Top Ten Worst Films of 2015

20th Century Fox

       Bad movies are their own genre. A film can be bad because the principle talent is amateurish, or because it tries to please everyone and so pleases no one. It can be racist, sexist, or just plain lazy with its humor. Sadly, none of the films on this list are bad in a fun, expository way, but because they are mismanaged studio blunders of the highest caliber. Here are the worst films released this year that I personally saw.

Tomorrowland

For the bulk of this film the ideas expressed and the action onscreen made for an exciting and entertaining family film. The ideas that carried most of this film were magical thanks to this film’s premise being based off of a ride at the Disney Parks. Adding an element of suspense and thrill kept the tension up for most of the film, and it didn’t hurt that George Clooney commanded the screen. Unfortunately the plot became a jumbled mess in the last quarter of the film, and it was too out of order and complicated for its own good. I left the theater with more questions about the plot than anything else.

Jurassic World

It’s probably not a popular opinion that this film was awful. It broke box office records and has made Chris Pratt an even bigger movie star than he already was. In reality the best parts of this film were in rehashing of the first film, “Jurassic Park.” The characters were so bland that I wanted to pour salt on them for some flavor. While some of the dinosaurs were cool, and there were some inventive ideas, this was a film so clouded with illogical and boring humans. I just wanted the dinosaurs to win out. Everyone I saw it with agreed the best character was the final raptor, because they were the only one to show any character development.

Terminator: Genisys

It’s really unclear why people believed that this film should be made. Maybe it was because the Terminator legacy has been so thoroughly damaged in recent years with the last two films, or maybe because Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to give it another go. Like any new franchisee this film only made me want to watch the first again, as it directly references the first film with exact reshoots. The main characters are re-cast and the timeline is completely altered which is really iffy in practice. Sarah Conner continues to be the true badass we all expect, but there’s nothing new or genuinely interesting about this re-tread.

6 Years

This was one of the worst indie films I saw from this year. The characters are mostly bland, inarticulate messes. They act like coddled babies with their bottles firmly in hand. Between the unmotivated violence, the hammy acting, and the yawningly bad plot, there’s not much to take away from this film. If anyone saw their friends in these characters, those friends need to be excised from the social strata immediately.

Black Mass

Johnny Depp has been accepting tons of accolades for putting in creepy cat-like contacts and full-face makeup for his role as Whitey Bulger. While he is unrecognizable as his iconic self he also doesn’t look very human for the most part. His supporting cast is full of overblown Boston accents and a slow chugging plot, strange since the time jumps sometimes span a decade or more. If anything it will make you want to watch much better films like “The Departed,” which know how to balance bigger than life characters with true to life performances.

The Lazarus Effect

There’s really nothing to this jump scare ridden demonic possession film. Though the premise sounds reasonably interesting this film is as formulaic and unoriginal as any other horror film of this year. The ending is boring, the characters range from forgettable to bland. The mystery surrounding our main character’s trauma seems like it’s leading to something bigger but it doesn’t. There aren’t even any fun kills or mesmerizing visuals, strange for a horror movie about demons and hellfire.

Fantastic Four

Many might disagree but I believe that a bit of goofiness can make a superhero film better. Like modern Superman, which got bogged down in its own drama and then stagnated, “Fantastic Four” was wonky. It felt either too short or too long, had actors far too young to encapsulate the original characters, and a dead in the water villain who shows up in the last twenty minutes. There was nothing fun about this film, and it definitely doesn’t stand on its own. It’s unclear whether this will get a sequel, but I think I speak for everyone when I say there will be no bated breaths for its release.

Cinderella

While there’s nothing especially horrible about this film, it bored me to tears. Live action fairy tales have emerged as a huge trend in recent years, and though I’m not ready to condemn them all, they better do something original or why make them? “Cinderella” actually adheres to the original fairy tale, including some of the more gruesome details, but otherwise it’s a fluffy, nothing kind of film that isn’t worth the time.

Home

Critics pretty much eviscerated this cuddly kids’ tale about a race of space aliens who take over Earth after escaping certain death. The plot was pretty complicated, there were way too many Rihanna songs added instead of original ones (distracting), and the plot worked around a road trip, which has been done to death. Though there were some interesting aspects of the film, in all there are just far better alternatives out this year, including “Inside Out.”

Ride

I commend Helen Hunt for writing and directing a movie she starred in, when there are few working female directors in the industry, and certainly not many taking on all those jobs at once. Maybe it was because she stretched herself too thin, or maybe nobody was there to fix all the oddities and annoyances of the script, but this film was weighted down and boring. The premise has been done in far better ways, the relationship between our two main characters kind of grossed me out, and the son is a whiney brat through and through. There’s nothing commendable or new in this tired film.