Will Smith is one of the biggest stars working, and much of his early success has to do with some truly phenomenal performances in sci-fi films. Looking back on his nearly three-decade film career, how do his efforts in the genre rank from worst to best? His screen presence was, of course, established after his introduction as a rap artist, and after his six-season run on the NBC television series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Smith first lent his talents to sci-fi in 1996's Independence Day.
Coming on the heels of his blockbuster turn in Bad Boys, and right before Men in Black would seal the deal on his movie stardom, Independence Day saw Smith entering the annals of iconic action heroes, popping aliens in the face and delivering machismo and one-liners like a seasoned pro. His career has varied considerably since those starry beginnings. He's received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, his films have grossed more than $7.5 billion at the box office, and in 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood."
That power has not diminished, and throughout his career he's always drifted back into the realms of science fiction. Not all of these ventures have been triumphs, with many people wondering what happened to Will Smith's sci-fi career; indeed, 2013's After Earth and 1999's Wild Wild West rank as two of Smith's worst films in his entire career. However, there's no denying the movie star sparkle he brings to every single one of his performances, no matter how otherworldly the surrounding films may be. Here are his sci-fi movies ranked from worst to best.
9. After Earth (2013)
In a 2015 interview with Esquire, Will Smith called this film "the most painful failure" of his career. Indeed, After Earth is a hard movie to defend, with its overly sentimental musings on parenthood, lackluster visual effects, and wooden performances from not just Smith, but also his son Jaden. Their father-son dynamic was utilized to fantastic effect in 2006's The Pursuit of Happyness, but here it's the lifeless center of a dull film. Smith's inherent megawatt charm is nowhere on display, as he cedes leading man status to Jaden, who just doesn't have the experience at this point to carry a big genre movie like this. Of course, it would help if the surrounding film, which concerns people forced to hide their emotions to defeat an alien race, had much more to offer than a bunch of thinly veiled allusions to Scientology, or if director M. Night Shyamalan imbued it with some of the ingenuity and personality that made his earlier films such triumphs. As it stands, this is a low point in all its participants' careers, and hardly the shared universe-starter Will Smith hoped it would be.
8. Wild Wild West (1999)
After the one-two-three punch of Bad Boys, Independence Day, and Men in Black, this Barry Sonnenfeld-helmed adaptation of the 1960s TV show seemed like it should be a slam dunk. Alas, there's a reason this film regularly tops lists of worst movies of all time. With embarrassing performances from veritable stars like Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, and Kevin Kline, and a cluttered steampunk production design that wants to give the film a fun, kitschy vibe but just comes off tacky and uninspired, Wild Wild West is a big old Hollywood bomb, mechanical spider and all. Still, Smith can't be blamed. He's charismatic as ever, and looks great in a cowboy hat to boot. His end credits rap is one of the most iconic movie songs of the 1990s, and for good reason. If this film had half the fun of that song's music video, it might be a cult masterpiece.
7. Gemini Man (2019)
2019 was the year of de-aging. Martin Scorsese went for it in The Irishman, and Ang Lee applied it to Will Smith in Gemini Man. Telling the story of a retired hitman Henry coming to blows with a younger clone of himself, Junior, this property had been in development for years with practically every big male Hollywood star attached at certain points, from Robert De Niro to Harrison Ford to Idris Elba. However, it's hard to imagine anyone giving a better performance than Will Smith, as he resurrects his '90s swagger for Junior and contrasts it mightily with a world-weariness for Henry we've seldom seen from the actor. Unfortunately, the rest of the film can be lumped into the same category as Ang Lee's other recent experiments in high frame-rate and new technology (see: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk). The visuals are mostly impressive, but without a truly compelling story this is at best a fairly pedestrian action movie.
6. Men in Black II (2002)
This 2002 sequel to the dynamite original no doubt holds a special place in the hearts of millennials reared on repeat viewings of the DVD. Seen through fresh eyes as an adult, however, it's clear this lackluster follow-up pales in comparison to the original's introduction of the secret society that polices alien life on Earth. The incendiary chemistry of stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in the first is neutered here, mostly because Smith is no longer the new guy on the block and because Tommy Lee Jones seems largely disinterested with the film's more juvenile sense of humor than its predecessor. There are some exceptional new alien characters created by designer Rick Baker, but this is mostly greatest hits with diminishing returns, and a far less entertaining villain in Lara Flynn Boyle's Razzie-nominated performance as shapeshifting alien Serleena.
