What would the moviegoing experience be without Sir Ian McKellen? An actor with a towering, half-century-plus career, theater-trained performer McKellen has become synonymous not just with great plays and serious dramas, but with huge sci-fi and fantasy blockbusters. McKellen headlined two major franchises in the aughts, playing indelible parts in both Peter Jackson' "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (plus the less beloved prequel saga) and pre-mcu superhero standout the "X-Men" trilogy.

McKellen adds his signature gravitas to every role, and he's elevated plenty of so-so films, like "The Da Vinci Code," "The Golden Compass," and -- dare I say -- "Cats." With a career so sprawling and significant, it's difficult to say just which of McKellen's films is his best, but where human brains fail, the (sometimes super-wonky) metrics of the Rotten Tomatoes algorithm theoretically succeed. We may not be able to pick just one McKellen performance that stands above the rest,...