Chris Pine is easily one of our best actors out there. He’s talented, brings us hit after hit, and has been the face of multiple franchises. One of the Hollywood Chrises who has managed to get into both the DCEU as well as the Spider-Verse, he’s incredible to see. And yet he is still one of the underrated Chrises when people are talking about them.
So let’s get into some of Chris Pine’s movies and why they’re worth the watch! Especially since Chris Pine has a lot of movies coming out and continues to prove that he’s one of our best working actors today.
Star Trek (2009)
The new take on Star Trek from J.J. Abrams brought a lot of new fans into the franchise and ushered in the Kelvin timeline. The original timeline for the world Gene Roddenberry created followed through a five-year mission with the crew of the Enterprise but Star Trek (2009) forces us to wonder what would happen if James T. Kirk (played by Chris Pine) didn’t have his father George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) there as a child. How would he turn out?
Star Trek
We’re thrown into Kirk’s birth as a ship is being destroyed by Nero (Eric Bana) and throughout the movie learn of the two timelines and how they function around each other (thanks to the OG timeline’s Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, helping them). But the movie was, for many, an introduction into Chris Pine and it gave a look at his star power and ability to lead a cast and honestly, the 2009 Star Trek is a pretty great movie.
Into the Woods (2014)
When it comes to movie musicals or adaptations of stage musicals into films, Into the Woods isn’t a great version of the Stephen Sondheim musical. But Chris Pine is fantastic as Cinderella’s Prince so you really have to take what you can get. The musical is a dark look at fairytales and the lies they tell us (and often the musical just leaves out Act II for the “junior” productions because of how dark it is).
Into the Woods
The movie made some choices that weren’t great but watching Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen belt out “Agony” together with the dramatics only rivaled by a high school theatre troupe definitely makes up a bit for it. Chris Pine is charming as can be in this movie, which is the point of his character and it works very well with the overall tone they were going for. Just don’t expect a perfect adaptation. Go in for the Chris Pine vibes only.
Hell or High Water (2016)
My personal favorite film from Pine is Hell or High Water. The David Mackenzie-directed film takes us into the world of Toby Howard and his brother Tanner. Pine plays Toby, a father trying to find the money to keep their home in their name until they can get the oil found on their land. The problem is that the bank wants to seize the property and the oil with it, leaving the family high and dry. So the two brothers decide to rob local banks to get enough money to pay off their debt.
Hell or High Water
It’s a game of the police trying to catch the two while the brothers are trying to stick it back to the banks trying to take everything from them and is a film about struggling to protect your family and what is rightfully yours. It’s truly one of the best films in the last decade and isn’t given enough credit for Pine’s performance.
Wonder Woman (2017)
There is a gentle understanding in a character like Steve Trevor that makes him work as a love interest for a hero like Diana Prince. And Chris Pine understood that perfectly while bringing him to life in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. The character is the love interest who is often in need of assistance but Steve can hold his own and is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good in the same way that Diana would.
Wonder Woman
The dynamic between Pine and Gal Gadot in the 2017 film was an incredible look at the comic book romance that never really had its moment on the big screen before and, as we saw in Wonder Woman 1984, Steve comes back into Diana’s lifetime and time again because of her love for him and what he taught her. The two complement each other and Pine’s performance in Wonder Woman is truly next level.
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
There are very few perfect movies in this world but Star Trek Beyond is up there. The Justin Lin-directed movie is the third in the series and feels like an actual episode of Star Trek. The movie takes the crew into the world of Krall (Idris Elba) after an attack that leaves them stranded. Krall’s technology can destroy worlds and the crew must stop him despite being completely separated from each other.
