Ice Cube's 5 Best Movies, According To IMDb

It's hard to say when Ice Cube's career as an actor eclipsed his career as a rapper. For a time, the two paths were intrinsically connected; his debut film performance, "Boyz n the Hood," is named after Eazy-E's 1987 track of the same name, written by Ice Cube. In many ways, that film feels like an N.W.A. song come to life.

As a member of the influential rap group from 1987 to 1989, Ice Cube helped shape the sound of the nascent gangster rap genre, penning bold lyrics about police brutality and racial profiling. In 2016, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A.

Ice Cube's role in "Boyz n the Hood" ushered in a prolific acting career, and he has since appeared in dozens of films ranging from family-friendly fare to stoner comedies to thrillers — and that's to speak nothing of his work as a producer and director. Here are Ice Cube's five best movies, according to IMDb.

"Boyz n the Hood" is Ice Cube's highest-rated film on IMDb with 7.8 stars — an appropriate designation given the heaps of praise the movie has received since its release in 1991. Written and directed by John Singleton when he was just 23 years old, "Boyz n the Hood" was based on the young filmmaker's upbringing in South Central Los Angeles. At the 64th Academy Awards, Singleton became the youngest person and the first Black filmmaker to be nominated for best director. "Boyz n the Hood" also earned a screenwriting nomination.

The "Boyz n the Hood" cast featured breakout roles from Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long, as well as an early performance by Regina King. The film follows Gooding Jr.'s Tre as he goes to live in Crenshaw with his father, Furious (Laurence Fishburne), and is surrounded by the neighborhood's gang culture.

Ice Cube stars as Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, a drug dealer and childhood friend of Tre's. Singleton specifically sought out the rapper for the role. "He came on board because I wrote the part for him," Singleton told Vice in 2016. "I couldn't see anyone else playing that part but Ice Cube." The pair met when Singleton was an intern for "The Arsenio Hall Show." "I took him [to the green room] and I told him I had a script I'd been writing for him, and he gave me his phone number."

When Ice Cube joined the cast of 2023's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," he relished the opportunity to voice the animated film's villain, Superfly. "You get to be evil and nasty," Ice Cube told Esquire. "That's what's great about playing a villain. But what's cool about Superfly is that he has a heart," he continued. "He just wants to be liked, and when you don't like him, then he wants to rip down a skyscraper. It's normal stuff."

As the foe to the titular turtles, Superfly envisions a world of mutant domination over humans. At first, the turtles are thrilled to meet another mutant — until he unveils his sinister plot.

It's in part Ice Cube's performance that earned "Mutant Mayhem" rave reviews; on IMDb, the film racked up 7.3 stars, and it's certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Indeed, the Associated Press' Jake Coyle opened his review thusly: "There are some good gags and clever innovations in the animated 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,' but there is one brilliant idea: casting Ice Cube as the voice of the movie's mutant insect supervillain [Superfly]."

For Ice Cube, it was also a treat to pepper the role with some pop culture references. He even ad-libbed a lyric from his buddy Ice-T's "6 'N the Mornin," when Superfly says, "6 in the mornin' police at my door."

Aside from "Boyz n the Hood," Ice Cube's best-known acting role is probably his turn as Craig Jones in the 1995 comedy "Friday." "Friday" was a far cry from Ice Cube's prior film roles at that point, which included another drama with John Singleton (the action-packed "Trespass") and famed filmmaker Charles Burnett's crime drama, "The Glass Shield."

In fact, "Friday" was partially a reaction to movies like "Boyz n the Hood" that shined a light on heavy topics like gang violence. "Everybody was looking at our neighborhood like it was hell on Earth, like the worst place you can grow up in America," Ice Cube recalled to Complex. "And I'm like, 'Why?' I didn't see it all that way. I mean, I knew it was crazy around where I grew up but we had fun in the hood. We used to trip off the neighborhood."

That became the impetus behind "Friday," which follows two ne'er-do-wells on a particularly eventful day in South Central. "Friday" was Ice Cube's first film as a screenwriter and producer and the project that lifted him and co-star Chris Tucker to superstar status. It was also a hit, grossing $28 million from an estimated $3.5 budget and earning 7.2 stars on IMDb. Two sequels followed: "Next Friday" in 2000 and "Friday After Next" in 2002.

Throughout his career, Ice Cube has been able to combine his tough-guy bona fides with the aptitude for comedy he displayed in "Friday." Nowhere is this more evident than "21 Jump Street." In the 2012 adaptation of the TV series that ran from 1987 to 1991, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as two rookie cops who infiltrate a high school on an undercover mission to find the supplier of a popular new drug. The comedy has 7.2 stars on IMDb.

Ice Cube plays the cops' intimidating boss, Captain Dickson, who heads up the Jump Street program. Jonah Hill co-wrote the film and specifically sought out Ice Cube for the role, citing the irony of casting the "F— the Police" songwriter as a cop.

"Wouldn't it be cool for Cube, who wrote that first song, to play a police captain? That was a no-brainer for me," Hill told ESPN. "Channing and I were just in awe on the set, just staring at him and asking him all these stupid questions." Ice Cube reprised the role for the 2014 sequel, "22 Jump Street," in which he has an even bigger part as the father to Hill's love interest.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" wasn't Ice Cube's only brush with voice-acting glory. In 2014, he teamed up with his "21 Jump Street" co-star Channing Tatum for the Guillermo del Toro-produced "The Book of Life."

"The Book of Life" follows Manolo (Diego Luna), a young bullfighter who sets out on an otherworldly adventure to the afterlife on the Day of the Dead. The rest of the voice cast includes Zoe Saldana, Ron Perlman, Danny Trejo, and Christina Applegate as the story's narrator. Ice Cube plays the Candle Maker, an affable bearded spirit who shepherds Manolo and his friends to the mystical Cave of Souls.

Although Ice Cube was well into his film career by 2014, "The Book of Life" marked his first voice-acting gig. "I love the visuals in this movie," the actor told ScreenSlam. "That's what drew me to it. If you know anything about the Day of the Dead, it's vibrant. [There are] colors everywhere. When I knew they were about to do a movie about this kind of vivid backdrop, man, I had to jump in it."

Ice Cube wasn't the only one to praise the film's eye-popping visuals, and "The Book of Life" received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. On IMDb, it has 7.2 stars, tying it with "21 Jump Street" and "Friday."