Some might say that by creating all of these top ten lists I am being lazy and recycling whatever reviews I’ve written over the past twelve months to drive a bit of traffic to them. And to that I would say “Yep, that’s about right”. Here are ten films that were just plain bad or particularly disappointing. Last year’s list stirred up some controversy, so I can only hope this year’s collection does the same.
The cream of British comedy could not make this ropey movie work. Humourless and annoying.
While Burke and Hare shows the worst side of UK comedy, Dinner for Schmucks is a lazy, by-the-numbers vehicle for Paul Rudd and Steve Carrel which hints at the stagnation of mainstream comedy from across the pond.
Not bad but nowhere near as good as it could have been, this cold war thriller lacks relatable characters and suffers from an unsatisfying narrative arc.
One or two ridiculous set pieces couldn’t drag this nostalgic waste of space into the 21st century or my heart.
The trailer promised much but the retrospectively applied 3D and the wooden performance from Sam Worthington left me cold, bored and wishing I was playing God of War.
Denzel Washington put on his preacher face for this laboured post-apocalyptic flick about the value of holy scriptures. On a positive note my review got a debate going, which was nice.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz proved that their star power was fading fast in this over the top action comedy. Its arbitrary title aside, this feels like a film from another era and not one that is worth revisiting.
The reboot of this space alien franchise could have been spectacular, with Robert Rodriguez vaguely involved in the production. Instead it was generic and preposterous even by the standards of the series to date.
The only redeeming feature of this film was that it eventually ends. Otherwise it’s entirely valueless. Like a child’s drawing.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
This was supposed to be Disney’s next Pirates of the Caribbean-style super-series. Pity it lacked any of the charm, wit or intrigue of the first in that franchise, proving you can make a better movie based on a theme park attraction than a video game.
