Michelle Yeoh, the Malaysian beauty queen-turned-actress, has done it all. She started her career in 1983 when she was named Miss Malaysia at twenty years old. After shooting a commercial with Jackie Chan, she began acting in Hong Kong action films, but in 1997 she found her global break after appearing in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. Her next major film, the wuxia Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a smash hit globally, creating an avenue for more wuxia and Chinese films to enter Western markets successfully.
Ever since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Yeoh has become a familiar face in Hollywood. From Crazy Rich Asians to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, she’s continued to give stellar, solid performances with the occasional nod to her roots in martial arts movies. Yeoh, whose native languages are English and Malay, has even learned Mandarin to show her commitment and was banned from entering Myanmar due to her role as Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady. After thirty years in the industry, Yeoh is still going strong and has many more exciting projects coming in the new Avatar movie and Everywhere All At Once. Until then, here are her best movies ranked.
Updated on September 28th, 2023, by Soniya Hinduja: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
12 Yes, Madam (1985)
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Do you ever wonder how Michelle Yeoh became the legend she is in Western cinema today? Yes, Madam is a classic Hong Kong action film that was also the star’s breakout role. She plays Inspectors Ng next to Cynthai Rothrock’s Carrie Morris. The movie watches the two badass women team up and gets to the bottom of a homicide case. As a female inspector, Yeoh brought a gritty warmth and humor, disarming male peers on the one hand and breathing up crooks with an impressive grace on the other.
Directed by Corey Yuen, the movie was filled with artistic action set pieces. Whether it was the wirework fights, on-foot chases, or slick vehicle movies, the action choreography was always top-notch. Despite being an under-watched film in the Western landscape, Yes, Madam remains an extraordinary work even 35 years later.
11 Sunshine (2007)
Directed by Danny Boyle, Sunshine is an epic science fiction film that follows a team of astronauts on a last-ditch mission to try and save the Sun from dying. While the movie’s premise itself is captivating, the star-studded cast of Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Bryne, and Benedict Wong make it more stunning than ever.
Yeoh commands the screen as the brilliant biologist Corazon, who is responsible for maintaining the ship's oxygen supply and holding together the multicultural crew facing the ultimate test of humanity. Boyle gives her character a dramatic gravitas and spirituality to match the heaviness of the theme. Paired with gorgeous cinematography and thought-provoking questions about the future, Sunshine is more than a thriller.
10 The Lady (2011)
Telling the true story of young Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of a real-life hero who drove Burma towards independence, The Lady chronicles her rise as an activist and how she reforms the country by teaching the Burmese junta to fight against oppression. Michelle Yeoh headlined the biopic as the leading protagonist, starring alongside David Thewlis, who plays her husband.
As she quickly formed a political party and won the general election, the commanding military disapproved of her methods and put her on house arrest. Despite the risks that posed themselves, Kyi worked for positive change and brought a revolution. Luc Besson directs the film with a major focus on how one woman’s quiet determination led to a complex but necessary change.
9 Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Finally, the movie that proved that Michelle Yeoh’s acting range and star power know no bounds. Everything Everywhere All At Once follows Evelyn Quan, an unassuming Asian mother, laundromat owner, and immigrant going about her regular life unaware of what is in store for her.
When she is being audited by the IRS and sitting in the office with her husband Waymond, Evelyn is pulled into a bizarre multiverse where her parallel selves are connected with one another and are facing a massive threat that goes by the name of Jobu Tupaki. Yeon takes the oft-sidelined Asian mother character and spins it into a jaw-dropping sci-fi heroine who channels this newfound knowledge to save her family. Dripping with wonder and hilarity, this independent masterpiece by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert may be bizarre, but it sure has influenced filmmaking.
8 Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a movie about a young Japanese girl and unique cultural traditions. However, the majority of its main cast isn't Japanese, despite controversy. Chiyo Sakamoto (Zhang Ziyi) is sold, with her sister, by her family to a geisha house, where they are trained to become proper geishas and make money.
The movie follows her struggles being a geisha in Japanese society before World War II begins. The movie's visual style is unique, utilizing color and scenery to convey more depth. Despite a lackluster script, the film's strength lies in its acting.
7 Reign of Assassins (2010)
Reign of Assassins marked Yeoh’s return to the wuxia genre in 2010. Yeoh is Drizzle, an assassin who wants to turn her back on the life she’s lived. When she gets ahold of the remains of a mystical Buddhist monk, she puts herself in grave danger to do a noble deed and return the remains to their resting place.
Romance and martial arts weave together to create an immersive experience. The storyline is nuanced and complex, allowing the characters ample time to become noteworthy as they dance across the screen in well-choreographed fights.
6 Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)
Miramax
Released in 1992, Police Story 3: Super Cop had Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, and Michelle Yeoh joining forces. Chan was already an established regular in the Police Story movies, but Yeoh, a newcomer, stole the show.
She portrays the Interpol Director of the Chinese police force, and after a drug lord’s activities become too dangerous, she sends Chan to save the day. Yeoh performed all of her stunts in the movie, including a motorbike trick. The movie’s best known for its series of stunts, which don’t disappoint, especially after the characters move to the Thailand and Malaysia fight scenes.
5 Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018)
The Ip Man series is legendary in the martial arts movie world, and Yeoh starred in the 2018 edition Master Z: Ip Man Legacy. Cheung Tin-Chi, a previous character defeated by Ip Man, has left behind the martial arts world after his duel with Ip Man.
He opens up a grocery store and lives a normal life, but as a series of incidents begin to crop up in his life, he finds out that it isn’t so easy to walk away from it all. This movie is a distinct departure from the previous Ip Man movies and focuses on the meaning of life.
4 Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Warner Bros. Pictures
Crazy Rich Asians took the world by storm when it came out; it was the first movie since Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club to feature a cast where the majority was of Chinese descent. A Chinese-American economics professor (Constance Wu) travels back to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s (Henry Golding) family.
However, it turns out they’re a lot richer than she is and his mother (Michelle Yeoh) disapproves of her. The movie grapples with themes of immigration, hardship, and the lavish, excessive world of the wealthy. Crazy Rich Asians had an overwhelmingly positive reception, opening the path to more Asian representation in Hollywood.
3 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was one of the most anticipated releases of 2021, and it did not disappoint. The film featured a studded cast consisting of Simu Liu, Michelle Yeoh, the legendary Tony Leung, and Awkwafina.
The acting and direction of the movie were stellar, giving a solid representation of Asian culture backed under the Marvel name—a feat previously done with Black Panther. What makes Shang-Chi unique is this: it blends fantasy, martial arts, and realism, creating a tale that is both relatable and mythological.
2 Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Michelle Yeoh skyrocketed to global acclaim after appearing in Tomorrow Never Dies, the eighteenth film in the James Bond series. At this point, there were no more of Ian Fleming’s original novels to adapt, so screenwriters took an entirely different approach to create a new story.
Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent into the field to monitor a terrorist, but as he uncovers a plot to start a war between the U.K. and Russia, he knows he needs to take action. Yeoh stars as his sidekick, a Chinese Ministry of State Security agent sent to investigate what’s going on.
1 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon unfolds like a comic book blending Eastern and Western filmmaking. Filmed in Mandarin, the story begins in the 1800s Qing Dynasty when a warrior steals a sword with lore behind it, thus sparking conflict and a manhunt.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film with many layers. The story is driven by the three lead female characters and a desire to break free from gender roles. The film has epic fights and rich visuals, making it a treat to watch. The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best International Feature, and was a hit at the box office.