WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I’m going to start off by saying that Will Smith seems to come up a lot in conversation with me and friends when we talk about films, and unfortunately I have what seems to be a very unpopular opinion of the guy. I do not rate him as an actor the majority of the time. As you’ll see, there will be exceptions…
The Pursuit of Happyness
This is possibly my favourite Will Smith film but honestly, that isn’t saying very much. There is a seriousness that he brings to the role which is actually very rare among many of his films. This is also the first time that father and son star alongside each other. I think there’s a chance having Jaden with him for this meant that he was able to bring real emotion to the part, that maybe he imagined what it would be like for them to be in the same situation that Chris Gardner went through. Maybe acting with his son, brings something better out in him.
Bad Boys
So, supposedly this is an action film – can someone explain to me why you would pick two comedy actors as the lead roles if this is the case? I’ll be honest, I was shocked to find that technically Martin is the lead character instead of Will but truthfully I’m glad as I have already said, I think Will gets more lead roles than maybe he deserves. This film actually does have a pretty good storyline and you can tell it’s trying to follow films like Lethal Weapon but neither of them take on the ‘straight’ role and if anyone should, it should be Will – but this is the issue with two comedy actors. I think he tries, but it just doesn’t seem to be in his repertoire (In Pursuit of Happyness excluded of course.)
For once though, it’s not a Michael Bay film where things are blown up for the sake of being blown up – but it just did not live up to the hype for me.
Wild Wild West
I really hope this film wasn’t taking itself at all seriously. I get it’s trying to take on a steampunk Wild West but I just don’t think it works. I actually didn’t realise until I watched it that technically the title works on two levels. One, as mentioned, the film is set in the America ‘Wild West’ era and two, Will’s character of James West can be described as ‘wild’ to some extent. In a way, the director seemed to have decided to make Kevin Klein the ‘funny’ man of the film but in my opinion it actually worked because in some ways, he’s funnier than Will. The other reason I ask if this film is taking itself seriously is because, in my opinion, a lot of the jokes made are highly inappropriate and they wouldn’t be got away with now.
Honorary Mentions
OK, so I know I’ve talked down about Will’s acting a lot in this article, but that’s not to say he hasn’t made films that I actually quite like. For example, I actually think I, Robot is one of his best films and even Bright isn’t too bad (no surprise there won’t be a sequel though by the sound of it). However, these are only a few sparks among some bad films or casting choices. Take Hancock, in my opinion its an absolutely terrible film. Then there’s his role in Suicide Squad as Deadshot, honestly whoever’s decision that was – made a bad one.
