While 2018 hasn’t been the most stellar year at the movies, there are some films that have really stood out as the most painful, tedious, stupid and annoying. So, here are my picks for the top 10 worst movies of 2018.
10. The Kissing Booth
While Netflix has continued to produce heaps of excellent original content this year, its reputation as a dumping ground for some of Hollywood’s poorest movies has also got a whole lot worse, as is exemplified by the terrible teen rom-com, The Kissing Booth.
Despite being one of the two most viewed films on the site in 2018, The Kissing Booth is a simply awful film from beginning to end, with a non-sensical story that seems to be more about betrayal and selfishness than friendship, as we see a girl go behind her best friend’s back as she enters into a relationship with his brother.
It’s not funny, it’s not sweet, and it’s often a fairly reprehensible movie, and although it may have a light-hearted vibe that’s helped it to be one of Netflix’s most viewed films of the year, there’s no denying that The Kissing Booth is still a really poor watch.
Read a full review here.
9. Robin Hood
I don’t think anybody was expecting the latest Robin Hood to be any good, but I can’t say that I ever expected it to be so laughably bad.
Despite featuring a strong cast of Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn and Jamie Dornan, the movie is a pathetic and dull attempt at a gritty reboot of the classic folk tale, with laughably terrible dialogue and stakes that make its overly serious atmosphere feel all the more ridiculous.
Couple that with poorly-directed action, drab visuals, and a painfully predictable plot, the movie is a big failure in pretty much every department, and without doubt one of the year’s most boring blockbusters by far.
Read a full review here.
8. Anon
Another Netflix release, Anon was one of the dullest and most underwhelming attempts at sci-fi I saw all year, taking a great premise and just rubbing it into the dirt from start to finish.
Despite taking inspiration from a slew of classic dystopian sci-fi movies such as Blade Runner, Minority Report and more, the movie completely wastes an interesting premise by rapidly turning into a generic mystery, interspliced with random romance and consistently terrible dialogue.
The most disappointing thing about Anon is the wasted potential, as Amanda Seyfried’s mysterious character and Clive Owen’s imperfect detective could be genuinely interesting, but the movie proves a real drag thanks to its painfully generic story, horribly drab visuals, and general lack of energy all round.
Read a full review here.
7. Mary Poppins Returns
This is a film I really didn’t expect to be putting on my worst movies of 2018 list, but I’m afraid to say that Mary Poppins Returns is one of the biggest duds from Disney in a long time, and one of the most painful experiences I had at the cinema all year long.
Although it eventually comes good with an enjoyable final 20 minutes or so, the majority of the film is a shrill and infuriating mess, completely failing to recapture the cosy and sweet magic of the original, and instead ploughing ahead with a rather simplistic recreation of the same story, worsened by a lack of memorable songs, and a genereal lack of focus in its narrative.
Emily Blunt’s performance as the magical nanny doesn’t live up to Julie Andrews’ legendary portrayal, while the rest of the film’s cast are also on the underwhelming side, all of which adds up to a movie with a lot of ambition to recapture the spirit of a cinematic classic, but falls flat in almost every regard.
Read a full review here.
6. Blockers
There haven’t been too many stellar comedies in 2018, but for me, no comedy this year was more dull and forgettable than Blockers.
A ridiculous story that sees three parents desperately trying to stop their teenage daughters from losing their virginity, the movie descends into painfully dull territory as it meanders through a series of random mishaps that barely have anything to do with the main plot, all the while missing the mark again and again when it comes to making you laugh.
Despite the fun trio of Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz and John Cena, the movie is a tedious affair, and will bore you to the bone for every one of its 102 minutes.
Read a full review here.
5. Game Over, Man!
Parody movies are always very hit-or-miss, and they often need a really high standard of comedy to be pulled off perfectly, something that Game Over, Man! doesn’t have in the slightest.
Copying the story of Die Hard as three men become caught up in a terrorist invasion of a skyscraper, the movie is a pathetic and dull attempt at poking fun and paying homage to the Bruce Willis classic, worsened by some of the least funny comedy you’ll have seen all year.
Juvenile, shrill and incredibly annoying from start to finish, I was never able to even break a smile at any point, instead sitting irritated and totally bored at every moment.
Read a full review here.
4. The Easiest Thing Is Making Everything Harder
I can’t remember how I came across The Easiest Thing Is Making Everything Harder, a Mexican comedy that hasn’t taken off overseas (or domestically), however I wish that I’d never watched it in the first place.
Not only is the movie not funny in the slightest, but it strays into morally reprehensible territory as we follow a selfish and vain woman who tries everything to break up a man and his fiancée because she wants to be with him instead.
It’s a premise you’ll have seen before, but I’ve never seen a film that never takes a step back to recognise how selfish its main character is acting, instead pushing ahead without ever really giving her any deserved comeuppance, making the movie a deeply unlikable experience at every moment, as it blindly goes ahead with a vapid and mean-spirited story without even a hint of perspective.
Read a full review here.
3. Amazing China
Having been in China during the earlier part of the year, one of the films that I saw doing the rounds at the time was Amazing China, a documentary about the achievements of the country since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
Despite having some impressive visuals, Amazing China is the driest and most dull movie you’ll ever watch, as it reads off a list of infrastructure projects and more that the country has taken part in over the last 6 years, from big bridges to cranes, shipping containers to oil drills and everything in between.
Apart from feeling like sitting in a board meeting for an hour and a half, the movie’s arrogant and boastful character is what really pushes it over the line for me, going beyond commending genuinely impressive achievements to just flexing its political muscles for over an hour, making for both a tedious and deeply annoying watch throughout.
Read a full review here.
2. Fifty Shades Freed
The Fifty Shades franchise has been a fixture on these worst-of-the-year lists for the last few years, and it’s only fitting that Fifty Shades Freed, the final instalment in the series, takes its rightful place as one of the worst movies of 2018.
Despite proving an improvement on the hilariously bad Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed is still a terrible movie through and through, with yet another tedious addition to a truly tedious franchise, as Anastasia and Christian Grey’s relationship reaches its peak, featuring yet more pointless sex scenes, ridiculous emotional drama, poor performances, and another visually dull palette from director
As a finale to the saga, the movie falls completely flat, randomly turning into a crime thriller in the final act that features an overlong car chase that comes totally out of the blue, bringing the series to a predictably terrible close once and for all.
Read a full review here.
1. Slender Man
Worse than any other this year, however, is the pathetic feature adaptation of Slender Man, an urban legend that found recent popularity in an online game a few years ago.
And while everyone was raving about the terrifying Slender Man back in 2012, as is the case with internet fads, that was quickly forgotten, leaving this film sticking out like a sore thumb as it attempted to recapture the obsession six years on, and failing dramatically.
At every moment, it feels like a rushed and poorly thought-out film, with next to no story or characters to follow, instead relying entirely on a supposedly eerie atmosphere with the odd rubbish jumpscare. In a year with great horrors like A Quiet Place, the likes of Slender Man feel all the more pathetic, and given just how terribly boring the film was from beginning to end, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the worst movie of 2018.
Read a full review here.
