How Good Are They?: Will Smith

[Mitch Henessey]

A lot of us might remember Will Smith for his Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air days, but over the years, Will Smith has become one of the most popular and recognizable actors in all of Hollywood. He is a big time box office draw, and his films always manage to rake in a ton of cash, but just how good is Will Smith?

Smith's range is pretty damn good. He has tons of charisma, and he can always bring a good amount of energy to his performances. We've seen him play a disgruntled superhero with alcohol problems(Hancock), he was a lone doctor who had to fight and struggle for survival(I Am Legend), he portrayed one of the most famous athletes of all time in Ali, and he delivered an inspiring performance as Chris Gardner in The Pursuit Of Happyness. Smith can be serious, he can make us laugh, and he can be very entertaining to watch. But when it comes to Oscar gold, Smith is one of those guys who has never been able to grab the brass ring. He has received a few Best Actor nominations for his performances in Ali and The Pursuit Of Happyness, but still, he never won the gold. I do think Smith should've the Oscar for his performance in Ali. Denzel was awesome in Training Day, but Smith took things to another level in Ali, and he did come off as the perfect Muhammad Ali imitation. Smith IS very talented when it comes to acting, and he does deserve a lot of credit for that.

Although, I do think the quality and consistency of Smith's films can be a problem sometimes. I've always thought the first Bad Boys film was solid and entertaining, but I HATE Bad Boys II. It was so corny and over the top, and everything felt so forced, but then again, Michael Bay was behind that one, so the high level of suck in that film should be expected. Quality is a problem for me when it comes to Will Smith, because he can be very streaky:

Ali
I Am Legend
The Pursuit Of Happyness
Men In Black
Enemy Of The State

Wild Wild West
Bad Boys II
Men In Black II
Seven Pounds
Hitch
Hancock

Red= Films I wasn't a fan of
Green= I thought these films were good, solid, or decent​

I am always on the fence, when it comes to I, Robot, and The Legend Of Bagger Vance. I don't think either film is terrible, but I always have a hard time making up my mind on these two. I, Robot can be a fun science-fiction/action film, and the story isn't bad, but this film can feel VERY generic at times. The acting was good in Bagger Vance, but I'm not too crazy about the story.

Smith might have his fair share of stinkers, but he does have a very likable personality, and he does have a nice sized fan following. Although, I don't think Smith has ever had that one truly great film. Pacino has Scarface and The Godfather II, De Niro has Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, but I just don't see that one true gem on Smith's record. Ali came very close, but if you ask me, it fell short by just a little bit. It was a fine biopic, but that film just doesn't have that extraordinary feel.

Thoughts?

 

[SorgFamily]

Will Smith is easily one of my favorite actors. Personally I could watch any of his films any be pretty entertained. Obviously his bigger films like I Am Legend, I, Robot and Independence Day were awesome. He may not have had one of the bigger roles in the last one but his part was very well acted and as always very funny. The part where he's griping about carrying the alien through the desert is so funny. I enjoyed Hancock unlike Henessey. It may have not been his best but I thought it was at least entertaining. Also who can forget Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? So many great episodes although I'd say Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton) stole plenty of scenes. His comic timing was as good as Will Smith's if not better. I'd have to agree that he doesn't really have that one film that everyone talks about though. He has plenty of good blockbusters but not one huge movie that will last for years. Give him time though. He'll probably start doing more dramas in the next few years as he's almost in his mid forties. They tend to be more memorable than huge action movies. The tone is more serious and you won't get distracted by the special effects. I'd say he has plenty of great films left in him and at least one masterpiece.

 

[ABMorales787]

I always preferred Smith as a comedic goof. As a serious actor, to me he just seems to rely on those damn puppy dog eyes he makes. And people make it seem like it's a great performance even if he's done it to death. His most well known roles have in some sort of comedic light and not is an overly dramatic case. Yeah, I know. He's charismatic and popular, but over time you're gonna need more than cracking tears and looking like a hurt puppy to get me into movies.

