Cloud is very easy to use I'll give you that, but he isn't braindead.
The core of Cloud relies on fundamentals. If you understand the basics of Smash, you might do well with him. He isn't a character one can easily pick up and get good at; there are many pocket Clouds that have failed because they think he's an instant win button. You need to learn how to space your moves; if you go all willy-nilly, you will get punished for it. Cloud has good frame data, but he is still very punishable. The moves you mentioned, up smash and down smash, can easily be punished.
When I think of a braindead character, I think of pre-patch Diddy Kong the most. That character had an easy one-and-two combo (down throw into up air, the infamous Hoo-Hah) that could kill the majority of the cast rather early and it was very hard to avoid. When I played Diddy, I felt very dirty doing so; I don't feel dirty playing Cloud.
I should also mention, compared to pre-patch Diddy Kong, Cloud is easily beatable. Along with having poor endlag on most of his moves, his recovery is very mediocre without Limit Climhazzard; even if he does or doesn't have Limit, his recovery is pretty predictable and punishable. This could be seen by how easily ZeRo won Apex 2015 with Diddy Kong and how Cloud hasn't won a major yet (he's placed well, but a solo Cloud hasn't won yet).
Overall, Cloud is a character that requires fundamentals, knowledge of how to space his moves, and when is the right opportunity to use Limit. Without that knowledge, you won't be doing well with him.
