10 Surprisingly Good Scenes In Otherwise Terrible Movies

Even bad movies can have their moments.

Alien Resurrection Clones
20th Century Fox

Filmmaking is a collaborative effort. Even if one subscribes to the auteur theory, that the finished product is solely the director's credit, there are controlling interests involved at every step of production that compromise, alter or outright reject stories and ideas, shoehorn in concepts or worse.

A lot of it comes down to money, and this is never truer than the American blockbuster. Any major summer action film is going to have certain quotas they want to hit - beats within the script that feel familiar so audiences will get the most out of their already overpriced ticket.

And that's where the problems begin. One doesn't have to look far to find a time-filling, plotless set-piece simply there to keep the screenplay beating.

Other, more ambitious projects are just wrong-headed. Major opuses that have earnest intentions can easily go awry, particularly when the source material isn't worthy of high-art. Even some high-end directors can fall victim to this.

That said, there are inklings within some dreck that show potential. The ultimate product just decided to go the wrong direction.

Here are some scenes that suggested, at heart, withheld kernels of a better movie somewhere.

10. Opening Montage - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Alien Resurrection Clones
20th Century Fox

The problems with X-Men Origins: Wolverine began before its release when bootleg copies with half-finished FX were leaked online. Despite negative reactions from fans, the studio did nothing to revise what was clearly set for disaster.

It also unforgivably screwed with beloved characters to the point where they were unrecognizable.

Deadpool, the "Merc With A Mouth" shows up early, seemingly living up to his reputation only to have his mouth sewn shut and turning into a weak final boss fight end in a video game. But Fox had played, and accidentally showed, its cards. It was just a matter of dumping it on the public before moving on.

They did recover well with James Mangold's The Wolverine, which must have drawn some inspiration from the one thing that makes Origins worth your time: The opening credits.

In that excellent sequence, we're treated to a montage of Logan and brother Sabretooth going through multiple wars - Civil, World and eventually 'Nam. Any of these have the potential to be good standalone films, and The Wolverine even utilizes Logan's time as a WWII soldier early in the film, proving a point that Origins glossed over.

Contributor
Contributor

Kenny Hedges is carbon-based. So I suppose a simple top 5 in no order will do: Halloween, Crimes and Misdemeanors, L.A. Confidential, Billy Liar, Blow Out He has his own website - thefilmreal.com - and is always looking for new writers with differing views to broaden the discussion.