Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters and Now You See Me 2 were terrible movies.
Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters and Now You See Me 2 were terrible movies.
Bad sequels, terrible reboots and the less said about Dirty Grandpa, the better. Dominic Corry dredges through the cinematic cesspools of 2016.
Let's be clear about one thing - plenty of great movies came out this year. But 2016 has also been notable for the surfeit of hugely disappointing films offered up by Hollywood.
Of more concern is that many of these films did very well a the box office despite being liked by pretty much nobody.
At the risk of sounding like a negative nelly, here I will survey the creative wreckage and highlight the most disappointing trends and movies of the year.
Batman Vs Superman was even worse than Suicide Squad.
Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice doubled down on the worst aspects of 2013's (not terrible) Man of Steel, and revealed director Zack Snyder to be the absolute wrong choice to lead DC's biggest characters into a new cinematic universe. Attention then shifted to David Ayer's Suicide Squad, which fans hoped would put DC movies back on track. It did not, and was perhaps an even worse film than Batman Vs Superman. Maybe next year's Wonder Woman will be the film to right the ship in time for Zack Snyder's Justice League to sink it again.
The reboots were bad
The new Ghostbusters wasn't great, but it had nothing to do with the gender of its lead characters, which incited intense fanboy rage well in advance of the movie's release. The film simply didn't pop. The ghosts were never remotely threatening, the comedy relied way too much on soup jokes, and the film revealed its creative cowardice by shunting a giant climatic set-piece to the end credits. Blair Witch strained to lend its franchise modern meta relevance, but failed to achieve anything significant in this arena.
Blair Witch failed to achieve anything significant in this arena.
The sequels were really bad
With the notable exception of Star Trek: Beyond, 2016 may have been the worst year for sequels in the history of cash-grabbing follow-ups. Independence Day: Resurgence somehow messed up what should've been an absolute sure thing. The Huntsman: Winter's Way made us wonder why we'd ever cared about The Huntsman to begin with. Now You See Me 2 failed to recapture any of the...magic of the original film, which it went out of its way to contradict.
Ride Along wasn't on anybody's list of modern classics, but it is beloved by fans of classic action comedies (like me) and anyone susceptible to the charms of Kevin Hart (again, me). Ride Along 2 on the other hand was a craptacular follow-up that never seemed to even be trying. Bad Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising squandered any and all goodwill built up by the first film, almost going out of its way to highlight its own pointlessness. The Divergent Series: Allegiant was so bad it resulted in the franchise being shifted over to television. London Has Fallen reduced the pulpy pleasures of its predecessor to pitiable piffle. I guess some people liked The Conjuring 2...
The Divergent Series: Allegiant was so bad it resulted in the franchise being shifted over to television.
The comedies weren't funny
Being a huge fan of pretty much everything Seth Rogan does (except Bad Neighours 2: Sorority Rising), I couldn't have been more excited for Sausage Party. But the film was far too pleased with itself, relying on politically incorrect offensiveness instead of actual jokes. Keeping Up With The Joneses let down an extremely talented cast with its go-nowhere storyline. And then there was Sacha Baron Cohen's Grimsby. Oh Grimsby, you had such potential. And pretty much none of it was fulfilled. As for Dirty Grandpa? No.
Sausage Party was far too pleased with itself, relying on politically incorrect offensiveness instead of actual jokes.
The star vehicles failed to ignite
Adding fuel to the fire that the time of the movie star is over, several A-list actors saw vehicles they were supposed to carry fall flat. Julia Roberts and George Clooney couldn't get anyone interested in the tone deaf Money Monster. Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Roberts' wig from Notting Hill failed to evelate Mother's Day beyond its status as a cinematic greeting card. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back wasn't super terrible, but Tom Cruise is the biggest and best movie star in the world, and the movie never once reflected that.
George Clooney couldn't get anyone interested in the tone deaf Money Monster.
