The Best Zoe Saldana Movies, Ranked

It must be really frustrating for the folks who made The Book of Life to see Coco come along three years later and tell basically the same story but with better animation and better songs. However, there’s plenty to appreciate about this 2014 flick, including the brilliant vocal work of Zoe Saldana, as well as Diego Luna and Channing Tatum alongside her.

Honestly, I kinda like the more blocky, unique animation style, too. With a vibrant colour palette and a real embrace of the Day of the Dead vibes here, The Book of Life is a really charming and gentle effort to tackle what could be fairly heavy themes for younger viewers. At just 95 minutes long and with the film being on Disney Plus, it’s well worth giving it a watch if you’ve already watched Coco before.

Another franchise for Saldana to tick off her bucket list here, with a supporting role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl way back in 2003. This was the first film in the seafaring saga, and is arguably only bettered by its sequel, Dead Man’s Chest. With fantastic comedy elements, epic battles, and even a romantic subplot, the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie is the ultimate adventure for a family night in; my nephews – who are eight and 12 – love these films.

Admittedly, Saldana doesn’t play a massive role here, with Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, and Orlando Bloom taking centre stage. However, as Anamaria, she’s a fierce and skilled pirate who goes from slapping Jack Sparrow to helping him secure the Black Pearl and save Elizabeth Swann. It’s a real shame she didn’t get invited back for more voyages, to be honest.

We are so used to seeing Saldana playing colourful aliens that it’s quite odd to see her in a sci-fi movie as a normal human being in J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot. She takes on the role of Nyota Uhura, a key member of the USS Enterprise as the communications officer and the iconic character originally played by Nichelle Nichols. However, there’s no denying that Saldana makes the role her own in the Kelvin timeline.

I personally think these modern Star Trek movies should get more credit. The first film, especially, strikes a superb balance between paying homage to the many, many movies and TV shows that came before it and also treading its own path. As you’d expect, this film relies heavily on the dynamic between James Kirk and Spock; thankfully, both Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have wonderful chemistry as the two leads and they carry this movie and the whole trilogy magnificently.

When I heard there was a noir thriller from the guy who wrote Shutter Island, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, with the likes of Brendan Gleeson, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Chris Messina in support, I was totally sold on Live By Night. Truth be told, I probably overhyped it a little bit in my own head, but it’s still a gorgeous-looking, twist-filled picture that deserves attention.

Saldana is excellent in her role as Graciela Corrales here. In fact, I’d go as far as to say she delivers the best performance of the lot. She imbues her character with a fierceness and strength that lies just beneath the surface, and Graciela is very much the grounding, resilient force in this gritty gangster flick. You’ll have to pay £2.49 to rent Live By Night from Amazon Prime Video, but if you love films like Lawless and Hell or High Water, it’ll be money well spent.

For more of a similar vibe, you could give Out of the Furnace a go. This movie puts Zoe Saldana in the middle of another star-studded cast featuring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, and Forest Whitaker to name just a few. When you consider this film was also made by Scott Cooper, the director behind the likes of Hostiles, Black Mass, and Crazy Heart, you can already tell that, on paper, this is a surefire hit.

I personally love these kinds of poignant and powerful stories about the Rust Belt in America. Cooper brings out the best of his cast here, and instills a really melancholic, meditative vibe into this action thriller. There may be gunfire and violence, but Out of the Furnace is not your typical genre movie by any means. It’s a slow-burn, authentic tale of crime and brotherhood that really does break the mould. Check it out on Rakuten for free now.

We had to dive into the Avatar franchise at some point, of course, and it’s the second movie in the saga that gets the nod for this list. While the original film was obviously a groundbreaking technical achievement for its time, it’s the sequel in 2022 that truly made waves (pardon the pun). Avatar: The Way of Water is absolutely stunning visually, and there’s a lot more emotional depth and heart to this story than the other two installments, too.

One thing that remains consistent throughout the Avatar movies, though, is that Zoe Saldanda is acting rings around everyone else, every single time. She’s truly formidable as Neytiri, whether she’s playing the protective mother or the Na’vi warrior, Saldana gives it everything and it’s safe to say the Avatar franchise would not be where it is today without her.

Another voice role for Saldana here, and one of my favourite cinema experiences of the last few years. My fiancée and I took our little boy to see Elio last year and we all had a blast with it, for different reasons. Our son loved the quirky alien characters and the outer space setting, while us adults appreciated the sweet story about friendship and parenthood, obviously.

If you like films such as The Iron Giant and Big Hero 6, you’ll have a riot with Elio. As far as Disney Pixar movies go, it’s arguably mid-tier, but let’s remember that’s a very high bar. I really do think Elio was slept on a little bit at the time of release, but it’s nice to see it get an Oscar nomination at least.

When it comes to the MCU, I genuinely don’t believe there’s a better trilogy than the Guardians of the Galaxy series. James Gunn knocked it out of the park when he brought this rag-tag group to the big screen, blending laugh out loud comedy, epic soundtracks, and exciting action sequences.

It’s hard to pick a favourite from this trilogy, but I think that for the pure technical brilliance of the way Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is put together – the exhilarating camera work is out of this world – and the truly heartbreaking story around Rocket, the third and final film takes the crown. Sure, it’ll make you cry, and if you’re really averse to themes of animal abuse it may be one to avoid. But, if you can get through that, it’s one of the best superhero movies of the past decade.

This was one of Zoe Saldana’s first movie roles, and it’s absolutely charming. I actually only watched The Terminal for the first time at the start of 2026, and I’m now wondering why it took me so long. Tom Hanks stars in this Steven Spielberg drama, and as you would expect, he brings so much warmth to the role of Viktor Navorski. The Terminal is just a lovely hug of a film, very much in the same vein as Roofman from 2025, actually, where one man just tries to exist against the odds and has a bit of fun doing it.

Saldana is at the core of one of the more interesting and sweet subplots in The Terminal. She plays Dolores Torres, an immigration officer who appears stern and hard to please but who has a secret soft side. Her co-worker, Enrique (played by Diego Luna) is utterly besotted with her, and manages to win her over thanks to Viktor Navorski’s incredible wing-man work. Hell, I’d watch a whole movie just around that little story, but there’s so much more to The Terminal.

It feels a little too obvious to put Avengers: Infinity War at the top of this list, but when a film is this good you just have to roll with it. Me praising this movie is about as inevitable as Thanos himself, but I don’t care, it’s an absolutely perfect superhero flick. There’s so much going on in Infinity War, with a crazy array of different characters spread out across the universe trying to take down the Mad Titan, but somehow, the Russo Brothers balance the chaotic plot brilliantly.

Special mention has to go to Saldana for her role in this one, too. Her scenes as Gamora as she contends with her adoptive father, Thanos and his tyrannical ambitions are genuinely really emotional. That moment between the two of them on Vormir is brutal, but it’s an underrated highlight of this fantastic Marvel movie. I will honestly never get tired of watching this film, because there’s so much to take in that every rewatch seems to bring something new to the fore.