 

[FSWWE]

I find Will Smith one of the best entertainer actor of all time!!
Every red movie you posted, I liked it and Bad Boys III is one of my most anticipated movies for the future!

Every movie he makes, will be good or at least watchable!
If i have to vote all of his movies, he would balance in 3/5 and 4/5!
He is good, but not so good as Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and in his "style" Johnny Depp lead the way...
He isnt also the best "black" actor, Denzel Washington is!!

But he cant make a bad movie, if Will Smith launch an amateur movie, i would like to see it, because he can entertain me....

 

[Daniel]

Will Smith is very good. Not my favourite by any means, but he is very good at what he does.

When I think of Will Smith, I think two things: how much I hate his kids and how versatile he is. He can do goofy comedy, romantic comedy, drama, action, etc and look like he's been performing in that genre his whole life. Watch Hitch, for example. He looks like he was made for the role of the romantic comedy lead. Then watch I, Robot. You'd be forgiven for thinking he'd been in action films his whole life. That ladies and gentleman, is the mark of a talented, versatile actor.

I do agree that Smith needs a defining film. A masterpiece. His performance in The Pursuit of Happyness could have been it, his performance was exceptional. However, the film wasn't masterpiece standard. It was good, but not extraordinary. But a masterpiece will come. He's only 42 - he's got time.

 

[Mike C.]

He's okay for me, usually not amazing and likely to fall into some familiar habits that makes his characters look similar (not that that is a deal breaker, Alan Alda's gestures are the same in everything and yet I love Alda). I think Ali is the only movie he's been in where I liked him in his role more than I liked the movie (Maybe Pursuit of Happyness too, but I was so bored during the movie that I have blocked it from my mind). The movies that he's been in that I've enjoyed, I've enjoyed because of the sum of their parts and not because he carried the movies. Independence Day, Men in Black, and Enemy of the State (probably the only three movies of his that I would rewatch when they were on) were all enjoyable because they were solidly built action/suspense movies with at least one capable guy playing off of Smith.

But I can't criticize a guy for being a good actor in terrible movies like I did with James Franco and then criticize a guy for being an average actor in good movies with a good supporting cast.

Frankly though I may be giving him a bad rap based on the revisionist history of people that I see on forums talking about how good he was in Fresh Prince. I watched Fresh Prince as a kid and it was a perfectly fine sitcom, but Will Smith wasn't the greatest living actor on television as some others that grew up with the show would suggest. I've seen the episode where his dad comes back, it isn't anything special.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Will Smith. I have to be honest, he has come a long way. As an actor he has grown in range and has delivered some great performances.

I though he was great in The Pursuit of Happyness, solid in Enemy State, Men In Black, I am Legend, Hancock, I, Robot, and Hitch. Wild Wild West sucked, Bad Boys 1 and 2 were just a typical run of the mill buddy films, that weren't too interesting. Seven Pounds was film that tried to play the emotional card. Ali was a total letdown for me. It was historically inaccurate, tells you very little about the man and Smith was too laid back as the title character (for me at least) to be Ali. Speeches Will Smith made in the film would have taken the real Ali less than a quarter of the time and the film ends after the fight against Foreman. Why not talk about Ali's battle with Parkinsons ? Or his life as a boxer who stayed too long ? It's an incomplete biography.

I personally think Will Smith is a quality performer, whether he wins an Oscar or not. Not every actor has won one or even been nominated but not many will have the career that he has. There are some actors who don't need the Oscars to help their career. I would say he's one of them. He has started producing which will help his longevity in the business. Give him a good to great script and a competent director, he'll give you a quality film and make you money doing it. He isn't just a box office star which he started out as, but he's shown he is a fine actor. That being said, film companies are all about the bottom line and dramatic films don't bring in the money, whether it be at the box office or in terms of merchandising. So his fans need to get used to seeing him in action films and comedies, until fans start watching dramas.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

I wasn't the biggest fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but I did think he was legitimately funny. However, I don't think his funny has translated into movies. I don't remember the last Will Smith movie I watched that made me laugh. In the Bad Boys movies, it was just like second hand embarrassing trying to see him act all bad ass and such. Shark Tale was fucking horrible. I think in his action movies he tries to bring the funny, but damn talk about just lame. That could be the writing, but no one ever blames the writers for poor execution.

