Fans were left shocked and saddened in March when Bruce Willis’ family announced he’s retiring from acting for medical reasons. The Die Hard and Pulp Fiction star is suffering from aphasia, a condition that affects the brain’s language and communication centers.
For many, this threw Willis’ apparently questionable acting choices over the past few years into sharp focus. The actor had become notorious for appearing in low-budget straight-to-VOD clunkers in which he’d deliver a checked-out and often monosyllabic performance, often with visible earpieces feeding him lines. Many concluded that he must have been trying to make as much money as possible for his retirement while he was able, and that these movies were the best option.
But even if the films aren’t great, Willis is clearly still a draw as Vendetta is topping the Hulu movie streaming charts (as per FlixPatrol). The movie sees Willis as the patriarch of a crime gang, with the plot seeing a father on a roaring rampage of revenge after his daughter’s murder. The only other notable element is that this features Mike Tyson in a dramatic role — and in a worrying omen, critics say he delivers one of the best performances in the movie.
Vendetta has only three negative reviews on the Tomatometer and a rock-bottom 9% audience approval rating, but for whatever reason, it’s climbing the charts, perhaps proving that Willis can still draw a crowd in 2022.
Vendetta won’t be Willis’ final role as he has a couple of completed movies already in the can, but we doubt Detective Knight: Rogue, Die Like Lovers, and Paradise City will be a patch on his best work. But when future cinema fans look back on Willis’s career, these will merely be a footnote to his filmography and we can’t blame him for wanting to squeeze in as many roles as possible while he was able to perform.
Vendetta is available to stream on Hulu.