This Is Will Smith's Worst Movie, According To 28% Of People
Will Smith has enjoyed a pretty interesting career. Starting off in the mid '80s as one half of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, he made a rare successful jump from music to acting in 1990 with the beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — we're betting you're singing the theme song in your head by now. Making his full-length feature debut in the 1992 crime thriller Where the Day Takes You, Smith would go on to become a highly sought-after leading man. In particular, he's starred in memorable action blockbusters like the 1996 alien invasion classic Independence Day, the 1997 action comedy Men in Black, and the popular Bad Boys franchise.
But Smith has appeared in more than 30 films over the past three decades, and you don't make that many movies without producing some stinkers. For example, while Men in Black proved a hit, neither of the sequels starring Smith as Agent J ever matched the acclaim the original received. Per its failing grade of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics felt similarly about the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin, in which Smith took on the role of the Genie.
Rather than simply relying on critics, we wanted to know how fans felt about the worst of Smith's flicks. Looper polled 528 moviegoers in the United States — giving them six films to choose from — to see which they thought was the worst Will Smith movie. It was far from a landslide, but the respondents came back with a clear winner (loser?). Ironically, according to the poll, the guy who made the worst Will Smith movie also made one of the best.
Nearly 30% of respondents said Will Smith never should've gone to the Wild Wild West
According to Looper's poll results, 28% of respondents agreed Will Smith's worst big screen bomb was the 1999 action-comedy western Wild Wild West, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who also helmed the much more successful Men in Black. Smith stars as U.S. Marshal Jim T. West on the trail of the evil Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a former Confederate soldier with robotic spider legs and a plan that's just as sinister. According to Smith's 2016 address to a Cannes Lions Festival audience (via THR), he doesn't disagree with the poll's respondents. Smith repeatedly referred to Wild Wild West as a low point in his career. Speaking as to why he agreed to make the movie, Smith said, "I had so much success that I started to taste global blood and my focus shifted from my artistry to winning ... I found myself promoting something because I wanted to win versus promoting something because I believed in it."
Coming in second with 16.67% of the vote is the 2013 post-apocalyptic film After Earth, in which Smith co-starred with his son Jaden. Coming in close behind with 15.53% is 2016's DC super villain flick Suicide Squad, in which Smith plays the assassin Deadshot. The 2016 ensemble drama Collateral Beauty comes in fourth with 12.12% of the vote. With 11.74% of the vote, the 2004 sci-fi action film I, Robot comes in fifth and with only 9.66% of the vote, the post-apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend came in last — making it the least bad Will Smith movie, among the field.