What was the last movie you've seen?

[Ack]

Yeah, the El Diablo character was good stuff. Spoiler talk...

When he burst into that "giant Mayan warrior skeleton on fire" I was genuinely surprised. Likely the biggest stand one moment for me.

Didn't they then almost immediately kill him off... ?

They gave him some time to shine, but yeah, they did. Which sucked,
because he was my favorite part of the movie. I was like "Man, I wanna see THAT guy's movie!"

[samsonlonghair]

True, but would Will Smith take time away from Blockbusters to film TV?

I did say that the producers would need to recast the lead as someone cheaper than Will Smith. To follow the Alien Nation Analogy, James Caan played the human cop in the movie. He's a good actor, but Academy Award nominees are expensive casting choices. The producers cast someone cheaper for the Alien Nation TV show.

Best comparison I've heard is the strangely accurate Zootopia
If you are going to miss a Will Smith movie, miss this one. And others, but there's not much Will Smithyness in this. At all.

The Zootopia comparison is valid. This is another Buddy Cop film which uses an analogy to re-frame the discussion of racial inequality and integration. I reviewed Zootopia in this thread when the film came out.

As for WIll Smith, He has been trying to change his image the last few years. He's trying to take a more subtle approach to acting. It's a shame that his box office draw has suffered for it.

I can think of 3 very Will Smith moments off the top of my head so I'm sure there were 5+. 2 of those I was laughing out loud. While it wasn't full of them like MIB or ID4, and maybe they aren't as "Fresh Prince," they're there.

Right, not as "Fresh Prince" is a valid point. Will Smith was a teenager when he was on that show. He played very similar characters in Bad Boys, Independence Day and Men in Black. Will Smith is a grown man now; can you blame him if he doesn't want to act like his teenage self?

Consider the case of Samuel L. Jackson. That guy has been pigeon-holed into playing the same exact character in every single movie. It's not all bad I guess; he gets work. Sam Jackson was in the movie "The Hitman's Bodyguard" recently. I can't remember the name of the character he played though, because he basically just played Samuel L. Jackson. He says the word, "Motherfucker," and the audience chuckles. Repeat ad nauseum. I'm not going to play pretentious here. I'll admit that I chuckled along with everyone else too.

Something I was thinking about, is will smith still a blockbuster actor? I'm not sure, it's been awhile. His run might be over. In the mid 2000's everything he did blew up. I don't think he's that hot anymore.

Will Smith took a similar route to Samuel L. Jackson for a while. He played (more or less) the same character in every movie. Will Smith blows up an alien spaceship, he shouts, "Welcome to Earth!" and we all chuckle. I did, and so did everyone else in America. Will Smith made a lot of money doing this, but now he's trying to break out of that mold. He doesn't want to be Sam Jackson, ya dig? I admit that I miss watching Will Smith clown around, blow up space ships, and make silly quips. Still, I can respect that he's trying to grow as an actor.

[stickem]

Well now that he's outgrown those roles he can do the more older but still same kinda action movie as bruce Willis lol. Need a new bad boys.

[Ack]

Well now that he's outgrown those roles he can do the more older but still same kinda action movie as bruce Willis lol. Need a new bad boys.

Hopefully he makes better choices than Bruce Willis and gets better scripts. We don't need a new Die Hard after the last two.

[marurun]

I'm also real sick of Bruce Willis playing... yet another take on Bruce Willis. With a few rare exceptions, he feels kinda same-y in almost every movie he's in. It's good that he's easily likable, because otherwise he career would've tanked quickly. This isn't to say he isn't in some really good, enjoyable films, but he's not a particularly flexible casting choice.

[samsonlonghair]

Well now that he's outgrown those roles he can do the more older but still same kinda action movie as bruce Willis lol. Need a new bad boys.

Hopefully he makes better choices than Bruce Willis and gets better scripts. We don't need a new Die Hard after the last two.

It's kind of a Catch 22 for Will Smith. Every time he gets ambitious and breaks away from his old typecast roles, the box office punishes him.

I put off watching the movie After Earth because it was panned by critics and audiences alike, and it was a box office bomb. You know what? Once I finally watched it, I found that Will Smith did a really good job. His acting was more subtle and constrained than anything I've ever seen him do. Granted, it was mostly a vehicle for his son, and granted again, Jaden isn't a great actor yet. Still, Will Smith is in nearly half the scenes in the movie. Give After Earth a shot sometime on a streaming service or if you see the DVD hit the discount bin. After Earth is actually a better movie than the critics or the box office would lead you to believe.

[Ack]

I'm also real sick of Bruce Willis playing... yet another take on Bruce Willis. With a few rare exceptions, he feels kinda same-y in almost every movie he's in. It's good that he's easily likable, because otherwise he career would've tanked quickly. This isn't to say he isn't in some really good, enjoyable films, but he's not a particularly flexible casting choice.

How do you feel about Liam Neeson's run of old white guy action star movies?

[marurun]

I have lost most of my remaining respect for Liam Neeson's inability to be anything other than a vengeful, angry dude.

[MrPopo]

I'm also real sick of Bruce Willis playing... yet another take on Bruce Willis. With a few rare exceptions, he feels kinda same-y in almost every movie he's in. It's good that he's easily likable, because otherwise he career would've tanked quickly. This isn't to say he isn't in some really good, enjoyable films, but he's not a particularly flexible casting choice.

How do you feel about Liam Neeson's run of old white guy action star movies?

I've been highly enjoying them. I like to see it as him taking out his frustrations that he didn't "do more".

[stickem]

Well who got kidnapped this time lol? Dude has that subgenre locked up.