The Expendables franchise is about one thing, and one thing only; watching iconic action stars shoot guns and blow s**t up. So it came as a surprise when the third installment opted for a PG-13 rating (that Sylvester Stallone has since admitted was a 'horrible miscalculation') and decided to focus much of the narrative on the incredibly uninteresting younger crop of Expendables at the expense of the established crew and Mel Gibson's unhinged villain. While the first two movies came in for criticism for using CGI blood in favor of old-fashioned (and cheaper) squibs, Patrick Hughes' threequel took the series' bad CGI to a whole new level. Based entirely on how unconvincing the visual effects are, the movie surely only cost $90m due to the salaries required for such a massive cast. The movie features numerous computer-generated explosions and helicopters that wouldn't look out of place in a Playstation 2-era video game and a parachuting shot that stakes a genuine claim for being the year's worst example of CGI. Of course, you can't talk about The Expendables 3's poor CGI without mentioning that in the movie's climactic sequence the effects team can't even create a convincing attempt at dust, which surely wouldn't be too difficult to use as a practical effect.
Runner Up - The Legend Of Hercules
Renny Harlin's box office flop failed to even earn back its $70m budget at the box office, yet strangely went on to become one of the most pirated movies of the year. Maybe people are hoping that its one of those 'so bad it's actually kinda good' movies, but it isn't. It's just terrible. One of the many problems that plague The Legend of Hercules (along with the writing, acting, directing etc.) is the terribly unconvincing CGI, the sheer amount of poor visual effects and obvious green-screens on display giving the final product the look of a glorified TV movie, despite the blockbuster budget.
I don't do social media, so like or follow me in person but please maintain a safe distance or the authorities will be notified. Don't snap me though, I'll probably break. I was once labelled a misogynist on this very site in a twenty paragraph-long rant for daring to speak ill of the Twilight franchise. I stand by what I said, it's crap.
