10 Least Convincing Movie Badasses
8. Ice Cube - Desolation Williams (Ghosts Of Mars)
The story goes that before Ice Cube was cast as Napoleon Desolation Williams (yep, that's his name) in Ghost Of Mars, a then unknown Jason Statham was up for the part. It might not have made the movie much better, but Statham would have been a little more convincing in the role than Cube, who seems to think scowling a lot makes him look tough.
Director John Carpenter is going for a Snake Plisskin vibe with this character; right down to the near identical outfit. Whereas Kurt Russell could pull that off in his sleep, Ice Cube genuinely looks like he just woke up. He has no energy either in the awkwardly staged fight scenes or when performing dialogue, where he's nearly always sitting down or leaning against something.
This hardly makes him the most dynamic action hero around, which isn't helped by the constipated look he makes every time he fires a gun. Cube would later call Ghosts Of Mars the worst movie he's ever made, an opinion that's easy to agree with.