We’ve all experienced it: you see a movie trailer, think the advertised film is going to be *EVERYTHING* and more… but wind up walking out of the theater disappointed because you just wasted your money on a pretty crappy movie. The biggest shame is that the flick had all the potential to be a phenomenal film but squandered it. It could’ve been poor casting, a rushed production schedule, or issues in post-production, but something ruined a pretty solid premise.
Every film on this list had a story that would’ve been worth watching but was executed so poorly that it makes us wonder what these directors were even thinking giving that to the world. Whether it was a movie in a popular franchise, a stand-alone horror flick, a remake or an original, movies of all types and genres have disappointed when it comes to putting a great premise on the big screen.
We’ve all experienced it: you see a movie trailer, think the advertised film is going to be *EVERYTHING* and more… but wind up walking out of the theater disappointed because you just wasted your money on a pretty crappy movie. The biggest shame is that the flick had all the potential to be a phenomenal film but squandered it. It could’ve been poor casting, a rushed production schedule, or issues in post-production, but something ruined a pretty solid premise.
Every film on this list had a story that would’ve been worth watching but was executed so poorly that it makes us wonder what these directors were even thinking giving that to the world. Whether it was a movie in a popular franchise, a stand-alone horror flick, a remake or an original, movies of all types and genres have disappointed when it comes to putting a great premise on the big screen.
14. The 5th wave
Aliens are coming. One teenager does her best to survive the waves of the alien invasion that has already crippled the population and taken her brother from her. The development of this story could have been great, but this movie seems to be boring and overtaken by another teen love triangle we’ve seen so many times. Spending more time on the actual story – as opposed to the romance – would have helped this multi-genre action film stand apart from other dystopian films we’ve gotten so used to. This movie took a brilliant plot and destroyed it.
13. The Purge
The now-iconic story of a 12-hour nation-wide crime spree took the U.S by storm because the idea was so interesting. Government-sanctioned murder and looting? Unfortunately, the first film fell flat when it came to bringing that idea to the screen.
There are so many other ways that the writers and director could have taken this movie that didn’t involve one family being locked inside of their house for the whole 12 hours fighting for their lives. One location is cheaper, but it can only be so interesting. The movie felt repetitive and boring after the first 45 minutes. The movie itself needs help but unfortunately, in this purge, the police couldn’t be called.
12. The Happening
With M. Night Shyamalan at the helm, this thriller should’ve been good. The premise follows a family on the run after a toxin attacks the US and causes people to commit suicide in mass. The plot of this movie had the chance to be pretty intriguing but sadly the movie doesn’t live up to the hype. With a messy screenplay, unfunny moments, and no climax, people left the theaters disappointed. Though it was successful in the box office, it was panned by critics and holds a pretty awful 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
11. Krampus
We always hear about the good that happens on Christmas, but we almost never hear about the bad making Krampus a welcome change. But while this movie was supposed to be a horror, it found itself in the “so bad it’s funny” category. Krampus, surprisingly, has a great plot and tells a story about what happens when you’re a non-believer in the holiday spirit.
Unfortunately, this horror movie was not executed properly and resulted in a ridiculous hour and a half of boring and wasted time. With a goal to punish non-believers, the slow-moving dialogue and horribly unrealistic ending resulted in most watchers either falling asleep in the theater or walking out.
10. World War Z
World War Z created a new way to think about the undead. While this movie wasn’t particularly bad, it didn’t blow us away like we thought it would. Brad Pitt takes on the role of a United Nations employee who is in a race against time to stop the pandemic that is killing mankind by the second.
The director tried to pack too much into one movie which resulted in major holes in the storytelling and poor character development. The first mistake was categorizing it as a horror. It is fast moving, and it does keep us interested, but just doesn’t give viewers enough to feel satisfied by the end. This movie had the chance to bring us something new to the zombie genre, instead it fell flat.
9. Tomorrowland
The Britt Robertson curse strikes again. This Disney science fiction-meets-fantasy film had a promising cast (George Clooney and Hugh Laurie, to name a few) and even more promising storyline about an alternate universe, “Tomorrowland,” where actions there can directly influence the doomed earth the characters want to save. In the almost two hours that were spent watching this movie, we expected to be transported to a world with new and exciting technologies, yet very little time is spent in the titular universe. The director tried to pack too much into one movie and skimmed over some of the most important parts of this plot. For example, why was Tomorrowland created? How was it created? We never really know the story behind this place – which is confusing, considering that’s what the movie is supposed to be about.
