2015 is over, and there have been so many great new films. However, the year that’s been has thrown up quite a few stinkers too, so let’s count down my top 10 WORST movies of 2015.
(Disclaimer: this list is based on my opinion, apologies if your favourites are on the list, but it’s my opinion, so hey hey.)
10. Tomorrowland
Oh dear. Tomorrowland is arguably the biggest disappointment of the entire year, and I’m sad to be putting it on the worst of 2015 list.
A film that started with such promise, being directed by the man who made The Incredibles, Brad Bird, and starring George Clooney alongside up and coming star Britt Robertson, I was really pumped to see what looked like a thrilling (and for once ORIGINAL) sci-fi adventure.
What I got, however, was a two hour plus kids’ movie that’s no different from any other Disney ploy to sell toys. Tomorrowland had a dull story that lacked the imagination its characters professed so much, the visual effects were ultimately tiring, and the acting was pretty wooden, leaving you with a hugely disappointing and dull movie that hopefully won’t be returning to the big screen any time soon.
9. Sisters
Sisters got decent reviews, as far as buddy comedies go, but in my book, it really doesn’t deserve much credit at all.
Despite the loveable chemistry of class double act Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Sisters was a film that I just couldn’t bear sitting through. I laughed about twice in a near two hour long comedy (which felt more like three hours), and its repetitive humour left me profoundly bored by the end.
Its story revolved around middle-aged adults both letting go and also realising the reality of their lives in not being able to party any more, but the film failed to emulate any of that in any way. Instead, it developed into an exhaustingly long ‘comedy’ that had basically one scene: a party where people get drunk and/or take drugs. We’ve seen it all before, and Sisters had nothing new to offer, putting it firmly on this list for me.
8. The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Now, I pretty much hated 2014’s Divergent. Its sequel, Insurgent, on the other hand, I didn’t, I just disliked it.
The film proved a big improvement over the original with its increase in action and a bit more original thinking away from other young adult franchises (The Hunger Games), and so when I think about it, it seems as if I’m being a bit harsh on Insurgent.
Then I remember that The Hunger Games, effectively the same premise, is a thrilling and intriguing affair, reminding me of what Insurgent is missing. The action is still very lame and really lacks the excitement to get me properly into the series, whilst the story is still hugely uninteresting as it continues to develop into the inevitable revolution against the dictatorial Kate Winslet.
I was pretty bored when I watched Insurgent, and although it is an improvement on the first film, I’m still thinking twice about going to see the next instalment in The Divergent Series.
7. Pixels
Oddly, Pixels was an Adam Sandler film that so many of us went into with relatively high expectations. Oh how wrong we were.
The seemingly fun premise about the Earth being attacked by retro arcade game characters was really exciting, and seeing as it was more of an action movie than a comedy, surely Sandler’s typically terrible presence couldn’t ruin it too much.
However, the film was a painfully dull affair, complete with lacklustre comedy, ugly special effects, terrible acting and an all-round lack of fun. It’s supposed to be about video game characters coming to life! What could be more fun than that? Well, this film really didn’t manage to work that concept well, and it will likely be forgotten as one of the most oddly disappointing movies of 2015.
6. Hot Pursuit
The one thing I really remember about Hot Pursuit was that I had a seriously painful headache after watching it.
Seriously, it’s one of the most shrill and annoying films I’ve ever seen, managing to make two likeable actresses in Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon extremely unlikeable. Apart from having some of the worst jokes of the year, Hot Pursuit was a screechy and incessant buddy comedy, not helped by the fact that Vergara and Witherspoon’s onscreen chemistry was just awful.
There’s a story in there somewhere too, but earlier this year, this was meant to be the film that showed that Hollywood were putting women on an equal footing in films of all genres, but it really wasn’t, it was a dramatic failure, and I hated every minute of watching it.
5. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Sharknado is a series that has really grown and improved over the last three years. From a simply terrible first instalment in 2013, it’s embraced its silliness and evolved into one of the most anticipated movie events of every year.
