We have finally reached the midpoint of the year, and it is once again that time of the year where we take a look back at the best and most disappointing films of the year. If you haven’t seen any one or all of the top ten, then you survived some painful moments, at least in my opinion you did. Of course if you have already, and you share my sentiments, why not revisit the disappointment you felt after watching them. But if you haven’t seen them, I am not saying you shouldn’t see these films, because its easy to say which ones were the worst of the year. Picking the ones that disappointed me the most is a harder task, especially this year since there are no real stand outs on both sides of the spectrum. But these films aren’t entirely bad either, they just are the ones that disappointed me the most. Let me say that again, these are not the worst films, they just really disappointed me.
There were many things to take into consideration before I compiled my list, but the one that is most important is the release. Whether the film was released theatrically or during a film festival, as long as the film was screened between January 1st and June 30, you could end up on this list. So as you can see from the header image, those are the five films that ended up disappointing me this year. Hit the jump to see the rest of the top ten and where they rank.
10 – Muppets Most Wanted
This one stings a little considering how much I liked The Muppets. While the caper premise was a nice throwback to The Great Muppet Caper, it did not match the heart of it. It’s a sequel that has awkward pacing, and never really gets the chance to find it’s footing because it hits the ground running right from the start. On top of that, the film numerous subplots will most likely keep the audience confused, and because of that, we never get a chance to know what the film is about. With an over-extended runtime, Muppets Most Wanted even finds a way to lack of Muppetiness we would normally see in a Muppet film. Whether that was intentional or something we missed is certainly up for debate. But the film wasn’t a complete travesty. The songs are ever so catchy, and will have you tapping to the beat. One them even alludes to the fact that the sequels are never as good as before, and that is the kind of self-deprecating humor we love about the Muppets. With that, who could possibly say that this was a bad film, yes it does have itself problems, but the fun songs, great cameos, and light-hearted humor are just enough to make us all almost forget about them.
9 – The Signal
Not going to lie, this is one that I really had high hopes for. Ambitious to a fault, William Eubank‘s sophomore film banks on big ideas and impressive visuals. But it is a film that requires a bit too much from the audience to overly taxing and disastrous results. The Signal‘s terrible narrative structure collapses on its overly ambitious foundation. The premise sounds promising with the idea that three young college hackers are looking for the source that tried to hack into their school, only to find themselves prisoners or a strange facility. But with The Signal, you don’t know what you are watching, and the film turns out to be one giant narrative mess. The film tries to keep audiences intrigued by keeping everything they see or hear about the facility a secret. But any answers that are revealed about the facilities intentions end up being hollow ones.
8 – The Raid 2
Here’s another that I had very high hopes for, more so than The Signal. Gareth Evans follow up to the highly successful The Raid, The Raid 2 takes place years after the first film, with Rama having infiltrated the highly organized crime ring behind the events of the first film. But as action packed as this film is, it bites off more than it can chew. There is no doubt that Evans is trying to make The Raid universe a bigger one, by introducing two Mafia families vying for criminal control of Jakarta, but he does this without any attempts to edit or widdle down the film itself. The action is fast-paced and almost none stop, and the world is full of wonderful comic book-esque characters like Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man. There is no doubt that The Raid 2 doesn’t hold anything back in the action department, but the film loses focus by paying more attention to the rivaling families instead of making it Rama’s (Iko Uwais) story. Rama has been the beating heart of this franchise, he does get his moments to shine in the film, but the film keeps circling back to the two families, and with a nearly two hour plus runtime, The Raid 2 will undoubtedly make you feel exhausted by the end of the film.
