There was a thought that Will Smith’s return to dominance was bound to come in Suicide Squad but we saw how that one went, right. For all that Deadshot could have been a great character he was kind of overplayed and stuck in a movie that was headed nowhere quickly. Plus, without being the main focus of the movie Will Smith it was kind of hard to say that it was HIS movie since Margot Robbie and Jared Leto kind of took the cake so to speak. In Gemini Man however, as Jon Fuge of MovieWeb has already stated, the reports are that so far the whole Smith vs. Smith idea has gained some traction among fans and is really doing well so far. There’s been a couple of remarks that it’s kind of an outdated story, but so far that hasn’t seemed to slow down the idea that it’s still something that people might have been waiting for since Smith’s hopeful return to action movie dominance has been awaited for a long time now. Anyone remember when he was one of the hottest stars in the world and was seen just about everywhere? For one reason or another he started to drop off and at one point his career almost seemed as though it might be over.
At this point in his career Smith is starting to age finally and really starting to show it. But he’s been doing his best to establish himself once again as a force on the action scene since along with Gemini Man he’s also coming out in Bad Boys 3 with Martin Lawrence eventually and will be returning to the dangerous lifestyle of Detective Mike Lowry, the gun-toting and action-loving individual that lit up the first two movies. With Gemini Man there seems to be a great undercurrent that seems to balance out the action, but really, it would seem that Smith is trying to re-establish the dominance he had throughout the 90s and early 2000s that quickly fizzled when he started making movies that were more romantic and dramatically inclined. This isn’t to say that none of them were good, as movies like Hitch and Pursuit of Happyness were actually kind of touching, but at the same time they weren’t quite what we were expecting from someone that had been made popular thanks to the Bad Boys movies and Independence Day. All the same, Smith was obviously trying to do something a little different and wasn’t fully expecting the reaction he received. Derek Lawrence of Entertainment Weekly has even gone so far as to rank his best and worst movies, and as you can imagine it’s a long list.
He did attempt to make up for it with After Earth and I Am Legend, but again we did see how that went and it wasn’t all that great. Some people would argue and there would be some valid points in there since I Am Legend wasn’t all bad, but After Earth was a chance for his son Jaden to shine and, well, it just didn’t happen. A lot of people have been waiting for Will Smith to return to action, and with this movie it might be that such a thing is finally possible. But is it too late to really make an impact? Smith is edging into his 50s at this point, and while he’s still in pretty good shape and looks fantastic for a guy his age it still begs the question of how long he can keep it up and how long he’ll WANT to keep it up. There are those that might say that the action genre is a young man’s game but then there are those that would point out that Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and even Clint Eastwood all kept performing beyond their prime. Heck even Chuck Norris managed to make it onto the screen after his prime had come and gone, and people loved it. But with that in mind it would be a matter of whether Smith wanted to stick around for a while or if he’s trying to establish that he can still do it when he wants to.
Honestly just seeing him return to action makes for a great day since he’s been one of the most loved stars for a long time now and has managed to entertain people in a big way no matter if he’s been in one bad movie or many. From Men In Black to Ali to Bad Boys to several other movies you can’t help but think that Will Smith has already made a good case for having dominated the action scene in his own way. Rasha Ali of The Wrap might agree with the idea that he already has a worthy legacy but is trying to strengthen it just a bit, or it could be that he’s really trying to be dominant again. In truth however, it seems as though it’s likely that he’s simply ready to come back to the action genre since he’s been away for a while. Honestly it’s good to have him back.
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