Tag: Will Smith

Film Review: “Bad Boys: Ride or Die”

Bad Boys sticks to its guns for an explosively fun summer flick

After “The Slap,” Will Smith took a much needed multi-year hiatus from acting. Whatever self-reflection, anger management, family therapy or whatnot he (was forced to or voluntarily) went through, good for him. He also made a very wise decision (likely in close coordination with his agent) to return to movies within the warm embrace of the most tried-and-true action franchise of his career: Bad Boys. Re-teaming with Martin Lawrence and directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life), this fourth installment, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, proves that the series still has some juice left in the tank, as long as it sticks to its iconic blend of neon-soaked action and curse-filled bickering. Continue reading “Film Review: “Bad Boys: Ride or Die””

Film Review: “King Richard”

Game, set, and match: Smith serves up winning performance in Williams biopic

Richard Williams (Will Smith) coaches his daughters Serena (Demi Singleton, l.) and Venus (Saniyya Sidney).

The last based-on-real-life tennis move I reviewed was Battle of the Sexes back in 2017, a jaunty yet powerful look at the infamous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Just as that movie was about so much more than solely tennis, so too is King Richard, a film that takes place nearly 20 years later, and, while ostensibly about the early lives of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, is actually about race, class, parenting, and marriage. But the picture features plenty of nail-biting tennis matches, too, for the true tennis aficionado.

Continue reading “Film Review: “King Richard””

Film Review: Collateral Beauty

Collateral Beauty is steeped in laughable melodrama, and not much else.

Will Smith and Edward Norton aren't too happy about anything.
Will Smith and Edward Norton aren’t too happy about anything.

Collateral Beauty could’ve been a great comedy. I have an untested and non-researched theory that ensemble casts are always better suited for comedies, and not dramas. Having numerous A-list stars in a film means that the story will attempt to give each one of them ample time for their characters to develop, change, and come to a satisfying conclusion. You don’t require those per-character time commitments in a comedy, and therefore ensemble dramas suffer from an abundance of promise and not enough deliverables. There are many other things that went wrong for Collateral Beauty. It’s a bad movie, for one. It’s an embarrassing script that somehow made it to the desks of Hollywood execs, who in turn should be embarrassed that they green lit the project. With a total overhaul of the story and characters, the film could’ve and should’ve been a hilarious new spin on the classic Christmas Carol story. Instead, Collateral Beauty is a plodding, preachy, melodramatic piece of manipulative filth. The more I think about it, the more I’m mad at myself for initially thinking that a few scenes were acceptable to watch.

Continue reading “Film Review: Collateral Beauty“

Film Review: Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad dies a slow, painfully disappointing death.

maxresdefault-1
More like an awkward dance than a ballroom blitz.

Watch the Suicide Squad trailer one more time. Do you feel that insane energy? Well, that same energy exuding from all the Suicide Squad trailers, posters, and marketing materials doesn’t exude from the feature film. All the hype, and true potential, of this anti-hero DC property has been damaged by over-bloated character introductions, weak villains, and a restrained take on some of the DC Universe’s most iconic psychopaths — looking at YOU, Joker! Suicide Squad could’ve been so much more, but unfortunately the DC film producers, again, trivialize a tremendous premise into an “extended trailer” for the Justice League movie, which is becoming less and less enticing with every preceding related release.

Continue reading “Film Review: Suicide Squad“

Film Review: Focus

A smooth, fun star vehicle for Will Smith and Margot Robbie

Will Smith and Margot Robbie in Focus
Will Smith and Margot Robbie in Focus

I love a good con man movie. My favorites are The Sting, The Spanish Prisoner, House of Games, and Diggstown. Each of these movies features both the players in the film being conned as well as the audience. Focus doesn’t enter the realm of classic cinema, but it’s stylish, fun, and full of joyous reveals. Everything else I’m about to say is unnecessary exposition. Who wants to know the details of a good con?

Continue reading “Film Review: Focus”

Film Review: “Men in Black 3”

Will Smith in MEN IN BLACK 3

starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson

written by: Etan Cohen

directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content

Continue reading “Film Review: “Men in Black 3””