Every Will Smith Movie, Ranked Worst to Best
Updated December 1, 2022 to add Emancipation.
First rising to fame in the 1980s as the non-DJ half of the hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Will Smith moved into acting in 1990 as the star of the hit NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (soon to be rebooted as a Peacock drama series). He would make his big-screen debut a few years later in a few indie movies before quickly moving to above-the-title stardom with 1995's Bad Boys. He has been a major presence in film ever since, with roles in over 30 films, a pair of Oscar nominations, and a cumulative box office gross of over $4 billion.
His newest film, King Richard, is headed to theaters and HBO Max on November 19th and is expected to be an Oscar contender in multiple categories. How does it compare to his past work? In the gallery on this page, we rank every one of Will Smith's films in order from worst to best by their Metascores, which represent the consensus opinions of top film critics. Note that we have excluded titles where Smith's role was limited to a brief cameo appearance (such as in Winter's Tale, Jersey Girl, and Anchorman 2).
Will Smith was in the middle of a six-year run on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when he made his big-screen debut in this low-budget 1992 neo-noir about a group of teen runaways living together on the streets of Los Angeles. Smith (playing the legless Manny) was part of a surprisingly well-stocked ensemble that also included Kyle MacLachlan, Balthazar Getty, Lara Flynn Boyle, James LeGros, Sean Astin, Dermot Mulroney, Alyssa Milano, David Arquette, and Nancy McKeon, but you'd be forgiven if you didn't even know the film exists: Considering that it grossed less than $400,000, it appears that few people ever saw it, though critics gave it decent reviews when it played in limited release and on the festival circuit.
“The movie is effective, well-acted and convincing.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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