7 – Ride Along
Kevin Hart and Ice Cube have proven themselves to be great comedians. The two know the craft of making audiences laugh, so it makes sense that the Tim Story-directed and Phil Hay-written film puts the two talents together for a promising comedy. Unfortunately, the buddy cop film doesn’t do much but give us the cookie cut buddy cop comedy tropes we have already seen in the past. Overly protective hot head cop sees if a jittery fiance is good enough for his sister taking him on a Ride Along (get it, because that’s the title of the film) and responding to very simple police calls, which turn out to be something he cannot handle. There isn’t really anything innovative or fresh about the premise or approach itself, but there really isn’t anything wrong by playing it safe. The problem is, the film doesn’t take any risks or put any twists on the genre itself, and with two high caliber comedians at your disposal, you’d expect more from the two. Instead we are treated with another boring cookie cut comedy that only makes us laugh at every other joke, assuming a joke has been told.
6 – Need For Speed
Scott Waugh‘s sophomore directorial effort is just a competitive response to the highly successful Fast and Furious franchise. But what would separate Need For Speed from Fast and Furious was the idea that Need would not rely on the use of CGI effects, instead it would opt to use Waugh’s knowledge of stunt work and practical effects. Which actually would look great on screen, but a boring plot, would make this film crash and burn right from the get go. There was really nothing about the film that was remotely interesting. Need For Speed is based on the very popular video game of the same name, for which the franchise is known not be plot drive. So creative leeway was certainly out of the question, as film only stayed true to the racing aspects of the game, and nothing else. The characters were pretty boring, and the plot was just a mess, its amazing that it got produced in the first place. If anything Need For Speed is nothing more than a glorified car commercial you paid to watch.
Hit the jump to see the top five most disappointing films of 2014 so far.
5 – Non-Stop
If there is anything Liam Neeson can’t do, I’d like to know, but in the meantime, we get to see him stop bad guys like he always does in Taken, except all of this takes place on a plane. The plot of Non-Stop was descent enough, a U.S. Air Marshall (with a thick Scottish accent, don’t ask me how that works) has been assigned to protect a plane. Little does he know terrorists are aboard the same plane, and are threatening to kill passengers until they receive a large sum of money. The problem with this film was the execution of it. Non-Stop does so many absurd things to move the story along, that it makes the simple plot look overly complex. It gets to a point where you have to suspend disbelief, and just go with it. Then, when you arrive at the even more absurd final act of the film, you won’t have to suspend disbelief any longer, because you’ve already hit the ground, face first. But Neeson is more than enough to keep Non-Stop from spiraling out of control, it’s just going to be a bumpy ride from start to finish.
4 – Transcendence
Wally Pfister‘s debut is all about style and no substance. While visually appealing, Transcendence lacks anything resembling a coherent plot. The idea was sound, using fears of technology advancing further than any human can regulate, but the stellar cast (Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, and Clifton Collins Jr) all look like they are there just to receive another paycheck. Jack Palgan‘s script is chock full of plot holes, that not finding one is a bigger task than trying to stay awake during this boring movie. The film fails to act on any of the questions it brings up, instead it brings these ideas into the light and lets the run loose. By the time the film ends, it doesn’t make us question any of the ethical implications of how we are using technology today. Which really is sad, because with a film like this, you would hope that people would be talking about the subject. Instead we are made to feel that as long as there is a reset button, everything will be alright.
3 – That Awkward Moment
Romantic comedies can be very formulatic so much so it makes each and every one of them that much harder to watch. So when Tom Gormican‘s film would focus on the male perspective (Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan) of varying relationships, the film had a lot of promise. However, That Awkward Moment is just another formulatic rom-com, that is just chock just full of dick jokes. Contrived and really boring, the film is cookie cut to the core, and doesn’t dare to be different from any of the other rom-coms we have seen in the past. And while the three twentysomething characters were in different stages of a relationship, these characters don’t really learn from their mistakes, and instead end up making even more mistakes, or giving us very hollow resolutions. Even some of the chemistry between various characters didn’t mix well, particularly the one between Efron and Imogen Poots. The film refuses to take any chances, and by doing so, we get the same play-by-play we would see in any sort of rom-com. Thus making That Awkward Moment a less than memorable one.
