WILL SMITH IS KING
His performance in King Richard is a winner
Will Smith’s career in the entertainment industry is one of the most memorable. Not only did he succeed in music, but he also excelled in acting. His transition from rap superstar to Hollywood actor helped set the blueprint for those following in his footsteps, such as Mos Def, Ice-T, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg.
Smith’s music career kicked off in the late 80s with him joining forces with DJ Jazzy Jeff to form the duo of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. The pair would release their first album in 1986 and received a Grammy award for their hit single Parents Just Don’t Understand in 1988. In 1991, they received another Grammy for Summertime, a song I like to call the Black Cookout National Anthem. Around this time, Smith had begun his acting career with a little old show called The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
After the series started to gain popularity, Hollywood studios were dying to cast Will Smith. Bad Boys in 1995 was his second movie role, and it became one of his most well-known as he starred alongside Martin Lawrence in a film with two sequels, one of which was released last year. A year after Bad Boys was released, Smith would star in Independence Day, another box-office hit. To call it another box-office hit would be doing the film a disservice. It was the second-highest-grossing film of all time until the MCU came along.
Because he just couldn’t help himself, Will Smith would star in yet another box-office hit with his starring role in Men in Black in 1997. Not only was the film successful, but it was also responsible for the launch of his solo music career. His song “Men in Black” topped the charts worldwide, as did one of the follow-up singles, “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” Both pieces wound up on his first solo album Big Willy Style, which became certified as nine times platinum in 2000.
In 1999, Smith starred in the critically-panned Wild Wild West. It would become his first universally hated project. The movie was so bad that he even admits it could have been better.
As the 2000s continued, so did Smith’s acting and music careers. He had success in both, but around the mid-2000s, he started to become better known for starring in bad movies. It began in 2004 with the release of Shark Tale and I, Robot. In 2007, I Am Legend was released, and while it isn’t considered a bad movie, many people felt that its third act was a low point of the film. Hancock just might be one of his most disappointing movies because, like I Am Legend, it starts strong but about halfway through, it falls apart.
This trend of great performances in bad movies would continue for Smith into the 2010s. Unfortunately, films like Focus, After Earth, Concussion, Bright, and Suicide Squad had a negative or mixed reception. The most decent of his newer movies is Bad Boys For Life, but even that is problematic with one of the worst plot twists ever. Nevertheless, being the highlight of any lousy film is a testament to his talent as an actor.
Smith’s next role will be Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. The King Richard trailer has been praised online and doesn’t look bad. Hopefully, it will be a great Will Smith movie with an outstanding performance instead of another bad Will Smith movie with an exceptional performance.
