I've tried to see as many as I could and 2014 has been a real mixed bag for films. We’ve seen some instant classics that really shone above the rest and we’ve seen some absolute train wrecks that we’d rather forget.
Here’s my list of the top ten worst movies of 2014…
Or is it the bottom ten?
Either way, if there was an academy award for worst picture of 2014 then these would be my choices.
10. Earth To Echo
Coming in at number ten is ’Earth To Echo’.
It tries so hard to be this generations classic kids movie that it ends up falling flat on it’s face.
The kids in this movie don’t talk or act like real kids, more just a rip off of other characters from other kids films. It doesn’t feel real. When you watch a film like ‘Stand By Me' the relationships between the kids are so genuine and believable that you can’t help but get drawn into the plot.
The film concentrates too much on making the little alien robot “cute” that they forget that something being cute doesn’t constitute an emotional connection, you end up not even caring about it.
Disappointing and slightly dull if I'm honest...
9. Sex Tape
Scraping the barrel with Cameron Diaz on the slump her career, we get a generic and unnecessary attempt at a comedy. Watch as Cameron Diaz desperately tries to cling onto the “20-something" sex appeal she once had as her sex tape with Jason Segel is leaked in their small neighbourhood.
What probably started out as a funny sketch idea is stretched out into an hour and a half feature length movie that feels more like two and a half hours.
When the jokes drag on so long that even the character in the movie loses his erection then you know that the audience probably will have lost interest too…
8. Godzilla
‘Godzilla’ looked fantastic in the trailer but ultimately let me down.
They kill off their most interesting and developed character in the entire movie in the first act... This then means you’re left with a dull, boring and less interesting character that you have to put up with for the remainder of the film.
They show too much too soon which means that all the tension they try and create later on is deflated because they've already shown all of their cards.
It’s hard not to compare it to ‘Pacific Rim’ but it’s inevitable. ‘Pacific Rim’ just does a better job all round.
‘Godzilla’ ends up being just another disappointing reboot to throw in the discount bin.
7. The Amazing Spider-man 2
It’s no secret that I’m not a huge superhero movie fan but I was hoping for the best with ‘The Amazing Spider-man 2’. Unfortunately, I was in for a 142 minute disaster that left me bored and confused.
There is so much being crammed into the film that it becomes an absolute mess. There are two major villains in the film (including a small 3rd villain) and that throws the pacing of the story so off balance that you end up with a mash up of the two with a terrible rushed ending.
Too much CGI makes the film look like a video game during the sequences that spider-man actually shows up. Characters had shallow motives and there were so many convenient plot devices that you’ll be left not caring about any of it.
I think Sony need to let go of the rights to this franchise that’s dying… again...
6. Frozen
This is probably a controversial choice but I genuinely do believe this to be the most over-rated movie of the entire year.
I think that if you took out “Let it go” from the film then it wouldn't be nearly as popular.
Plot holes a plenty in this bland and forgettable Disney film that is desperately trying to keep up with Pixar. It'll end up selling a fortune in soundtracks and toys…
Which is probably the main thought process behind it anyway.
5. Divergent
Tween movies are a genre of their own now thanks to the 'Twilight’ franchise and they’ve been churned out each year ever since, 'Divergent' is no different.
It’s an illogical film that is trying to capitalise on the success of ‘The Hunger Games’ (which is trying to capitalise on the success of 'Twilight').
As expected, we have a weak lead female that, of course, needs a man…
It features a boring and unnecessary love story that, if you took it out, you wouldn’t miss at all.
It features a boring and unnecessary love story that, if you took it out, you wouldn’t miss at all.
Just watch the 'Hunger Games' to save you the hassle of watching ‘Divergent’.
4. Grace of Monaco
There are only a select few films that I can actually bear to watch Nicole Kidman in and ‘Grace of Monaco’ was not one of them.
This biopic of Grace Kelly's life after acting was so lifeless and horrifically stale that I had to zone out and try to remember her roles in films like ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Dial M for Murder’.
The whole film was like watching a feature length perfume advert. Full of pretentious waffling and first world problems.
I very nearly walked out of the cinema… very nearly.
3. All is Lost
I thought I might be in for a treat with ‘All is Lost’, after all it had Robert Redford starring in a film about a sailor lost at sea, what’s not to like?
Unfortunately, what was delivered was a man on a leaky boat for a while... then he gets onto a life boat for a while... and then it ends.
There was no moral, no story, no character development, no nothing. It literally didn’t have a point. It was more a documentary on how to survive on a boat if you happen to bump into a shipping container at a slow pace.
The most pointless film of the year.
2. Interstellar
Soaring in at a close second is ‘Interstellar’.
Despite it’s promising concept and trailer, the film was my biggest disappointment of the year. It was a dumbed down version of ‘2001: a space odyssey’ that didn’t have any respect for the audiences intelligence.
It was too long and clunky with so many plot holes and shallow characters that it was a chore to sit through to the end.
The only saving grace was seeing it in IMAX, if I had seen it in a regular cinema I think I may have asked for my money back.
I’m pretty sure there will be outrage at ‘Interstellar’ being on this list. It’s hard to summarise everything that was wrong with it in such a short few paragraphs, I wrote a review of ‘Interstellar' that was by far my longest blog yet.
1. Maleficent
The worst film of the year award goes to ‘Maleficent'
Disney managed to take the most badass villain in their roster and make an absolute fool out of her.
The terrifying (and totally evil) devil incarnate that is Maleficent is now turned into a soppy and “misunderstood” fairy who actually loves Aurora from ’Sleeping Beauty'. She even turns out to be a hero in the end!
The way I remember Maleficent in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is her insanely scary speech - “Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel… and die!”.
In this tedious remake she doesn’t even condemn her to death, she says that she’ll prick her finger and sleep... It’s surprising that the 1959 cartoon goes further than the 2014 remake.
She doesn’t even turn into a dragon at the end!
Well done Disney. You've ruined another childhood memory.
Honourable mentions that didn’t quite make the list are:
Did you agree with my list?
Probably not...
2014 has been a pretty great year for films.
There are always going to be some bad apples in the bunch.
Here’s to a great year of films in 2015!
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