That said, it’s still an awful franchise, and it’s so-bad-it’s-good vibe can’t excuse the fact that it’s not a well-made film at all. Whilst the budget has gone up considerably, and the humour is a further improvement, Sharknado 3 really failed in being able to tell an interesting story.
Yes, you can laugh at it, but you can never laugh with it. The film takes all sorts of ridiculous twists and turns, some of which work, some of which don’t, and so it’s still a generally annoying and not a particularly entertaining watch. Despite all the hype around its silliness, there’s no escaping the fact that Sharknado is still really bad.
4. Terminator Genisys
AAAAAHHHH!!! The Terminator franchise returned to the big screen after the two failed sequels to the first two movies, arguably some of the greatest action films of all time, in Terminator Genisys.
With hit Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke on board as Sarah Connor, and the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his most iconic role, this was set to be the film to reinvigorate the dying franchise with new life and new excitement.
Unfortunately, Terminator Genisys is possibly the worst of the entire series. With a near incomprehensible plot that’s not only tedious to follow, but ultimately ruins the canon of the first two movies, ugly visual effects, and really poor performances from some top-quality actors (not to mention the trailer that spoiled the whole movie), I really hated this movie, and am even more sad at the prospect of the upcoming sequels to the new Terminator trilogy that’s likely to get worse and worse with each instalment.
3. Fantastic Four
It seems like the whole year was wrought with massive disappointments, doesn’t it? Well, none gets bigger than the absolute mess that was the latest reboot of Fantastic Four.
A film that infamously released in August with not only criticisms coming from the reviews, but from Josh Trank, the director himself, who was angry that the studio had ruined his vision for the film by finishing it off with a typical Hollywood ending.
And while there’s no doubt that the finale of this film is truly atrocious, Trank’s own focus wasn’t great either. The film is genuinely a fantastic bore, failing to capture any sense of fun or excitement despite it being about SUPERHEROES, and has an overwhelmingly moody and downbeat tone that turns it into a painfully depressing and irritating film to watch.
It was so bad that it even managed to turn three of Hollywood’s brightest young talents to rubbish. Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan have proved themselves in so many other films, but thanks to the atrocity that was Fantastic Four, they couldn’t quite get their super acting chops on. (Urgh, sorry, that was an awful pun).
2. SMOSH: The Movie
You know YouTube? The website where people make loads of money for making funny three-minute videos? Well, they decided to take that brilliant premise, and stretch it out for nearly an hour and a half with SMOSH: The Movie.
The results were, inevitably, atrocious. Centring around hit YouTubers Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox (also known as SMOSH), the film was an extreme bore, complete with genuinely awful comedy that the duo should be ashamed of, as well as a whole host of other YouTube in-jokes that led me to think that this was some sort of propaganda film by the video sharing giant in the same vein as FIFA’s vanity project: ‘United Passions’.
The main issue with the film is that all that it is is a YouTube video stretched over 83 minutes, and anyone, even fans of SMOSH, will accept that that just doesn’t work. It turned into an unbelievably boring ride, and was just never as funny as it should have been – a monumental failure.
1. Fifty Shades Of Grey
Well, you knew it was coming. The massive hit from this February that broke all sorts of box office records and got 50 year old women screaming in cinemas (shudder), Fifty Shades Of Grey is undoubtedly the worst film of the entire year.
Despite the fact that it’s a really well-directed film thanks to Sam Taylor-Johnson, features a great soundtrack, and stars a fantastic actress in Dakota Johnson, the movie was monumentally sickening to watch.
And it’s not the whole controversy surrounding the bondage stuff that made the original book so steamy, what’s disgusting is how boring the film was.
It’s over two hours long, and I have to maintain that nothing actually happens. Disregarding the fact that it ends on a cliffhanger, we get no character development whatsoever, the latter act which attracted so many people in the first place was completely tedious, and it just felt like it went on and on and on and on.
I realise that the atrocious story isn’t the fault of the filmmakers, more so the fault of the author, E. L. James, but it’s a film that I wish had never been made. It brought a story that everyone knew was awful to the big screen, and no matter how much of a cinematic facelift they gave it, it’s impossible to escape the fact that Fifty Shades Of Grey is garbage, and easily the worst film of 2015.
