42. The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus (2009)
Terry Gilliam has made some awesome films and also a few duds, this one falls somewhere in between. It was sold as a return to form for Gilliam but it will go down as an almost was. The film about a traveling show of the mysterious Dr. Parnassus, the production was overshadowed by the death of Heath Ledger. Worried that his death would also bring an end to his film, Gilliam's imaginative response was to hire Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrel to play Ledger's character in alternative realities. The idea worked and blended in well with the surreal nature of the rest of the film. It is unfortunate that although the film is stunningly beautiful to watch, it's a confused mess with an even more weird ending. More a collection of wonderfully crafted imagery than a coherent piece of film making.
41. Shrek The Third (2007)
Shrek 1 and 2 were huge hits with critics and the general cinema audience. Funny, witty, great writing and sharp, all the things that the third film wasn't. Average at best, Shrek The Third smacked of a film that was developed with dollar-signs in the eyes and no intention to make a film that everyone will love. Children found most of the jokes went over their heads and adults who stayed awake, weren't laughing much. Studios see a cash cow and flog it until it's dead, this entry into the Shrek franchise was the beginning of the decline.
40. Swept Away (2002)
Guy Ritchie was on a role after making ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and ''Snatch.'' He then married Madonna and tried to rub some of his move magic on her. The romantic comedy was a remake of the far superior 1974 film of the same name. The problem with this version was that the romance was unbelievable with Madonna's character totally unlikable. On top of that you didn't care and it didn't feel in any way like you was watching a Guy Ritchie film. You sat there wondering why they picked this as a project to work on together? Needless to say, the film bombed at the box office and was ridiculed by everyone. At least Mr Madonna had a good time watching his wife have pretend sex with another man for a month.
39. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
A sequel to Jurassic Park was inevitable after the huge amounts of money the film made at the box office. Michael Crichton had resisted calls to write a sequel until Spielberg himself requested one. The Lost World was published in 1995 and the film went into production in 1996. Directed by Steven Spielberg and Jeff Goldblum now starring, The Lost World should have been as much fun as the original was but unfortunately it smacked of a sequel for a sequels sake. The awe of seeing the dinosaurs was never going to have the same impact as it did in 1993 so it fell on the story and characters to drive the film. Sadly they were not up to the job and even though the acting was not in question, the writing didn't give them enough to play with. Combined with less dinosaurs and a dull, Godzilla-sytle rampage with a T-Rex, The Lost World disappointed many who went to see it. Even Spielberg lost faith in the project half way through, he said;
"I beat myself up... growing more and more impatient with myself... It made me wistful about doing a talking picture, because sometimes I got the feeling I was just making this big silent-roar movie... I found myself saying, 'Is that all there is? It's not enough for me''
38. Green Lantern (2011)
Undoubtedly Marvel's obsession with The Avengers has seen the publisher go into overdrive and churn out a wave of comic book films based on their most popular heroes. Its rival DC, forced to play catch-up, had Batman and Superman taken care of, so it was only a matter of time before we saw a Green Lantern movie. Staring Ryan Reynolds and a dependable cast that included Angela Bassett, the film was a over produced mish-mash of bad special effects, annoying action and lifeless script. In 2004, there were plans to make the Green Lantern into a comedy with Jack Black in the lead role. You can only imagine how crap that would have been.