2 – RoboCop
The film wasn’t suppose to be remade in the first place, and yet some how it ended up getting through the Hollywood pipeline and into theaters. New technologies give Jose Padhila‘s Robocop a cool new upgrade. While this incarnation looks well polished, sleek, and cool on the outside, Robocop’s hardware is just full of bugs, kinks, and viruses. There is no doubt that the technology available today makes the action sequences a little bit cooler than what we saw in the 1987 version, there were so many great visual and makeup effects back then, that the CGI we see in the 2014 verison looks so bland and dull. The film tries to replicate on its predecessor’s satire and thirst for violence, but the PG-13 downgrade just made everything worse, turning a iconic cult film into a boring retread. It also reinforces the notion that, not everything should be reboot, for whatever reason. Inferior in every way, the film fails to bring anything new to the table, or shed light on the new issues that affect society today. If a film wants to address how society has an affinity for violence, don’t water it down by making it accessible to all audiences with a PG-13 rating, give it the hard R it so rightfully deserves.
Hit the jump to see what my number one most disappointing film of the year so far.
1 – The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Question. How do you seriously screw up a superhero film like The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Answer get Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Jeff Pinker to write the script. This was the kind of film that was looking for redemption, after it proved that the reboot came way too soon. Whether its studio politics or bad scripts, the film franchise will never be the same, and with Sony already establishing a film universe for the webslinger, count on things to continue to go down hill. Much of The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s problems lie within Orci, Kurtzman, and Pinkman’s script, which was overstuffed of exposition, and lacked the sparkling chemistry between Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Part of what Marc Webb has an understanding of is that angst in any given relationship, but being anchored down to a clunky script like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is certainly going to ruin his reputation. Instead of being the guy who directed (500) Days Of Summer, he will probably be known for directing two very boring Spider-Man films. The script also wastes a promising young cast full of strong veteran support. We never got a chance to get acquainted with Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), and who knows why Felicia (Felicity Jones) was in this movie in the first place. Then actors like Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper get their moments to shine, only to have their performances perverted by weak character motivations and development. All in all, I’d have to say that The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is hands down, the most disappointing film of the year so far.
Honorable mentions.
Of course there are some film’s that were disappointing, but not quite as disappointing as the aforementioned ten. For instance, Seth MacFarlane‘s A Million Ways To Die in the West also had promise, considering it was the director’s sophomore effort following the hilarious Ted. But the jokes fell flat, almost as if they rejected from the Ted script. While the film bolstered an impressive cast, A Million Ways lacked direction, and felt like it was going no where. Maleficent didn’t disappoint me as much, considering I actually watched it twice. But I just ended up feeling the same way about the film after both viewings. The film had those jaw dropping visuals you would expect to see in these Disney live-action fairy tale remakes, and Angelina Jolie is absolutely stunning as the titular character, taking command of almost every scene she is in. But a fairly weak story, along with a boring supporting cast, a creepy villain (Shartlo Copley) with a thing for rape, and Elle Fanning‘s performance is almost enough to put anyone to sleep. Thankfully, Jolie and Sam Riley’s chemistry is so fun to watch, it gives the film the energy it needs to to keep things interesting.
Michael Bay‘s Transformers: Age Of Extinction deserves it’s own kind of recognition. Unanimously hated by all critics, the film is everything you come to expect to see in any Michael Bay film, so why even bother trying to critique it (Kevin hated it, in fact he hated it so much he gave the film MovieViral’s first 0/5). A film so convoluted, so poorly written, so full of product placement, and so sexed up (Nicola Peltz‘s character is 17 for Christ’s sakes), it’s way to easy to put this on a disappointed list or a worst of list. So take it for what the film is worth (that’s that I did in my review) which is a lot of things going kablooey, close up shots of underage female characters who look like they are in their 30s, and so much product placement up the wazoo no one will really blame you for buying something from Victoria Secret or chugging a Budlight after the film. Because Michael Bay films aren’t the kind of films you turn your brain off for the simple pleasures of watching, it’s the kind of film you don’t even bother to bring.
Be sure to look for our top ten of the year so far, which will be posted very soon.