Every year is full of blockbusters, historical cinematic achievements, box office flops, and newly crowned cult classics. There are always bound to be a few to sneak by you even if you find youself at the theater more often than most. In the midst of the mayhem of theatrical releases, there are films you subconsciously pick out of the bunch that you anticipate or may have really high hopes for. While some may live up to their reputation, a good portion are never really as good as a person in the know lets on. These are what are otherwise known as "huge disappointments."
10. Bridesmaids (REVIEW)
I didn't hate Bridesmaids, but at the same time I didn't think it was quite as raunchy, hilarious, or as groundbreaking as many let on. It pretty much felt like every other Judd Apatow comedy out there; a mold nearly every R-rated comedy is trying to follow these days. It had its moments and I'm happy for its success, but it just didn't speak to me the way it did to everyone else.
9. Your Highness (REVIEW)
My expectations were probably a bit higher for this one than most because I absolutely adored Pineapple Express. Your Highness is...nothing like it. While I'm sure I gave the movie a higher rating than most other critics did, it came up incredibly short of even coming close to the greatness of Pineapple Express or even a passable form of entertainment.
8. Insidious (REVIEW)
I wasn't a big fan of this one anyway, but the film made an insane amount of money and is even the most profitable film of the year. Blatantly labeled as "the scariest film since The Exorcist," Insidious was nothing but a string of jump-out scares and extremely loud music cues that came off as more bark than bite.
7. The Ward
John Carpenter's first film in nearly ten years had to be good, right? Ehhhh, not so much. It's not that The Ward is downright terrible, but it's not up to Carpenter's usual standards and falls victim to the typical and expected cliché horror movie tricks.
6. Sucker Punch (REVIEW)
It's a shame when your expectations do actually fall in line with a movie after just seeing a trailer or two. Sucker Punch felt like an extended music video and seemed to cater to fanboys; girls in Catholic uniforms kicking ass, explosions, robots, and giant samurai using swords and guns. That's exactly what you received too with a twist similar to the one in High Tension. It's not so much the fact that people went into this with high expectations, but this was done by the guy who's doing the new Superman film and if Sucker Punch is anything to fall back on then we have a lot to worry about.
5. Unknown (REVIEW)
This was one of those films with a semi-intriguing concept, but resulted in one of the lamest explanations someone could come up with since Orphan. Unknown played out like a sequel to Taken, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they weren't already developing one. Now Taken II is just going to feel even more unnecessary.
4. Battle: Los Angeles (REVIEW)
Speaking as a huge fan of District 9, I was really looking forward to this one. Potentially awesome and failing in every way, Battle: Los Angeles just reminded you of alien invasion films that were done better and that's never a good thing.
3. The Green Hornet (REVIEW)
I loved this movie the first time I saw it. I laughed at the jokes; I loved Christoph Waltz as the villain, and just had a hell of a lot of fun with it. The second time through though was absolute torture. It was like a completely different movie. What in the world did I watch the first time? Did somebody slip me something on the way in? Either way, the film will more than likely be as relevant as Edward Furlong's short-lived role in the film and end just as violently.
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (review coming in January)
I was anticipating this one big time. An intelligent spy thriller starring the likes of Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, and Mark Strong? This should've been epic, but it wasn't. It felt twice as long as the original six hour miniseries and was mostly uneventful. There was a lot of buzz around Oldman's performance and talk of him being nominated for an Oscar, but he's been better in just about any other film that comes to mind. I don't normally fall asleep in the theater, but I had to fight to stay awake for this one.
1. Ong Bak 3
The original Ong Bak film is extraordinary while the second did feature some incredible fight sequences. The third one is just very bland in comparison as Tony Jaa spends nearly the entire film recuperating and training as the villain of the film seems to rip off The Crow with no remorse. The first two movies only used CG effects when they seemed absolutely necessary while the third one seems to rely on them as a crutch.
Comments