- John Cena stands out among other leading action comedy actors because he is genuinely funny and willing to be silly on screen.
- Cena’s vulnerability and willingness to take on supporting roles allows him to be part of an ensemble cast and make the most of his screen time.
- Cena’s comedic abilities were solidified in the film. Blockerswhere he gave a hilarious performance that demonstrated his ability to combine ignorance with an impressive physique.
There are a lot of action comedies in today’s film market, and boy, are they sucking up a lot of pop culture oxygen. Dwayne Johnson will tirelessly promote their new projects in an inch of their lives, you will have to place Vin diesel at the bottom of the ocean to keep him from talking loudly about his newest star vehicle, and Ryan Reynolds appears to have a penchant for posting annoying Mint Mobile ads. What all these guys have in common is that they are action-comedy staples and maintain a sense of comedic confidence even when bullets are flying. All of them are very popular, but only a few of them are actually very interesting to watch. In fact, of all the modern comedians, the one who best reveals his archetype is John Cena.
Back in 2006, when John Cena was known as a WWE wrestler who headlined such shaggy B-movies as Nautical, the idea of it becoming the poster child for modern action comedies would be baffling. Was this guy really the guy who served as a satisfactory example of what leading action comedy actors should look like? However, over the past two decades, Cena has worked tirelessly in films and television shows ranging from Peacemaker To Blockers and more that he has a quiet sense of range and a gift for timing comics. Sometimes people can sneak up on you and become much bigger than you ever imagined. The same goes for John Cena, who has steadily built a career defying expectations with his comedy talents.
Why is John Cena so good at action movies?
Honestly, the key element that helps John Cena stand above the leading male action-comedy contemporaries is simple: he’s just funny to watch. Dwayne Johnson is too specific a brand now to ever be super stupid, he can’t tarnish Dwayne Johnson’s marketing empire by doing something ridiculous like Southern Tales or even the darkly comic performance he delivered in Pain and gain. Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds, despite showing glimpses of versatility in projects such as Adventureland, now trapped in Hollywood, doomed to simply imitate Deadpool until he dies. But John Cena? He has no concerns about this. The man received some of his first acting credits outside of WWE in Fred In films he has much more flexibility and much less ego about the stupidity on screen.
These qualities mean that it’s much more fun to watch him engage in comedic hijinks. Sometimes he loses fights in such brawl productions as Peacemaker or he might just be a slacker at something like Train Wreck. A lot of comedy is built on vulnerability, and you need those vulnerabilities to generate laughs. Compared to other leading actors of his ilk, Cena clearly has much more flexibility in the roles he’s willing to take on. This ensures that he can take on vulnerable roles that Reynolds or Johnson are no longer willing to take on, giving Cena plenty of exciting opportunities to throw moviegoers into hysterics.
Additionally, John Cena doesn’t have to be the central character of every movie he appears in, which makes his presence in many projects much more desirable. He’s able to fit into an ensemble as part of something like Suicide Squad or even playing roles in which he is completely sidelined for the duration of the runtime, in something much darker, e.g. Wall. Compare that to someone like Chris Prattaction comedy protagonist who has been the default protagonist of almost every movie he has appeared in since his big Guardians of the Galaxy break. Something like Tomorrow’s War never gets a chance to solidify its identity, it’s forever and ever just the latest Chris Pratt thing. On the contrary, Cena is not afraid to support other people in projects such as Blockers. In these roles, Cena shows a gift for playing in large ensembles and making the most of any screen time he gets. It’s a win-win for this performer and the audiences who come to see his films!
Let’s not forget… John Cena is very, very funny
IN Kay Cannonhysterical comedy 2018 BlockersOne might imagine that John Cena, a member of the film’s adult cast who has never headlined a major theatrical comedy before, might feel like an odd presence inhabiting Mitchell’s role. Instead, he thrives by bouncing off the likes of Leslie Mann And Ike Barinholtz. There’s a slight excitement to Cena’s portrayal of Mitchell, not to mention a rampant sense of ignorance that makes it so hysterical to watch him do things like use quotation marks completely wrong. The dissonance between these elements of Mitsell’s personality and Cena’s masculine physique (which suggests he’s capable of handling any challenge this wild world throws at him) is consistently funny.
This performance solidified John Cena’s position as a leading comedic actor, and he has since been able to translate this into the action films in which he has appeared. He even managed to instill this gift of levity into action movie characters who would seem ill-suited to goofy antics. Most notably, Cena decided to simply recast his Jacob Toretto character from his angry portrayal in F9 to the cold, optimistic uncle in Quick X. In other cases, such a drastic character change between films could be a reason for fan outrage. In this case, it was absolutely amazing to see Cena finally being able to bring his best talents as a performer into context Fast and furious movie. Finally, this franchise knew what John Cena excels at as a leading man: throwing punches and performing comedic roles.
Even in low-quality films that seem to drag on for ages, e.g. Friends on vacationJohn Cena has some funny moments, not to mention a welcome penchant for chaotic debauchery that puts him at odds with the very calculated action-comedy leading men who dominate cinema today. Plus, it’s easy to forget about nonsense like Friends on vacation when you are so thoroughly entertained by Sina in Peacemaker or even his brief cameo in Barbie. There’s no shortage of handsome men leading the top action comedy films in today’s cinematic world, but there’s no doubt that the champion of them all, for countless reasons, is John Cena. Now, if people could finally see this guy, then he really would have everything…
Source: Collider