Every Eddie Murphy movie, ranked according to critics

Eddie Murphy is one of the most prolific comedians and actors in Hollywood.

He's appeared in classic movies such as "Mulan," "Shrek," and "Beverly Hills Cop," and has continued his success into more recent projects like 2019's "Dolemite Is My Name."

But not all his movies have been hits. He's a three-time Razzie Award winner, and he even received a special Razzie for Worst Actor of the Decade in 2010. During an appearance on Marc Maron's podcast in March, Murphy said being in so many "s----- movies" caused him to stop acting for a time.

However, Murphy continues to bring laughs to people of all ages. We ranked his movies from worst to best, according to critics' reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

The percentages were accurate as of March 2021. Note that some of Murphy's movies did not have reviews so were not included in this ranking.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%

Jack McCall is an untruthful literary agent who says anything to get his way. But after signing a book deal with the new age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), a magical tree appears in McCall's yard that loses a leaf whenever he speaks. When the last leaf falls, McCall will die, so he must learn to change the way he talks to people.

Reel Talk Online's Candice Frederick said of the movie, "A disastrous comedy at times, with a few unexpected touching moments sprinkled throughout, 'A Thousand Words' fails to come together like it should, and becomes a forgettable mess."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 4%

The movie is set in 2087 on the moon colony Little America.

The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter wrote, "The result is something quite rare in professional show business: 1 1/2 hours of pure blankness. It's there but it's not there. It is but it isn't. It has nothing to offer. It's not forgettable, really, because there's nothing to forget."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%

Norbit (Murphy) is a pushover who is extremely unhappy with his marriage to Rasputia (also Murphy). When his childhood crush returns to town, he tries to escape Rasputia's wrath to pursue the love of his life.

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw wrote, "Murphy has a deplorable joke concerning a lost policeman's whistle for which there is no excuse whatever - other than it's very funny."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%

The third installation of the "Beverly Hills Cop" series finds Detroit cop Axel Foley (Murphy) returning to Beverly Hills to avenge the killing of his boss by a gang of counterfeiters.

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune said the movie was "a dismal third outing for Eddie Murphy as Detroit cop Axel Foley."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 12%

Maximilian the vampire (Murphy) has arrived in New York to search for the Dhampir, the daughter of a vampire from his Caribbean island. If he doesn't find her he won't live past the next full moon. When he learns that the Dhampir is Rita Veder (Angela Bassett), a detective investigating murders carried out by (unbeknownst to her) Maximilian, he attempts to persuade her of her vampire heritage.

Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "'Vampire in Brooklyn' is neither funny nor frightening and comes up a tedious middle-road hybrid from veteran scaremeister Wes Craven, who directed."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 12%

After a chance meeting with a man named G (Eddie Murphy), Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum), an executive at a home-shopping network, puts G's godly powers to use and gives him his own show. Sales go crazy, but Ricky wonders whether what he did was morally and ethically acceptable.

Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader wrote, "It may not be earthshaking, but this calmly competent feel-good movie shows that a little sincerity can go a long way."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%

Conman Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Murphy) uses his presidential name to get elected to Congress and plans on reaping the benefits of his new political position. After discovering that electric companies may be producing a cancer-causing product, he tries to speak up about it, but finds himself at odds with a congressman (Lane Smith), who tries to stop him from causing a commotion.

Roger Ebert wrote, "This is screwball material, and Murphy, with his quick delivery, is ideal for a laughaminute roller coaster, but director Jonathan Lynn seems to stretch out the scenes instead of hurrying them along."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%

While on vacation, Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) makes his family take a pit stop at a mansion he was asked to sell. After being forced to stay overnight at the property, Jim's family discovers it is haunted. They try and help to break the curse. The movie is based on the Disney theme park attraction.

Common Sense Media's Nell Minow advised viewers to "go on the Disney ride instead. It's over sooner."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 15%

Hostage negotiator Scott Roper (Murphy) and rookie Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport) are called to a jewelry store in downtown San Francisco to handle the criminal Michael Korda (Michael Wincott). They catch him but he escapes and takes Scott's girlfriend Ronnie Tate (Carmen Ejogo) hostage. The duo must work to get Ronnie back and recapture Michael.

Kevin McManus of The Washington Post wrote, "Anyone seeking a fresh characterization of clever plot twist ought not to buy a ride of this Murphy vehicle."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 16%

In this spinoff of the classic '60s television series of the same name, special agent Alex Scott (Owen Wilson) is tasked with stopping the dangerous arms dealer Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell). To do so, he enlists the help of World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson (Murphy).