5. I, Robot (2004)
This 2004 sci-fi action thriller shares its title with Isaac Asimov's foundational 1950 short story collection, but otherwise is an entirely different piece of work altogether. The screenplay by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman centers on a society served by hordes of humanoid robots, with Will Smith playing a gritty, robot-hating cop. His prejudice is given more weight when he encounters a robot charged with murder. That robot, named Sonny and voiced by Alan Tudyk (who also did the motion capture), is the film's most intriguing aspect, a chilling antagonist with a shocking emotional center. Otherwise, this isn't the cerebral sci-fi of A.I. or Minority Report, but instead a summer thrills popcorn movie. In that context, I, Robot is a solid success, anchored by a typically sturdy leading man performance from Smith.
4. Men in Black 3 (2012)
In many ways, it's kind of a shocker no Men in Black sequel ever truly lived up to the highs of the original. While Men in Black 3 is leagues better than the second, it still can't escape the perception that it's largely unnecessary. Fortunately, it does have the good sense to know that Will Smith has always been these films' most valuable asset. Here, he goes head-to-head with a solidly fun villain played by Flight of the Conchords' Jermaine Clement. While Tommy Lee Jones bows out of this installment, he's replaced in Men in Black 3 by Josh Brolin in an underrated performance playing younger Agent K, a plot twist that gives Smith a new sparring partner and also restores the bewildered, "fish out of water" vibe that made his character soar in the first film. Men in Black 3 never reaches the dizzying heights of the original, but this is a plenty worthy follow-up, with a surprisingly emotional resolution to Agent K and J's arc. Fun fact: with a budget of over $215 million, this is the most expensive comedy film made to this date.
3. I Am Legend (2007)
If I Am Legend doesn't quite amount to the masterpiece that its opening moments promise, it's no fault of its star Will Smith. Pound for pound, this might just be the actor's best performance for the simple fact that for most of the running time, he has to hold the screen interacting with little more than his beloved dog. Their chemistry makes for one of cinema's most surprisingly potent power couples, and tees up one of the rawest and most emotional scenes in Smith's entire repertoire. It's unfortunate that this moody, post-apocalyptic chamber piece, anchored so realistically by a true movie star performance, has to also house some of the cheesiest looking CGI zombies in movie history. That's to say nothing of I Am Legend's ending, which eschews the rest of the film's haunting subtlety for a disappointingly executed action climax. Still, this is one of Smith's greatest roles, a brilliant showcase for the uncompromising ease and humanity he's able to bring to the screen.
2. Independence Day (1996)
Will Smith is so iconic in every moment he's onscreen in Roland Emmerich's sci-fi disaster movie that it can be easy to forget it's a full 25 minutes before he enters, or that he has to share the running time with a stacked ensemble of other A-listers like Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, and Randy Quaid. Independence Day is a tentpole in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, but it's also a slapdash genre hodge-podge, sliding chaotically from the horror of major U.S. cities being completely vaporized by aliens, to bizarre comic scenes of Harvey Fierstein hiding under a desk and calling his mother on the telephone. Fortunately, all that genre-swapping chaos is part of the film's charm, but Independence Day is at its most cohesive and thrilling when it's centered on Smith's alien-punching, star-making performance as Captain Steven Hiller. 25 years later, "Welcome to Earth" has joined the pantheon of movie quotes alongside "Say hello to my little friend" and "Hasta la vista, baby." Smith may not appear in the sequel, but he's still this film's biggest asset.
1. Men in Black (1997)
If Will Smith wasn't a bona fide movie star after Bad Boys and Independence Day, then Men in Black sealed the deal. He's as fresh, as funny, and as bursting with effervescent charm as he was in those prior two outings here, but this time the surrounding film matches him blow for blow. Men in Black is a prime example of the summer blockbuster that just doesn't get made anymore: a smart, well-directed, inventively shot high-concept comedy that's also just a total blast to watch. This is one of the great buddy cop movies of the '90s, with Tommy Lee Jones' dry-as-a-bone old pro clashing beautifully with Smith's bewildered puppy dog. In the hands of director Barry Sonnenfeld, the film becomes a visual smorgasbord of whimsy and wit, with phenomenally kooky creatures by Rick Baker, and an all-timer of a villain performance by Vincent D'Onofrio. Will Smith has always brought his A-game and stellar charm to his films, but this is the most complete and entertaining example of his movie star power.