John Cena occupies an unusual place in the action movie market. After establishing stardom in the WWE, Cena appeared in several awful entries. His modern output varies wildly between perfect vehicles and abysmal wastes of his valuable time. Freelance quickly proved itself to be the latter when it premiered to no fanfare last year. Before his glorified cameo in Argylle and celebrated performance in Ricky Stanicky, Freelance provided John Cena another meaningless void in which to briefly store his considerable comedic talents.
Freelance Finds a Gig on Amazon Prime Video’s Top Ten
In Freelance, John Cena stars as generic action figure character Mason Pettis. He’s a retired Special Forces operator who earned a medical discharge after sustaining an injury in a failed assassination mission. His target was Juan Venegas, the dictator of a fake South American nation. Years later, Pettis gives up his terrible law career to pursue a freelance gig as a bodyguard for Allison Brie’s journalist, Claire Wellington. Wellington intends to interview Venegas, but the meeting escalates when Venegas’ soldiers turn against him in an apparent coup. What follows is generic action comedy schlock set against an incomprehensible narrative of semi-political conspiracy nonsense. Freelance is the debut screenplay from speech writer Jacob Lentz, who usually writes gags for Jimmy Kimmel. Taken director Pierre Morel brings the project to life with his familiar lack of visual flare. Did you know that Paramount once tapped him to direct Dune?
Freelance is a complete waste of time, but I get why it’s a hit on Amazon Prime Video. It’s a John Cena action movie. He’s a lovable icon, and anything he appears in has a massive public profile. The film also undoubtedly gains the well-publicized boon any streaming offering gets after a theatrical release. I remember walking past massive cardboard statues of Cena and Brie on my way to see several better films last October. I suspect many other theatergoers share the same memory. Freelance has a terrible critical reception, but audiences were far kinder to it. You’ll see a withering 8% positive score from the pros and a shocking 76% from the public. Though those who bothered to leave reviews offered kind words, very few people saw this in theaters. Freelance made $9.7 million on a $40 million budget. I know freelance gigs often underpay, but that’s absurd.
John Cena is bulletproof at this point. He’s done worse movies in the past, and he’ll likely do worse movies in the future. Freelance made headlines when it came out because it enjoyed a 0% positive score during its opening week. It’s not even Cena’s first movie to hold down that dubious honor. He starred in Fred: The Movie, which still proudly proclaims that goose egg. Those viewers who supported Freelance found something to love. Like a lot of freelance gigs, this one’s best handled at home.