8. Fifty Shades of Grey Series
As many know, the Fifty Shades of Grey series is based on a book trilogy written by E.L James. Some hated the books, but fans were excited to see what bringing the raunchy tale to life on-screen would look like. Even those people were left disappointed. Maybe it had to do with the absolutely awful chemistry between Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson – who likely detest one another – or at least that’s what it seems. It also could’ve been that the studio rushed production, realizing that the Fifty Shades fandom probably wouldn’t say hip long enough to draw out the flicks’ releases.
7. Acrimony
When we heard that Taraji P. Henson was going to be featured in a film as a wife who had enough of her cheating husband and was seeking revenge, we all were excited to see how it would go down.
Yet many viewers felt like their time and money was wasted on this movie and Henson’s talent was wasted as well. The trailer shows a story full of intrigue and vengeance and eludes to a twist that will explain a secret reason why Henson’s character is extra angry. Instead, the movie has no surprise, no twists, and nothing to keep us interested.
6. Pitch Perfect 3
The Pitch Perfect series should’ve gone out with a bang. It was supposed to be a celebration of the Barden Bellas, with none of those extraneous Treblemakers to distract them – or the audience. But instead, this movie seemed like an encore that no one wanted and – quite frankly – screwed with the legacy the Acappella-centric films were supposed to leave. The Bellas fight for DJ Khaled’s attention to receive a spot on his tour. Yes, DJ Khaled, of all people!
The first movie had many excited for the next one, and though the sequel wasn’t at quite the same level as the first (few sequels are), it wasn’t completely awful. Sadly, the cheesy dialogue and the unneeded Hollywood effects of PP3 left us bored and wondering why we were even watching.
5. The Cloverfield Paradox
The third and final Cloverfield movie was one that many were hoping to enjoy. As with Pitch Perfect, viewers had high expectations of leaving the series on good terms. But it was disappointing AF. Hyped up during the Super Bowl, this movie premiered on Netflix and had very little to intrigue viewers with. Hovering above the Earth, scientists are sent into space to test a new device that could end the energy crisis and save the world. Instead, they run into a little problem involving possibly opening up a portal to another dimension, and all the horrors that lie within.
Could’ve been a cool movie, right? With a promising cast, this movie, unfortunately, dropped the ball when it comes to clear storytelling and many viewers were left wondering WTF was even happening. Paradox was expected to be as great as its predecessors Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, but the boring dialogue and not-so-unexpected events made this movie run off the rails from the start.
4. In Time
In Time, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried creates a new mystery of what the world could be if people stayed young forever. In a world where your time to live is a currency, one man must fight to bring down this system. You know the phrase “time is money”? Well, this movie takes it literally – which enables the wealthy to live forever and leaves the poor to fight for another day.
Cool, right? Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, the premise is better than the manifestation. This movie is so jam-packed with ideas that it struggles to find focus. Not going to lie, the dialogue isn’t very good, either.
3. Winchester
There’s no question that the real-life Winchester mansion has a lot of potential for a creepy movie worth paying $15 to see. But Winchester took that potential and did almost nothing with it. Taking place in the Winchester mansion in 1906, after her husband and child die, Sarah Winchester believes she’s cursed since her fortune comes from Winchester firearms, her husband’s company. People killed by that brand of weaponry come back to haunt her – or at least that’s what she believes.
The movie was doing so well until the end. A great plot and a great cast all culminate in a disappointing end full of bad special effects. With a little more focus on the story and less on the jump scares and special effects, this could have been an A+.
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction
This is one of those story premises that should’ve been a standalone film as opposed to associated with a huge movie franchise. The first Transformers was good, but pretty much every one after it should’ve never been. The story revolved around an alien species that wiped out the dinosaurs, and inadvertantly left some of their technology on Earth in the process to be discovered 65 million years later by a geologist. But then that technology is being the Transformers, and the movie was notriously put together pretty poorly. Bad directing, writing, product placement, acting and more may’ve had something to do with its 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
1. A Wrinkle in Time
In a world where you could wrinkle time itself to travel across unseen places, you would think this would be the best movie of the year, especially because it was based on a fan-favorite book. The story is centered around Meg Murry, a gifted middle schooler who is introduced to three celestial guides who appear to help her and her brother find out if their father is still alive. With a powerhouse cast (Reese Witherspoon! Mindy Kaling! OPRAH!) and a truly amazing story that’s withstood the test of time for decades, this movie was very promising for people of all ages.
But there was CGI overload and slow story development that lead to it being a bit of a snoozefest – albeit a pretty visually stunning one. It seems that as the story rolls on, the movie gets worse. This is just another example of why some stories should stay on the pages rather than on the big screen.