Ideally, we would all be able to approach movies with complete and utter objectivity. Expectations often cloud our better judgment, and prevent us from evaluating movies on their own terms. But we all allow our preconceptions to color how we view movies (and anyone who claims otherwise is a dirty, filthy liar). Sometimes, if we go in with low hopes, we can be pleasantly surprised by how good a movie can turn out. But more often, we set our expectations too high, to the point where nothing can hope to live up to what we’ve put in our head.
But sometimes, it’s perfectly reasonable to get excited for a film. If it’s cast and/or crew has a great pedigree, or it’s the latest installment in a beloved series, or what have you, then why not hope, or even expect, that it will be good? Sometimes, these pre-judgements are rewarded. Other times, they are dashed horribly. Here are the ten most bitter disappointments of the year.
NOTE 1: Keep in mind that “disappointing” does not necessarily mean “bad.” In fact, few of the movies on this list are bad by any measure. But they were all not nearly as good as they should have been, given who they came from.
NOTE 2: The movies are listed in order of release date, not on some ranking of “disappointingness.”
10. John Carter
The Hype: After the wild success of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, Andrew Stanton had accrued enough clout to do anything he wanted, and he wrote A Princess of Mars on Disney’s blank check. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s novels set a template from which much of the science fiction of the past century has drawn. And with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Brad Bird showed that a Pixar alum could make the transition from animation to live action with aplomb. There were worrisome signs, like the uninspired marketing campaign, but that was no reason not to be optimistic, right?
The Reality: There is some great stuff in John Carter, some moments of wonder and moments of fun. It has a great performance by Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, who transcends the role of mere love interest. It has Woola the superfast Martian dog-alien-thing, the most delightful cinematic animal sidekick in years. But movie is also awkwardly paced, sometimes even plodding, and overstuffed with unneeded elements. It also had weak villains and a mixed lead performance from Taylor Kitsch. It all evens out to a very nice, okay movie.
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16 Comments
I agree that John Carter of Mars was disappointing because largely of the creative team’s (writer, director, etc) indecision to put a visual or thematic stamp on it to differentiate it from all of the space operas that preceded the movie but were inspired by the book.
Going nostalgic with a bit of embraced space campiness might have been a better way to go.
I am not sure you can justify your putting the Dark Night Rises on this list. Considering the movie scores a 87% (Critic) and 92% (Audience) rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has brought in $1,081,041,287 worldwide…exactly WHO is disappointed in this movie other than you?
I thought it was a complete mess as well. And The Dark Knight is one of my favourite movies, so it’s nothing to do with popularity of the films.
Me. I was disappointed. Certainly when you compare it to the two preceding films. It was a big let down.
Well you are clearly in the minority. The VAST majority of people were not let down so it should not be included in this list.
Patrick, I was disappointed. Even without the huge plot hole throughout the movie, it was a over bloated quasi-Batman movie. Just because it is popular doesn’t make it good.
I agree that just because a movie is popular does not mean it is good…which is why I cited the Rotten Tomatoes ratings. It is a measure of how much people (both audience and critics) enjoyed the movie NOT how popular it was. I am not sure what “plot hole” was in the movie but the point is that the idea that the movie was a disappointment is demonstrably a view shared by a relatively small minority. The vast majority did not agree.
The presence of Dark Knight Rises in this list is ridiculous.For me it was the best in the series.Guess it’s cool to hate something good….
i really liked TDKR and The Hobbit, of course both aren’t as good as the movies who came before. but i didn’t expect The Hobbit to be better than LotR, neither TDKR to be better than TDK.
Still, those are the best two movies of the year to me.
That’s the problem with disappointing list:
it depends in what you expect…
Am i the only person in the world who thinks that make the Hobbit in three movies is actually a good idea? Seriously, Tolkien wrote about middle earth his entirely life, is not like there’s not story (see the white Orc plot on Unexpected Journey).
I’m curious Dan. Who’s the “us” in the title of your article? Because this piece just sounds like your personal gripes with the listed movies. The article really doesn’t reflect the conscience of the larger movie-going audience that I assume the aforementioned “us” is supposed to convey. “Brave” was an excellent movie so I don’t know what hype you’re talking about. Maybe you created you own hype for this movie (and the others on this list) and when the movie couldn’t live up to your self created hype, you felt let down. And most importantly, my daughter and all her friends (you know the ones the movie was actually made for) I took loved “Brave” also. The ONLY movie I personally felt was a letdown was “John Carter” and that’s simply because I deeply love the novels so much. The Hobbit is another example of your article coming off as nothing more than a personal gripe. So your whole problem with the Hobbit is that its a trilogy? Really? I could understand the argument if Peter Jackson was taking complete liberties with the story an adding in his own personal story elements. But this whole “why does it have to be a trilogy” movement and the subsequent “I hate it because its a trilogy” is just so stupid. Forget the FACT that he’s telling the story exactly as its been presented in the book, but on a strictly movie for movies sake basis, I had zero problems with “The Hobbit”. I don’t care if it’s a trilogy or one movie. Was the movie entertaining and enjoyable? That’s the criteria I use when I go see a movie. I assumed that’s generally what everyone did when going to a movie, but this article has proved me wrong. Same thing with “Killing Them Softly” and “TDKR”. They weren’t great movies, but more to the point of this article – they were nowhere close to disappointing.
The royal “we,” man.
Where is Cloud Atlas in this list? The book was one of my favorites, if not the favorite of the last decade. The film was just a mess.
Where is Captain America? That could have been a great film. Sadly let everyone down.
Where is Total Recall? Average film could have been brilliant.
Looper was quite underwhelming, this years Inception? I think not.
What about Dark Shadows? I was looking forward to that, and that was horrendous!
This Is 40? You must’ve been the only person looking forward to this film…
TDKR was the best of the Trilogy. BB was too simple, TDK was overlong and tried to pack too many themes and central villains into it. A brilliant performance by Heath Ledger, but that alone cannot make a good film. TDKR was perfectly balanced for me, it’s hard to think of a more perfect ending for a trilogy than that.
“Skyfall” was the biggest dissapointment of the year, in my opinion.
The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, Prometheus,…
This Is 40 screeners were being distributed for Oscar buzz. I saw the film and it was a mess! I don’t understand how anyone could think it had oscar potential.
I enjoyed “God Bless America” because of the cruelty. I liked that there wasn’t an underlying story of redemption. I rarely see that kind of a movie, and enjoyed it for the novelty (along with the caustic dialogue.
TDKR was very good on its own, and even better as the ending of a trilogy. You and a vocal minority stand alone in being disappointed in this one.