3. The Rider - The Dark Is Rising (2007)
The Dark Is Rising (also titled The Seeker in some parts of the world) sets around the story of a young boy who finds out that - through his unexpected magical abilities - he's destined to save the world. Based on a series of novels by Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising makes absolutely no attempt to tell a proper, fully-formed story and wastes every single member of its cast in the process, including our man Christopher Eccleston. You know those movies where you just spent the entire time listening to characters explain the plot? That's what happens here. Oh, no. A movie that wanted to do something along the lines of Harry Potter and failed every step of the way. It's probably only fair to say that Christopher Eccleston's performance is one of the best things in this movie, but when you sit down to watch it you'll realise that this doesn't really work as a compliment - he only seems partly invested in the story, walking that fine line between "trying to care" and "definitely phoning it in." The worst thing about his turn here is that he's supposed to be scary, but fails entirely to generate any fear.