Roger Ebert wrote, "This is a remake by the numbers, linking a halfwit plot to a series of standup routines in which Wilson and Murphy show how funny they could have been in a more ambitious movie. "

Rotten Tomatoes score: 20%

A humanoid spaceship (Eddie Murphy) controlled by 100 small aliens crashes to Earth in search of salt to save their planet from an energy crisis. The alien captain (also played by Murphy) and his crew must learn to make the spaceship act human to achieve their mission.

Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote, "There's a delicious irony to the way in which this supposedly heartwarming comedy gives the impression of having itself been devised by a race of extra-terrestrials with only a tentative grasp of what constitutes heart or humour."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 21%

Quick and his adopted father Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor) are gangsters who run a speakeasy called Club Sugar Ray during prohibition. After a rival gangster in town bribes a cop to close Sugar Ray down, the duo tries to save their club.

Richard Schickel of Time magazine wrote, "'Harlem Nights' offers a depressing answer to that not entirely pressing question, 'Will success spoil Eddie Murphy?' It looks as if it has."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 21%

While on the job, police officer Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) kills a criminal in self-defense but is under investigation for manslaughter because the victim wasn't armed. He only has 48 hours to prove himself innocent and calls once again on ex-convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), who is now out of jail, to do so.

Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Walter Hill, who also directed the first film, surely recognizes the hollowness of what he's doing here. He also hasn't had a hit since '48 HRS.,' which no doubt explains why he's once again tilling these charred fields."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 23%

Known for his ability to find lost children, social worker Chandler Jarrell (Murphy) is tapped by priestess Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis) to help find a Tibetan boy, dubbed the Golden Child (J.L. Reate), who has been kidnapped by Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance).

James Kendrick of the Q Network Film Desk wrote, "The Golden Child" is "an Eddie Murphy vehicle through and through, with little holding it together outside of the familiar cadences of his streetwise confidence and infectious laugh."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 24%

Mr. Church is hired to cook for a woman with terminal breast cancer and her daughter, Charlie. He forms a bond with Charlie and acts as a father figure to her through the ups and downs of life.

The New Yorker's Richard Brody wrote, "It's repugnant for its dehumanizing view (however unintentionally so) of a black man, and repugnant for its emptying-out of one of the great black performers of the time into a sanitized symbol of acceptable blackness."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 25%

The irritable detective Mitch Preston (De Niro) and actor-turned-police officer Trey Sellars (Murphy) star in a cop reality TV show that unexpectedly finds them fighting real crime.

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "The cop buddy comedy is such a familiar genre that a movie can parody it and occupy it at the same time. The characters in 'Showtime' do it as a kind of straddle, starting out making fun of cop buddy cliches and ending up trapped in them. The movie's funny in the opening scenes and then forgets why it came to play."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%

In this sequel to its 1996 predecessor, professor Sherman Klump (Murphy) falls in love with the DNA researcher Denise Gaines (Janet Jackson). All seems well except that the DNA of Buddy Love is still inside him as a side effect of his weight-loss solution. Buddy constantly takes over the professor's body and all seems lost — unless Gaines can remove the problematic DNA.

David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "Murphy is still undeniably amazing. The bizarre thing about The Klumps is how little it seems to matter: you can rise only so far over material this base."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 27%

After losing his job, Charlie (Murphy) must take care of his son while his wife Kim (Regina King) is at work. With the help of his friend Phil (Jeff Garlin), they decide to open a day care. The two struggle to keep the business from slipping into chaos but are determined to run a better business than their competitor, Mrs. Harridan (Anjelica Huston).

Outlook's Namrata Joshi wrote that the film "makes 'Kindergarten Cop' and 'Bringing Up Baby' sparkle in comparison."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 41%

Evan Danielson (Murphy) is so consumed with work that he neglects spending quality time with his daughter, Olivia. When he discovers Olivia has a savant-like ability to predict business mergers, Evan teams up with her to get a big promotion and learns about the importance of imagination in the process.

Time Out's Trevor Johnson wrote, "Murphy at least tries to stay in character rather than overdoing the silly voices and physical knockabout, but maybe the material was so blah that he felt it wasn't worth the effort."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%

After a childhood accident John Dolittle (Murphy) learned he could speak to animals. The film chronicles his trials and tribulations trying to help animals of all kinds in need.

