Let's see - a few controversial choices coming up:
Taken - I absolutely hated this. The trailer looked good and word of mouth prompted me to see this, but I really wish that I had not. The dialogue's terrible, the action is poorly directed, and out of the films that I have seen with Liam Neeson, this easily is his worst performance (although the VO in Fallout 3 comes close). Does not deserve the recognition that it does, particularly when there are better revenge thrillers out there like Man on Fire and The Man From Nowhere.
Watchmen - the film that has now seriously discouraged me from going to the cinema to see modern Hollywood blockbusters, unless it they are seriously special. As one of the characters in The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh said, "I cannot stand indifference" and that was exactly how I felt at the end of the film. I'll admit that I thought was alright immediately after I watched it, but on reflection it totally fell apart for me.
Tomb Raider - enough said. The cornerstone of why games should remain games and films should only be films, and never the twain shall meet.
These would not qualify for worst films, but they are seriously massive disappointments:
3:10 to Yuma - mostly good, but the final shootout and the ending are incredibly frustrating. I just did not buy it.
Zodiac - I cannot deny that it was well shot and well acted. But seriously - did everyone apart from Anthony Edwards' character have to be total dicks in the film? I know the point of the film was to show the effects of investigation on people's lives but it was plodding; The Wire had a similar point but it was executed much better.
From Dusk till Dawn - had a promising first half; totally let down by a second half with seriously rubbish f/x and whole nasty vibe to it which did not help the film in any way. Nasty can sometimes be good (when handled by Fulci or Argento), but here it just was repulsive.
Star Wars Episode 3 ROTS - at least TPM and AOTC had the excuse of being building blocks and filler while having a couple of decent set pieces; this was the one that needed to deliver and in a few respects, particularly with Yoda, it did. But this was the one where Lucas needed to concede that it needed the very best writing and directing - his refusal to concede that ensured that it was never the masterpiece it could have been. The climatic battle between Obi Wan and you know who showed the limitations of dialogue and a couple of the younger actors needed better coaching.
 |