What's it about? Adapted from the British television series from the 1960s, The Avengers follows the adventures of John Steed and Emma Peel (Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman) as they go head to head against Sean Connery's Sir August de Wynter. In between bouts of poorly choreographed action they sip tea, doff hats and generally engage in dreadfully stereotypical "British" behaviour which only a non-Brit would find remotely amusing. Why was it doomed to fail? Kingsman: The Secret Service recently proved that a posh bloke in a bowler hat can appeal to a wide audience in an action movie, but there are few other parallels to be drawn between Kingsman and The Avengers. After refusing to allow critics to see the film then unceremoniously dumping it in theatres after the summer holidays were over, it was clear to everyone that Warner Bros were well aware they had a stinker on their hands. An atrocious script combined with a complete lack of chemistry between Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman and terrible special effects led some critics to label The Avengers "the worst movie ever made". Any film which can be said to give Howard The Duck a good name - as one critic suggested - is clearly destined to flop. What other franchises can you think of which were doomed to fail? Why not tell us about them in the comments?
