom, has the right mix of blood, gore, scares, and glorious amounts of sexiness, the production values are top notch, and nearly every single plot point and thematic arc gets a payoff of some sort by the end. It’s even impressive to have post-credits scenes that don’t just exist to give a tease for the sequel or a cheap gag but to actually expand upon the complete ending of the full complete picture. It might take a while for Coogler to much his chess pieces into place and I’m not sure it will have the cultural impact that the top two films on this list will have but nevertheless, Sinners is more than worth your time and money at the theaters.
2.) Black Panther
Yes the CGI isn’t that great. Yes, it does move a bit slow in the first act and quite fast in the third act. And yes, more time with the bad guys would have helped. Nevertheless, when it come to quality, filmmaking, and it’s overall impact on pop culture, I don’t think there’s been an MCU installment that hits quite as hard as Black Panther. The characters are all iconic, especially with Kilmonger being arguably the best MCU villain to date, everything that takes place in Wakanda is wonderful, the action is well done, especially that car chase, the aesthetic (minus the CGI) is a treat for the eyes, the music rocks, and the impactful themes are ones that still resonate with me to this very day. When looking back on it, you can tell the impact that Black Panther had with Marvel Studios and director Ryan Coogler and how it would be quite hard to replicated something with that one center piece now gone. Nevertheless, they can at least look back and witness the amazing achievement they were able to accomplish with the gem that is Black Panther. RIP Chadwick Boseman!
1.) Creed
About a month before the age of legacy sequels kicked into full gear with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there was Creed, which Ryan Coogler actually dared to take the Rocky franchise in a new direction by putting direct focus on the son of his old friend while Stallone himself acts as a secondary character. Easily one of the best movies to come out in 2015, this soft reboot is able to get everything right that these soft reboots tend to get wrong. It has the right amount of drama, right amount of emotion, right amount of fight scenes, right amount of legacy, right amount of inspiration, right amount focus on the villain, and just right amount of everything. Michael B Jordan is sensational as Adonis “Donnie” Creed and even Sylvester Stallone works just as well being a mentor figure as he was as the main boxer. And I will never be able to get over the MASTERFULLY directed boxing sequences and hard hitting drama that feels earned in every single bit. While all of Ryan Coogler’s films thus far have been impressive in every way, I don’t think there is one that speaks volume for his filmmaking talents and distinct voice than with Creed.
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