Will Smith: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Detective Mike Lowrey - Bad Boys 2

Apologists of Will Smith's poorer career moves will no doubt point out that two of his terrible performances listed here have come from sequels that he probably couldn't choose not to do for fear of derailing the entire franchises, but that's no excuse for those films. Men In Black 2 is problematic, misusing Smith entirely, and robbing him of most of the things that made his performance so appealing in the first film, but Bad Boys 2 is a more unforgivable misstep. The film pushes its loose cannon cops on a personal vendetta agenda too far, and suffers most for Michael Bay's now characteristic lack of restraint. Instead of getting a funny buddy cop movie with edge (which was how the first film succeeded,) we get a sillier romp, featuring drug-filled cadavers exploding during a car chase and rats having sex in the missionary position. Jokes that Bay probably loved, in other words, but which made the film a tasteless, sun-drenched mess that reduced Smith to a caricature, and almost - fatally - a clown.