Having been granted a stay of execution under James Gunn’s overhaul of the DCU, it’s beginning to look mighty fortunate that John Cena has a guaranteed franchise to fall back on, because action comedy Freelance is shaping up to be a critical and commercial calamity.
Hailing from Taken director Pierre Morel, the light and frothy caper finds Cena’s ex-Special Forces operative taking a side gig providing security for Alison Brie’s journalist as she prepares to interview the president of a fictional country, which ends up being caught in a coup that forces the trio to flee into the jungle and fight for survival.
It sounds like breezy and disposable enough entertainment, but having debuted to an embarrassing zero percent Rotten Tomatoes score and still awaiting its first review that isn’t scathing at the time of writing, it’s yet another misfire from Cena in a filmography that’s filling up with them alarmingly quickly.
If you discount his acclaimed stint spouting James Gunn’s dialogue in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker – along with his brief cameo as a Mermaid in Barbie – then it’s been five years since the WWE icon played a major role in a feature film or TV show that wasn’t resoundingly panned by critics.
Since comedy Blockers hit theaters five years ago, Cena has sat by and watched Playing with Fire Dolittle, Fast & Furious 9, Vacation Friends, The Independent, Fast X, Hidden Strike, and Vacation Friends 2 all be bestowed with “Rotten” ratings on the aggregation site. As things stand, Freelance is the lowest-rated outing of his entire career, so maybe Peacemaker season 2 can’t come quick enough.