Neil Smith of the BBC wrote, "Murphy himself is rather dull in the straight man role, and the jokes are pretty coarse for a family film. But it's certainly better than the lacklustre sequel, which finds Eddie playing second fiddle to a performing bear."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%

In this sequel, Murphy's character teams up with an endangered bear to help save woodland creatures from developers who plan to destroy their habitat.

Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote, "Murphy, who was upstaged by the talking animals in the original, brings bite as well as bark to the funnier sequel."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%

In the third installation of the "Shrek" series, King Harold (John Cleese) dies and Shrek (Mike Myers) is to be anointed king of Far Far Away unless he can find a proper heir. The next in line is Fiona's (Cameron Diaz) cousin Artie (Justin Timberlake) but getting the prince to take the throne proves to be an adventure in itself. Murphy voices Donkey in the series.

NPR's Bob Mondello wrote, "Apart from some modestly amusing princess shtick and a pleasantly slapsticky opening, there's no real reason for anyone over the age of 11 to see this one."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 43%

Marcus (Murphy) is a hedonistic advertising executive who prefers hookups over relationships. When he meets his new boss, Jacqueline (Robin Givens), the two quickly become involved but Marcus realizes she is the female version of him. He develops feelings but she deflects them, causing him to question his method.

Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle wrote, "It's not even funny. Nor does it contain half the wit or charm as the old Doris Day sex comedies it so resembles. In fact, it's downright mean-spirited toward women, as is Murphy's wont."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 47%

In the second installation of the "Beverly Hills Cop" series, Detroit cop Axel Foley (Murphy) returns to LA to help solve the Alphabet Crimes, a string of robberies at high-end stores. Things escalate quickly as Captain Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) is seriously shot and a hired gun attempts to kill Axel.

Bob Thomas of the Associated Press wrote, "Why do filmmakers try to improve on the original with louder music, bigger stunts, grosser situations? Such questions come to mind on viewing 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' Paramount's attempt to renew its 1985 gold mine."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 50%

On his 30th wedding anniversary, Akeem is made king of Zamunda. But he realizes he only has two daughters and no son to continue his lineage. Until the shaman Baba (Arsenio Hall) reveals that Akeem was drugged one night during his adventures in Queens which resulted in him having an illegitimate son. Akeem returns to New York with the hopes of finding his lost son.

Kevin Maher of The Times said "Coming 2 America" was "lazy, barrel-scraping cinema at its worst."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 50%

"Life" tells the stories of two New Yorkers, Ray (Murphy) and Claude (Lawrence), who took a bootlegging trip to Mississippi in 1932 that ended with them receiving life sentences after being framed for murder. Now in jail, the two think of ways they can escape and prove their innocence.

Roger Ebert said, "The movie is ribald, funny and sometimes sweet, and well acted by Murphy, Lawrence and a strong supporting cast.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 58%

Shrek (Mike Myers) begins to feel tied down to his routine as a married man so he signs a contract with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) to allow him to return to his bachelor life in the swamp for one day. But the contract had unforeseen consequences and Far Far Away doesn't return to normal: His friends and wife no longer remember him. Shrek must work to undo Rumpelstiltskin's nefarious trickery before it's too late.

Deborah Ross of The Spectator wrote, "The rot set in with the third film, I think, and now, with the fourth, it's decomposed and gone to that black sludge you get at the bottom of the bin."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%

Sherman Klump creates a weight-loss-solution and after an embarrassing date with an admiring graduate student, the professor takes his serum and sheds 250 pounds. Now he's skinny but there's a side effect: He develops a second personality, Buddy Love. Buddy improves certain aspects of Sherman's life and ruins others. Sherman has to figure out how to regain control of his life.

Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "This is a chance to see Murphy doing what he does best, and for that alone it's worth seeing."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 68%

For years, the ultra-wealthy businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) managed the investments of numerous employees that work in the luxury residence where he resides. After being arrested for stealing $2 billion in a Ponzi scheme, the employees hire a criminal named Slide (Murphy) to help them break into Arthur's condo to get their money back.

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "This isn't a great heist movie for a lot of reasons, beginning with the stupidity of its heist plan and the impossibility of these characters ever being successful at anything more complex than standing in line."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%

When Prince Akeem Joffer's parents present him with an arranged marriage on his 21st birthday, he decides to flee to Queens, New York, with his friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall), to find a wife of his own.

