Fun fact: both last year and this year’s bottom ten lists have six films I went to see with positive expectations. Over half of both years’s most hated films were unexpected failures, with seven on this list having fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. These statistics emphasize how I rarely seek out “bad” films, choosing which pictures to see based on:
- Interest in subject
- High recommendation
- My wife wanting to see it (by far the most influential reason)
And yet 2015 has emphasized, more than either 2013 or 2014, how contrasting my opinions are to the critical majority—both positively and negatively. My thoughts on Cinderella, While We’re Young, Jurassic World, Ted 2, Pixels, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Hotel Transylvania 2, Sicario, Terminator Genisys (emphasis on those last two) Maggie, Kung Fu Panda 3 and several others (some on this list) have defied majority consensus. I certainly bet, however, there’s at least one film I mentioned that you too feel contrarily to the majority—or perhaps it’s a film I didn’t mention, or you’re opinions are less enthusiastic compared to others. The wonderful point I’m trying to make about film opinions, is you DON’T have to agree with the majority, nor feel ashamed when you don’t (or do, in some cases regarding the nonconformist mentality). Humans are like snowflakes—no two are alike—why should are opinions be any different.
On this list are the worst films I saw from 2015. These are solely my opinions, and if you liked or even loved one (or more) of these films, I don’t mean to disparage such thoughts. There is no “right” opinion, just a bunch of various viewpoints from various people.
The films are ordered numerically from 10th worst to the crème de a crap. Links are provided in each title to their respective review.
A hit and miss between off-putting vulgarity, crude humor, and a botched attempt at heart. I chuckled at a few jokes, I didn’t laugh at a lot more, and I nearly vomited during one particular scene (it involves sewage). The remake can be unnecessarily mean-spirited, and while it tries to have a similar warmth as the original, it ends up feeling more forced and artificial.
The more the film progressed, the more cliché and predictable it became; by the end (which yes takes place at the big dance) The Duff felt more a shallow blend of past high school films before it, even ending with the same morals (told through a big damn speech AND a concluding news article) about being yourself and having your own identity and not falling into social classes, ironically conforming to the same tropes of the past. The Duff is a poorly made high school film and I definitely hope Mae Whitman gets another chance at a starring role, hopefully in a film with better direction and less clichés.
Mall Cop 2 reuses most of the original’s jokes, with new comedic material being scarce to find. The film’s first two-thirds contain zero effective comedy. I didn’t laugh once, staring vacantly at a film desperately attempting to replicate the same comedic charm as before. The naturally likable Kevin James can be a very funny lead actor when placed under the right conditions and writers (i.e. The King of Queens, Paul Blart: Mall Cop), yet he’s regrettably been choosing the wrong films and wrong writers—with Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 a perfect example of such unfortunate talent wasted.
I hate the characters. One of the main reasons Jurassic Park worked so effectively was because I CARED for the characters; they were likable people who showcased actual emotions and acted the way I might act if placed in similar circumstances. Without compassion for your characters, Jurassic Park becomes no more than a goofy monster-survival flick, similar to Jurassic Park III—however, Jurassic World takes it one step lower my making me care more for the dinosaurs than the humans. At least in Jurassic Park III the vicious carnivores were just that, ruthless man-eaters—and while my empathy for the humans varied, I still wanted to see them escape over being eaten. Jurassic World officially destroyed the remaining amount of wonder, compassion and magic left in the series, and I don’t think I’ll be going to see its next sequel.
There’s a ton of lazily written race, gender, religion and appearance jokes throughout the film, most of them being painfully unfunny. The jokes feel more of shock value: puns told simply to jab at someone different. Most of the jokes come right out of nowhere, as if the writers wanted to fill up space with humor yet couldn’t think of anything witty or clever—so instead they went, “just make fun of Chloe being a ginger” or “let’s have her dating a Jew so we can make a rich Jew joke”. There was potential for this film: certain jokes are hilarious, there’s better satirizing, and returning characters work more effectively. Yet even such glimmer of potential couldn’t stop Pitch Perfect 2 from being an utter mess.
Half of the film’s stale and predictable, while the other half’s a mess. While We’re Young is a poorly made film, tackling two tales in one while failing to succeed in either. The film could be summarized as: middle aged couple starts hanging out with younger couple to feel young again, learns young people are “evil”, and begin accepting their age. The material in While We’re Young is overused and stale; the humor is incredibly soft on the punches, as well as being highly predictable. With a stale mess of a plot and a character worthy of bitter loathing, While We’re Young’s only success was making me leave the theater 12 bucks poorer and frustratingly annoyed.
I can thoroughly state The Danish Girl is the most bland, boring, and unengaging film I’ve seen from 2015! Stories that handle such controversial subjects should never be so tedious to watch. Transgender identification is a very hot-button issue, and when portrayed (regardless of good intentions) in such a dull and uninviting way it’s going to have the adverse effect of repelling indecisive people from the idea rather than appealing.
The Poltergeist remake is in every way (save for the clown explanation) inferior to the original film, in addition to most horror films of the 2010s. The characters are dull, the scares are dull, the plot is dull—dull, dull, DULL! There’s absolutely no reason for this film to exist, unless used as an example of what NOT to do when making a horror film, remake, or horror remake.
Focus is marketed as a romantic dark-comedy, and indeed romance plays a large part, ending on a note suggesting Jess and Nicky are back together…you know, after he used, manipulated, tormented, and brought her to tears on multiple occasions! Focus is a bad, bad film that wastes the talent of Will Smith and Margot Robbie (who deserves much better than this) on a backwards plot, disturbing romance and a heavy misogynistic tone.
This film is like watching kittens drown for two hours straight. I need a f@$%ing drink after watching Sicario—something heavy to make me forget such a grim, desolate and completely unoriginal film. I may have been intrigued by Sicario if I’d only seen 10 films in my life, but where it stands Sicario lacks any stimulating content—it’s bleak, boring and unbelievably cliché. How can a film with such a successful director be more predictable than Taken 3? Than The Expendables 3!? There’s little attempt at comedy, and the bits that exist feel drained and stale. The film is so obsessed with violence and death that it forgets significant character development. I hated most characters in various ways: some were monsters, others were assholes, wimps, idiots or a displeasing combination. The only characters I didn’t hate were the extras, and that’s because they didn’t do anything noteworthy—in summary I didn’t care for anyone. Sicario feels as if it was made to piss me off, and succeeds in doing so magnificently—hitting practically every one of my hot buttons.
