I Am Legend 2 (film) - Will "slappy" Smith returns...

[beat_truck]

I'll take "campy and cheap" any day over some big budget shit-fest filled with horrid CGI and an actor that isn't really right for the part. Many people today probably look at NOTLD '68 as campy and cheap. And as much as I like it, to a certain extent, they are correct.

[EvilNed]

Will Smith can indeed be very good as an actor (e.g. Ali), but just as often he's just playing a version of Will Smith, or swaggering about like Will Smith, and other times he's making an effort to be the part but Will Smith is such a big personality that he kinda can't get out of his own way as a result ... if that makes sense? IAL just kinda felt like 'sad Will Smith in the post apocalypse', you know? I agree with all of that, but that's basically every leading actor or actress. Including Heston and including Price. I think Will Smith's got a wider range than those two.

[JDP]

When you think "Will Smith" you think The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Men in Black, Independence Day, that kind of stuff. When you think "Charlton Heston" and "Vincent Price" you think of anything from The Ten Commandments to Batman. There's just no comparison. Heston and Price played a host of very different characters in their very long careers, and they did it very well.

[Neil]

[MinionZombie]

I think Price had a very distinct and specific style and delivery, which limited his potential range (think, albeit to a lesser all-round extent, how Sean Connery could never do any other accent and speech style than his own) - whereas, despite his recognisability, I think Heston had a more maleable style and sound that could fit a broader range of roles more comfortably. Now, not to be unfair to Price, when it works it works - such as Witchfinder General, which he was great in and really suited the role (so damn creepy and dangerous). By comparison to Heston, who had a whole heck of a lot of star power, Will Smith has a whole heck of a lot of celebrity to go along with his star power ... so much so that it overpowers his star power, if that makes sense? His music career, his personal life etc etc. I mean, just look at the title of this thread - he'll never get away from that ridiculous fuck-up at the Oscars, making a damn fool of himself (similarly that rather humiliating and sad video where Jada is chasing him around his own damn house forcing him to be on-camera to talk about some intensely personal shit, or those sickening round tables where she's putting all their private messes out there for everyone to chew on ... I mean, dude, fucking your son's best mate and basically rubbing it in your husband's face? Sheesh. Gross.) There was more mystery to film stars of old (which Heston benefited from). Now we've got to a point where the mystery has been destroyed by social media. I really don't want to know what these people think on a minute-by-minute basis, and that's how you end up with PR disasters like Rachel Zegler. It's certainly not all current stars, but there's far too much oversharing that has dimmed the star power. I've gone off on a right old ramble now ... where was I?

[JDP]

Vincent Price was typecast later in his career as a horror movie actor, principally because he played creepy characters so well, but if you look at his whole work he was actually in a lot of different stuff, including comedies and westerns. He could easily play pretty much any kind of role.

[EvilNed]

Yeah, I'm not seeing it. I enjoy the performances by all of the above, but I think Will Smith is the better actor and with a wider range. Looking at Ali for instance, great performance. He feels like an actor in the way that the other's really weren't. Vincent Price is way too theatrical, which is not to my taste. Charlton Heston is just the same character in every movie, and it's a character I love. Look at Sean Connery. He's always Sean Connery. Still love him.

[JDP]

You know it must be close to The End of Days when someone actually thinks that Will Smith is a better actor and with a wider range than Vincent Price and Charlton Heston. Regarding Sean Connery: another veteran actor who played a whole bunch of different characters very well. James Bond was NOTHING like William of Baskerville, for example. Yet he could play both of them so well to that you can hardly imagine any other actor being able to play them better than he did. He made the roles his own. I have yet to see one Will Smith movie where I can hardly imagine that anyone else could do an equal or better job than he did. The only character that you can justifiably consider to be "his" and no one else's is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which was in fact modelled after him. PS: and don't get me started on Wild Wild West. The late great Robert Conrad (the ONE AND ONLY "Jim West") had every reason to be pissed off at that movie.

[beat_truck]

Yeah, I'm not seeing it. I enjoy the performances by all of the above, but I think Will Smith is the better actor and with a wider range. You have got to be joking.

[EvilNed]

Well, I'm just glad we can have different opinions on things. I grew up on Heston and watch Price to this day. But are they great actors with a wide range? No.

[JDP]

Definitely wider than Will Smith, no question about it.

[EvilNed]

Well, it's all down to taste in the end.

[JDP]

It's a bit more than just a matter of individual taste. Let's look, for example, at how the Encyclopedia Britannica refers to the three men in question as a good example of how they are generally seen and considered: Vincent Price: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vincent-Price "Vincent Price, in full Vincent Leonard Price, (born May 27, 1911, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.—died October 25, 1993, Los Angeles, California), American actor who was best known for his brilliant performances in horror films. His villains were debonair yet menacing, played with a silken voice and a self-mocking air that oozed treachery." Charlton Heston: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlton-Heston "Charlton Heston, original name John Charles Carter, (born October 4, 1923, Evanston, Illinois, U.S.—died April 5, 2008, Beverly Hills, California), American actor who was known for his chiseled features and compelling speaking voice and for his numerous roles as historical figures and famous literary characters." Will Smith: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Will-Smith "Will Smith, byname of Willard Carroll Smith, Jr., (born September 25, 1968, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American actor and musician whose charisma and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting." I think the difference is very clear: while Price and Heston are mostly remembered as actors and praised for their respective abilities in that profession, Will Smith is mostly treated as a music artist who successfully crossed-over to movies and became a popular actor. In other words: reality. The truly professional "thespian" here is certainly not Will Smith but the other two.

[EvilNed]

I'm sorry, I haven't referred to the Encyclopedia Brittanica to settle any dispute of taste I've ever had with anyone and I don't think I'm going to start right now. How anyone can think Will Smith is a worse actor than those two is beyond me. But like I said, it's all down to taste and I really dig that we can have different opinions on it!

[JDP]

That's because it is beyond a matter of just "taste". While Will Smith's "versatility" is acknowledged, he is still really a rap artist who successfully "crossed over" into movies. The other two started as actors from very early on in their lives and their abilities in that department are widely recognized. As for personal taste: how can anyone possibly compare "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" to Vincent Price and Charlton Heston and say he is a better actor sounds like something straight out of The Twilight Zone to me. What's next in this bizarre world? Jared Leto: Master Thespian - Sir Laurence Olivier: Absolute hack with no range who keeps playing the same character over and over again!