Kathleen Carroll of the New York Daily News wrote, "Murphy has dealt audiences the movie equivalent of a royal flush and he is now clearly Hollywood's reigning king of comedy."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 78%

The Dreamettes — comprised of Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), Effie (Jennifer Hudson), and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) — are noticed by manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) and hired to sing backing vocals for R&B star Jimmy "Thunder" Early. When the girls become a leading act in their own right, they learn about the ups and downs of fame first hand.

NPR's Bob Mondello wrote, "The energy is so high in sequences like this -- and there are lots of them -- that it almost doesn't matter that we've seen this story before, in Ray and other film biographies about the 'heartbreak' of musical stardom."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%

Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has always dreamed of making a feature film and finally has a script and the money to do so. A Universal Pictures executive even promises to distribute the film, as long as it features a Hollywood star. With his ragtag group of actors and crew members, Bowfinger decides to secretly film actor Kit Ramsey (Murphy) without his knowledge in an effort to make the project a success.

Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Martin the writer plants some wicked barbs in Hollywood's rear end about creative financing of movies and hoarding of profits, the art of the deal, hipper-than-thou attitudes and exploitation."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%

After his best friend is murdered, Foley tracks the killers to Los Angeles and takes a "vacation" there — in fact, he leads an unauthorized investigation to solve the murder. When word gets back to the Beverly Hills Police Department that Axel is investigating the murder, his investigation, life, and career are put into jeopardy.

The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Ellis wrote, "This lickety-split action comedy is distinguished by the wry, character-conscious direction of Martin Brest, who coaxes a silver-bullet performance from star Eddie Murphy that's practically criminal in its accuracy."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

"Mulan" tells the story of a Chinese teenager (Ming-Na Wen) who disguises herself as a man to join the Imperial Chinese Army so her aging father doesn't have to. While serving and warding of the Huns, she ends up falling in love with a captain.

Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times wrote, "Overall, this is a lovely film, ranking with the best of Disney's animated features while taking on rather serious issues of war, honor, gender roles and family pride."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

The ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) values nothing more than the solitude of living in his swamp. When his isolation is compromised after numerous classic fairytale characters are banished by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) to his swamp, Shrek strikes up a deal with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and bring her to him. Shrek quickly realizes there's more than meets the eye to this rescue mission.

The Independent's Anthony Quinn wrote, "With improbable finesse it buffs up some of the oldest tropes of storytelling and then gives them a mischievous tilt, so that we appear to be watching a celebration of a genre and a sneaky subversion of it at the same time."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) is a successful commodities broker and Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) is a hustler. As an experiment, Louis' bosses the Dukes frame him for murder and replace him with Billy Ray to see if his street-smarts pay off for the company. When the two learn of the Dukes' plan, Louis and Billy Ray team up to get back at them.

Yardena Arar of the Associated Press wrote, "[John] Landis' direction is deft, but the sparkling performances are the real draw not only by Murphy and Aykroyd but also by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy as the meddling oldsters, Denholm Elliott as the gentlemanly servant and Jamie Lee Curtis."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%

Shrek (Mike Myers) is now happily married and Fiona's (Cameron Diaz) parents wish to see her new husband, who they assume to be Prince Charming. When they find out she instead married an ogre and turned into one herself, the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) tries to ruin their relationship.

Derek Malcolm of the London Evening Standard wrote, "The animation by which it stands or falls is as brilliant as ever and, though it wouldn't really be right to call it totally anti-Disney, it certainly trumps that institution for sharpness of focus, notably as far as the screenplay is concerned."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%

Police officer Jack Cates (Nolte) pulls some strings to get bank robber Reggie Hammond (Murphy) out of federal prison for 48 hours to help him find $500,000 his former partner stole. Reggie agrees to help but does so at his own pace so he can enjoy his freedom outside of prison.

Bob Thomas of the Associated Press wrote, "What makes it work are Walter Hill's switchblade-sharp direction, and the inspired teaming of Nolte and Murphy."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%

After many unsuccessful attempts to make it as various kinds of performers, Rudy Ray Moore creates the persona Dolemite and becomes the star of "Dolemite," a Black kung-fu film. Despite numerous producers saying the content wouldn't sell, Moore goes on to promote the film successfully and create the Blaxploitation genre.

Jordan Hoffman of TV Guide wrote, "This isn't just a jokey comedy vehicle for Eddie Murphy, this is truly one of the year's best films."