Originally Posted by
Big J 33
Originally Posted by dland24
I know he hasnt made that many films recently, but you guys are saying he and his movies suck just to be cool or for the lulz. Period.
Look me in the eyes and tell me these movies suck:
Independence Day
Bad Boys I & II
Hitch
MIB I & II
Enemy of the State (one of my favorites)
Ali
Legend of Bagger Vance
Pursuit of Happyness
I, Robot
Hancock
Im sorry but thats a great resume. Hancock is the only movie on there I havent seen, but at worst, that movie is average. Every other one has been a great film. If calling Will Smith movies awful is the cool thing to do, count me out. I guess I am not cool anymore.
Will Smith doesnt make bad films. Period.
I'm not saying Smith completely sucks in every film he's ever done, because that's ridiculous. But a lot of those movies you listed are very average, and by no means make up a great resume. DiCaprio has a great resume, DeNiro has a great one, Day-Lewis has a great resume, Pacino, Hanks, etc. Comparing Smith to those and it's more obvious.
A lot of those movies (Bad Boys 1 and 2, Hitch, Independence Day, MIB I) are all entertaining movies, but aren't great films in my mind. I didn't walk out of the theaters in any of those and say "wow, now that was a great film that will stand the test of time" Maybe your definition and my definition of great differs, but an entertaining or funny Hollywood movie isn't usually considered great. Now I,Robot, Hancock, Bagger Vance, those movies just aren't good
Smith has made good movies, Happyness, Enemy of the State, Ali, and even the ones I mentioned all have their positives, but this isn't as absurd as someone saying Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and The Godfather sucked... which a lot of people seem to be responding as such. People are acting like we're saying DeNiro's resume is overrated and isn't as good as people think, we're saying this to Will Smith.
This is what I said earlier in the thread and I think it bears repeating..
Originally Posted by Big J 33
Pretty sure it was JRS who said it, but Smith is a movie star... not an actor.
His films are entertaining for the most part, he can play funny, an action star, and can do well enough with the dramatic. He has his moments for sure, but short of Ali (which could have been better and isn't really Will's fault), he's not irreplaceable in any of his best stuff. You can imagine another actor doing as good or better job in most of his roles. By now he's just a cash cow and a near guarantee to gross at least 100 million domestic and a few hundred million overseas.
I like Smith, he's incredibly talented, funny, and I enjoyed a lot of his work, but he's a box office draw first and an actor second.
Again... I'm a huge Will Smith fan. I own several of his movies, but when I list the best actors, with the best films, Smith isn't on my short list. This thread seems to be an issue of people defining "great" "sucks" and how they judge movies. Some think a movie is great if it's entertaining and worth a trip to the theaters, others criticize movies to a higher standard and aren't impressed by Smith's one liners and dance scenes. Neither is wrong per se, just different sets of values and opinions.
