Now I say "Best & Worst" but really this more of a "Favorites & Least Favorites" list. I know everyone isn't going to agree with these choices and that's fine. I know for a fact that there's one choice on my "Worst" list that many are going to disagree with. But, again that's fine. Not everyone shares the same opinion on films or anything. Also keep in mind that I haven't seen ALL of the “Bad” movies. I haven’t seen any of the Tyler Perry movies, or Getaway and I still haven't seen the extremely divisive movie Man of Steel.
But enough delaying, let's start the show. I'm starting off with the "worst" of the year because I liked to get the bad stuff out of the way.
10. Bullet to the Head
D: Walter Hill
W: Alessandro Camon
S: Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi
This was just a lackluster film. While I am a fan of Sylvester Stallone and Walter Hill this film just didn't seem to have any of the heart or passion of any of their previous films. Also this has some of the laziest expository dialogue that I've seen. It basically goes like this,
Stallone: We need to look up info on this guy."
Kang: Okay hang on a sec. *Dials phone* Hey could you look up info on this guy.
*Hangs up. Five seconds later* Okay we got the info on this guy."
I could give a pass on this film it had at least some decent action scenes but it even dropped the ball on that. Well at least there was Escape Plan.
09. R.I.P.D.
D: Robert Schwentke
W: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
S: Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon
I stated that I saw this movie because of Jeff Bridges and he's about the only good thing in the film. A lot of people were dismissive of the film because they saw it as a ripoff of Men in Black and yes it does share similar elements of that film but that's not the reason why this made my 'worst of...' list. No the reason it's on the list is because it's just a big case of a missed opportunity. It doesn't feel like they took the time to develop this world and fully explore the potentials. We've got a segment of the afterlife where dead cops from various time streams fight demons. This should have been better. And back to the point about not developing the world, there are so many moments where I just kept questioning what was going on. For example: During the first encounter with a demon, it shows that apparently they don't like certain spices and apparently can't answer certain questions. I'm guessing that's what's happening but like I said I never understood WHY certain spices revealed who they were and I'm still not sure why they were asking random questions. Mr. Bridges, you deserve better.
08. After Earth
D: M. Night Shyamalan
W: M. Night Shyamalan, Gary Whitta
S: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo
Now a lot of people have put this at the number one spot on their 'worst off...' probably because it's a Shyamalan film and he is an easy target. While I do agree that this film is a rather lame film, for me the problem isn't Shyamalan, it's Smith and Son. This was clearly just an ego project to help promote his kid and I'm sorry to say this (especially since he's a kid) but Jaden is not that charismatic. The poor kid can't carry the film by himself. But that's not the only problem, much like R.I.P.D. this movie doesn't really explain the world or the environment or... anything really.
07. The Great Gatsby
D: Baz Luhrmann
W: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
S: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan
Oh dear I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this one. Yes people after several months since its premiere and watching it one more time I still can't bring myself to like this movie. Very rarely am I the guy who's like "The book was so much better" but in this case, yes I will become that guy. I felt like any substance from the book I respected was just gone and instead what we got was Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge set in the Roaring 20s. The only things I can say that I liked was the art/set direction and Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan. In my opinion, just stick with the 1974 version with Robert Redford.
06. A Good Day to Die Hard
D: John Moore
W: Skip Woods
S: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
I'm not going to claim to be the biggest Die Hard fan (I'm not going for the easy joke in this one), but I do really love the first Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard is the exact opposite of the first film. Everything that made the original film great is absent. John McClane has gone from being the regular average cop who was at the right place at the right time to an Arnold Schwarzeneggar character. Also I get the feeling that this was a plain action movie script that they slapped the Die Hard label just to sell it. Even ignoring the previous films this is still a pretty bad action film. I could barely tell what was going on because of the terrible cinematography, and most of the dialogue in the film is just Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney making father/son jokes and Courtney groaning about how Willis wasn't there for him and so forth. Just ignore it and watch the first one.
05. The Hangover Part III
D: Todd Phillips
W: Craig Mazin, Todd Phillips
S: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis
This movie suffers the biggest sin any comedy can have. It's not funny. It is painfully unfunny. There are no real gags, punchlines or just jokes in general. While I think the first one was just okay and the second one was just a weak carbon copy of the first film, this film makes it a chore to sit through. The worst element about the film was Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) and Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong). Both of these character are just so remarkable unfunny and unlikable that I was seriously rooting for the villain in this movie. Now I know comedy is comprised of a lot jerk and smart alecks, (Rodney Dangerfield, Groucho Marx and Don Rickles come to mind) but a lot those comedians were at least funny.
04. The Host
D: Andrew Niccol
W: Andrew Niccol
S: Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons
I'm not putting this on the list because it's a Stephanie Meyers related film. I'm not. I'm putting this on the list because it was a dreadful sit through. With the Twilight films I could at least get a laugh factor from some of the scenes. I could get some enjoyment out of the gleefully over the top performance of Michael Sheen as Aro. But with The Host there's none of that. Which is a shame because the lead is played by Saoirse Ronan, who is a legitimate good young actress and the villain is played by Diane Kruger, who is also awesome. But they are given nothing to work with. But that's just the tip of the iceberg and to continue on... well I've got three others to list and my best of so let's just move on.
03. Free Birds
D: Jimmy Hayward
W: Jimmy Hayward, Scott Mosier
S: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler
I can already hear the comments,
"It's a kids film. Don't be hard on it."
"It's not for your age demographic."
etc. etc.
Yes,while it is a children's movie and it is technically true that's not for my age demographic that is also true for Frozen and I thought Frozen was an amazing film. Plus there are still countless other films from my childhood that I still love today as an adult (The Great Muppet Caper, Beauty and the Beast, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier, and so on). Outside of some of the lame jokes, concepts and a drastic tonal shift, Free Birds features an element that truly, TRULY bothers me. It's vilifying people who are trying to survive. The pilgrims are not blood thirsty meat eaters, they are people who are starving and many of them have died. They need food and sorry to say there is no alternative vegan diet for them to take. The only thing I can I enjoyed about this was George Takei. Because... well... George Takei.
02. Battle of the Year
D: Benson Lee
W: Brin Hill, Chris Parker
S: Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, Josh Peck
Any subject can work in a movie, as long as it's given to the right people to work with it and those people make the movie a way for people to digest and take in. This movie didn't have the right people unfortunately. Again it's not the subject matter that's the problem, the problem is the way it's done. I wasn't expecting this to be a completely original film, I figured there would be a lot of cliches but this movie is pretty much NOTHING but cliches with no real sigh of development or growth. And that's what puts it so high on this list. The fact that nothing is truly developed and that the film is just an amalgamation of sports/dance movie cliches is why I found it that bad.
And what could be Number 1?
1. Grown Ups 2
D: Dennis Dugan
W: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, Fred Wolf
S: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock
Yep THIS movie. Why? Because this movie, in my opinion, features so many elements that make a film bad. There is no main plot there is just a bunch subplot that don't amount to anything. It's not helped much by the fact that a big chunk of the characters are unlikable. The biggest example I can give is that Kevin James' character has felt neglected by his wife because she's been focusing on the two kids they have a lot. Yeah, how DARE she act like a parent. So he's been going over to his mother's house for meals and watch soap operas with her and essentially to get more attention. Of course in the end she finds out they have a brief little spat and suddenly everything is okay. To quote MST3K "We hope you enjoyed No Moral Theater."
Well that does it for my least favorites of the year. Are they the worst? Well from what I saw yes. But others may see differently and that's fine. Feel free to give your opinion.
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