As a drama actor, I don't think Will was the best choice for the roles.. But by no means did he do bad in them. For Seven Pounds, I think Denzel Washington would've been a better choice given Denzel's resume of doing those surreal roles. In The Pursuit of Happiness, I just kept going "Where's the funny?"

In the Shia thread, most agreed that Shia wouldn't be able to shake off his Disney past; I disagreed with that. It is almost a 180 for me when it comes to Will Smith.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It depends on the role he is in. I like Will Smith in funny roles such as The Fresh Prince but I cannot take him seriously in serious roles because I still associate with him with his Fresh Prince character from that old tv show of the same name. That is still his best role after all of these years.

 

[Dave]

Will Smith, it should be said, is probably one of the most over-rated actors in the film business. However, I would not go as far to say that I don't enjoy some of his works. In fact, I generally enjoy them immensely. That being said, his rating amongst film-goers seems to be oddly exaggerated and it begins to annoy me. To be fair, I am not saying that he is a bad actor. In all actuality, I think that he has done very well since starting out his film career. I just cannot get my head past some of the superlatives that critics and fans use to describe his performances.

There are a number of Will Smith movies that I really enjoy. Men In Black, MIB 2, The Pursuit Of Happiness and Seven Pounds immediately spring to mind when I think of the great movies he has starred in. However, I just cannot seem to get into his other action titles that everyone seems to fawn over. I Am Legend and iRobot never seemed to strike a nerve with me and I don't know if that is anything to do with his performance or the type of performance he was forced to give. Something I notice about Will Smith is that he tends to be critically better received when he is starring in a glitzy action movie that has time for him to showcase how funny he can be, squashed in-between explosions and other action movie clichés.

For me, the best performance by Will Smith is in The Pursuit Of Happiness and Seven Pounds. They were more focussed away from action and comedy and were just allowed to be themselves. I just seemed to appreciate them more as an acting display and although Seven Pounds was critically slammed for the most part, I fucking loved it.

Will Smith is a great actor but his choice of movies really stinks at some points. His performance in Independence Day really created a mould for him that people have tried to fill with movies like iRobot and I feel as though he is only at his best when is playing roles that are outside of that comfort zone.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

I actually think he is one of the most underrated and underused actors around, by underused.... maybe underutilized would be a better description, I thought Fresh Prince was funny as hell, I also saw NO potential for growth from there and thought thas where he would die, he proved me WAY F'n wrong tho, and my favs are still his comedies, I think all of his drama has been ok but he needs to find one that really Explodes... lot of people said it was Ali, I didn't agree though, some people think he's still jus the fresh prince, and I DEF disagree with that one, to me it seems he's busted his ass working hard to improve everytime he gets out there so here's hopin he keeps gettin better.... also, Bad Boys 2 is on my list of greatest movies ever.... not the titanic, gone with the wind, drama cry fest type of movie, just as pure entertainment (which is funny cuz I thought Bad Boys 1 is his worst movie to date... I didn't see the shark one tho so...)

 

[Any007]

I have to say Bad Boys 2.This movie was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The action sequences were really well done, and there was tons of them. It was a lot more violent than the first one as I noticed. I thought the scene with all the cadavers was really unnecessary. It was kind of gross. And the chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is great. The arguments really reflect from the first one. I was really enjoying the tense scenes where the cars were flying off the truck. A great movie. 8 out of 10.

 

[manya]

They all are really good,