As the next round in our ongoing joint-discussion with Greg over at Child of Sod , here is the Worst in Movies of 2005.
Again, I must place the disclaimer on that I only saw seven movies in the theater this past year. But, I am versed enough in films to at least recognize garbage on film. Here's my Bottom Three.
1 - Elektra - Why, oh why, did this movie get made? The first movie, Daredevil, was absolutely terrible. Yet, instead of seeing that perhaps they had gone the wrong direction in making that film, the geniuses over at Marvel decided to dive further into that franchise. And they changed things up enough to make it REALLY hard to watch. As far as comic books go, there are your A-Level characters (Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men). Then there are your B-Level characters (Fantastic Four, Green Arrow, Daredevil, Judge Dredd). Then there are C-Level characters (Bullseye, Black Canary, Bloodrayne). Now, what we see in comic book movies is similar. The A-List characters more often (especially lately) make good movies. [That's not to say they always do (Batman and Robin, Superman III & IV).] There are obviously way more B-List and C-List characters than A-List. And, the vast majority of these B-List and C-List characters have produced really really bad movies. Why is that? Well, think for a second...if they were extremely well-written, well-liked, and well-developed characters, wouldn't they become A-List? So, when these characters hit the movies, the things that are holding them back become amplified. Viewers realize that they were too dependent on their source characters or not developed enough to carry a two hour movie. And the movie bombs. These are the ones that give comic book movies a bad name (Steel, Catwoman).
2 - Saw II - No, I didn't see it. But I still think it was one of the worst things about the movie field this past year. According to all of the reviews, it was very gory, very bloody, very terrifying - and those were its good points. Yes, that was why people were told to see it. And that is why it made $87 million. Horror movies are very cheap to make, and they have a huge profit margin. And there is a huge group of people who love them. I have no understanding of what makes them interesting. In addition to the disgusting nature of the movie, I also hate the marketing for it. Movies like this are advertised where they show very disturbing images on tv, or in the mall, or in magazines, or as web banners. You have no idea its coming and your kids are sitting with you, and WHAM, some demon possessed girl is on screen. The whole thing makes me angry.
3. The Pointless Sequel - Like Greg said about last year's box office, this is not a new problem. But every year, a whole bunch of sequels come out. Some of them serve a point - expanding the story or carrying on stories about beloved characters. But a great many of them are just dumb attempts to make money - and often unsuccessful ones at that. Take a look at Miss Congeniality 2, The Legend of Zorro, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Ring Two, Be Cool, XXX: State of the Union, Elektra, Son of the Mask, Deuce Bigalow 2, Land of the Dead, and Transporter 2. All of them were pointless sequels released this year. Compare that to the three successful sequels (Star Wars 3, Harry Potter 4, Saw 2). Eleven out of fourteen tanked. And did any of those eleven help the series in any way? Was the entire mythos enhanced? Were there millions of people clammoring for that sequel? [The same could be said for the many mindless remakes this year: Bewitched, Duke of Hazzard, Yours Mine and Ours, The Honeymooners, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Bad News Bears, The Fog, Aeon Flux] Again, this is a losing battle, but I really wish that movie producers would spend more time coming up with original concepts or quality scripts instead of just taking a money making film or concept and redoing to death.
Well, Greg, what do you think?
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