Warner Bros. Pictures/Disney StudiosWill Smith is undoubtedly one of the most famous actors in Hollywood, but despite his huge backlog of roles, not one of his movies has achieved more than 70 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes in the past two decades.
The 50-year-old rose to fame on screen in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but he also made waves in films like Bad Boys, Men in Black, I Am Legend, and I, Robot, to name a few.
His most recent appearance will be in the live action remake of Aladdin, where he has big shoes to fill after taking on the role of the Genie, which the late Robin Williams voiced in the original Disney film.
Disney StudiosAladdin is set to be released in the UK tomorrow (May 24), but some reviews for the film are already in, and at the time of writing (May 23) it stands with a fairly average score of 60 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The review prompted one Reddit user to delve further into Smith’s filmography, and check out the success of his past films.
As it turns out, the Hollywood actor’s movies haven’t been hitting the heights of fan or critical adoration for some time now.
GettyRedditor hwamf explained:
Saw the early score for Aladdin (58%) and decided to look at his recent history. I knew his filmography wasn’t going to be Hanks-like but I was surprised at how Rotten it is.
In 1998, the 50-year-old starred in Enemy of the State, which was given a rating of 71 per cent. In the following 21 years, Smith appeared in 20 films, but not one of them managed to surpass – or even reach – the 70 per cent mark.
ColumbiaThe Reddit user continued:
Since his 71% in Enemy of the State in 1998, he has appeared in 20 films.
5 of those films are “Fresh”, I Am Legend, MIB III, Hitch, Pursuit of Happyness, [and] Ali but [they] still haven’t cracked 70%.
In Smith’s defence, just because his films failed to achieve the highest ratings doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad films. Personally, Hitch is one of my favourite movies – though that revelation might just incriminate me as a bad judge of film. But my point is, not everyone out there will agree with the ratings.
Columbia PicturesThe post went on to point out that five of the actor’s films have even achieved scores below 25 per cent; namely After Earth, Collateral Beauty, Wild Wild West, Bad Boys II, and Bright.
His highest ever rating on Rotten Tomatoes was 92 per cent, awarded to Men in Black in 1997.
Thankfully, there is a silver lining here for Smith’s career prospects. If you include the 10 films he’s credited as a producer on, there is an 86 per cent in there, for Saving Face, a family comedy-drama from 2005.
Columbia PicturesThe actor also did have an uncredited cameo in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which was awarded 74 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, so there’s that.
Smith might want to use his time as the Genie to wish for some higher movie ratings in the future!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.