You know, Nicolas Cage gets a lot of criticism for acting in straight-to-digital movies these days. But for every Vengeance: A Love Story or The Humanity Bureau, he sprinkles in little seen gems like Mandy and Color Out of Space as well as a memorable performance in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He’s also set to play Joe Exotic, so at least he still tries to challenge himself. Bruce Willis, on the other hand, has officially thrown in the proverbial towel.
In the past nine years, he’s starred in 20 movies that have either had a limited theatrical release or skipped the cinema and went straight to your living room. Some of the names of these films include Precious Cargo, Marauders and Once Upon a Time in Venice. And before you think otherwise, that last one has absolutely zero connection to Quentin Tarantino.
Unless Wes Anderson calls or M. Night Shyamalan makes a surprise sequel, Willis seems to be content with starring in mediocre movies one by one and collecting a check at the end of each shoot. Case-in-point: 2018 thriller Acts of Violence. It arrived on Netflix today, August 1st, and you can bet that a lot of folks will be hate-watching this disposable and cheaply made action movie starring one of the biggest actors of the 20th century.
The film follows a police detective (Willis) investigating a kidnapping that eventually uncovers human trafficking. Simple premise, but just enough drama for Willis to fire a gun while making a face that makes it seem like he’s taking a dump.
Unlike Cage, Willis is just going through the motions with these films and Acts of Violence is by far one of his worst efforts. I mean, Rotten Tomatoes says it all, as the pic has a score of 0%, with critics calling it “ugly” and “uninspired.”
If you ask me, I think A Good Day to Die Hard broke Bruce Willis. That movie is an abomination and his focus has now seemingly shifted solely to paychecks instead.