15 Most Disappointing Films Of The Decade (So Far)

by Alex Leadbeater

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

What makes the disappointment of The Hobbit so overwhelming is that it could have been incredible. The Lord Of The Rings showed Peter Jackson was an incredibly talented filmmaker with a knack for fantasy, while the source book is chock full of vignettes that would look great up on screen. What went wrong has been chewed over incessantly, but it doesn't change the fact we're stuck with three painfully long films full of divergences that look slapdash and leave you perpetually underwhelmed. Dedicated Middle-Earth fans may try and edit them down to a suitable single session experience, but what's up on screen is just too muddled to properly rectify.

So yeah, the whole Hobbit exercise was a major let-down, but the brunt of the blame has to go on An Unexpected Journey. Not because it's the worst one (although it is), but because it so instantaneously summed up everything wrong with the entire series - all of the criticisms of the trilogy were present right here from the very start. The excessive, unconvincing CGI? The shoe-horning in of Rings characters? The expanding of minor passages into epic sequences? The obvious, somewhat questionable casting (Martin Freeman as Bilbo aside)? Peter Jackson set it all up here.

An Unexpected Journey was such a monumental let down that it pretty much halted excitement for the rest of the trilogy. People still went to see the later movies (in droves), but many did so out of a feeling of obligation or curiosity rather than genuine excitement. The box office takings decreased gradually over the trilogy (things only increased with The Lord Of The Rings), showing the connection with the audience dwindled once people realised what a mess they were dealing with.

The Hobbit is more disappointing than the Star Wars prequels. It's not just the most disappointing film of the decade. It's one of the biggest let downs of all time.

What's your most disappointing film of the decade? Let us know down in the comments.

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Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.