Star Trek Beyond
It’s a story about resilience and the ability of Star Fleet to keep pushing forward so that others can thrive and we get new characters, a final look at Anton Yelchin’s Pavel Checkov, and team-ups that should make fans of the original series and movies extremely happy. Star Trek Beyond was so incredibly good so it was sad when it seemed as if the series would end there but luckily the fourth film is back on track and, hopefully, similar in tone to Beyond.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
For me, the first movie I saw Chris Pine in was The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement. The sequel to the Anne Hathaway film The Princess Diaries, Mia (Hathaway) finds herself caught in a bind when she has to be married in order to take over as queen of Genovia. The problem is that Sir Nicholas (Pine) has a stake to the crown and is forcing Mia’s hand into finding a husband.
The Princess Diaries 2
The movie is about Mia trying to show Genovia how outdated their rules are and somehow finding it in her heart to find love with someone she initially hated in Nicholas. It’s Chris Pine with big hair and bushy eyebrows but it is charming as can be and something that I wish they’d revisit in a third movie for the series. Until then, we can keep watching Nicholas and Mia falling into the fountain together and having to explain it to everyone.
The Finest Hours (2016)
Chris Pine and Ben Foster have made a career out of working together in movies. Time and time again the two team up to bring us hits and The Finest Hours is one of them. The Craig Gillespie movie focuses on the story of the SS Pendleton when it split in two due to a storm and the team of men have to go on a rescue mission. Pine plays Bernie Webber and is a man trying to figure his love life out while also having a duty to protect those who need him.
The Finest Hours
It’s a lot of water and a lot of high stakes but it is a look into the real-life history of this team and the ship that broke in two and Pine delivers a heartwarming performance as Bernie that keeps you engaged in the film. He also isn’t terrible at the Massachusetts accent so it’s a win-win!
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Ever want to watch Chris Pine as an aloof scientist that his daughter is trying to find lost in time and space? Then A Wrinkle In Time is for you! The Ava Duvernay filmed based on the novel of the same name by Madeleine L’Engle follows the story of Meg Murry (Storm Reid) as she falls into a journey through time to try and find her father, Dr. Murry (Pine). The 2018 film was filled with incredible performances and gave us a new look at the L’Engle novel that had a look at the Murry family that was new and fresh and necessary.
A Wrinkle in Time
Meg’s story is one that has inspired generations and it was beautiful to watch Reid’s interpretation of the character. And it was also delightful to see what Pine brought to the role of the scientist who left his family behind in the midst of his work and science.
Z for Zachariah (2015)
If you want to explore the apocalypse with Chris Pine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Margot Robbie then Z For Zachariah is for you. It’s a look into the lengths that people will go in order to protect themselves when the world is gone. Pine plays Caleb, a man who stumbles into the home that Loomis (Ejiofor) and Ann (Robbie) have created. Loomis doesn’t trust him but Ann is wooed by his ways and the film explores how people choose to survive.
Z for Zachariah
Ann feels like she’s completely alone in this world and the only survivor until she meets and begins to trust Loomis and so when Caleb comes, that trust gets extended out of the loneliness they’re all facing but not everything is as it should be and we get to see the nature of man when the world is crashing around him. It’s an interesting take on the apocalypse and a great role for Pine.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Sure, he’s in the movie for a brief bit but Chris Pine as Peter Parker did give us Spidey-Bells (A Hero’s Lament) in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to usher in the holiday season for the rest of time. A perfect Spider-Man movie; Pine played Peter Parker in Miles Morales’ universe. When Miles is also bitten by a radioactive spider, the two feel like they found happiness in each other and companionship in this weird world they have to protect.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
But it is short-lived when Miles has to watch as Peter dies before him without anything he can do to stop it. Without a mentor and with the city grieving the loss of Spider-Man, Miles learns who he has to be behind the mask but it is wonderful to have that brief look into the Spider-Man that Chris Pine’s Peter Parker was. And again, we have Spidey-Bells to celebrate the holidays with.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Rachel Leishman is a writer based in New York City. She specializes in yelling about her favorite properties. A real-life Leslie Knope, she loves her fictional characters and knows probably too much about Harrison Ford’s career.
