Taron Egerton in the rather forgettable Robin Hood movie.
Taron Egerton in the rather forgettable Robin Hood movie.
At the start of the year movie critics around the world started sharpening their claws.
They waited, with pens poised, ready to tear dodgy films to shreds. Luckily for them, the year provided no shortage of flops and they had a field day with their scathing reviews.
Here are the moviesthat copped an absolute battering from the critics in 2018.
The latest version of the classic tale actually has a pretty decent cast, including Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn and even Tim Minchin.
But unlike Robin's arrows, this movie totally missed the mark. Here are some of the things critics said:
Chicago Sun-Times — Richard Roeper:
"From the often anachronistic (and terribly unfunny) dialogue to the insanely over-the-top pyrotechnics to the uneasy blending of practical effects and CGI to the unfortunately overwrought performances to the unintentionally funny plot twists, Robin Hood has all the ingredients of a serious contender for Worst Movie of the Year."
"This bloated, featureless, CGI-heavy movie is not so much stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, as stealing from Guy Ritchie, Batman, Two-Face and a few others — and not giving back all that much to the audience."
GOTTI
Crime boss John Gotti, who rose to become the head of the Gambino Crime Family in New York City, will be remembered for doing bad things. Gotti the movie will be remembered for simply being bad, really bad.
John Travolta plays the infamous mobster in the movie which has a zero per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes. That's quite a feat.
Here's what some critics had to say:
Rolling Stone — Peter Travers:
"Starring in this mobster biopic that deserves to get whacked is an offer Travolta should have refused. Insane testimonials from Gotti supporters at the end are as close as this s**tshow will ever get to good reviews."
New York Times — Glenn Kenny:
"That the long-gestating crime drama Gotti is a dismal mess comes as no surprise. What does shock is just how multifaceted a dismal mess it is."
FATHER OF THE YEAR
This Netflix movie, which was made by Adam Sandler's production company, stars David Spade as a bogan dad who picks a fight with another dad in order to impress his son.
But like most of Sandler's work of late, the critics didn't find it very funny and it also has a zero per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"A throwaway movie, and an utter waste of time, another make-work project for Sandler's less and less funny stable of pals."
Consequence of Sound — Blake Goble:
"Remember when David Spade was on the razor's edge of comedy? 'Look children, it's a falling star, make a wish' he once snarkily suggested of Eddie Murphy's career in the '90s. Ironic, isn't it? Spade once cracked this great line, and now look at him, opening a Netflix throwaway comedy by crawling out from underneath a trailer while holding a leaf-crusted mattress. The joke? He's poor. Haw."
VENOM
"One of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters takes centre stage as Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) becomes the host for the alien symbiote, Venom," the film's synopsis said.
But the Marvel movie wasn't exactly Marvel-lous (it was about as good as that pun) with critics calling it the worst Marvel movie made so far.
Silver Screen Riot — Matt Oakes:
"An aimless, awful embarrassment for everyone involved, Venom imagines a world where a dopey Peter Parker-type was instead bitten by a radioactive turd."
Boston Globe — Ty Burr:
"The chief problem with Venom is that it never settles on a tone. Is it comedy? Horror? Romance? Drama? Why not try all of them at once?"
PEPPERMINT
Jennifer Garner seems like one of the nicest people on Earth which is why it's so disappointing that Peppermint was torn to shreds by critics.
In the movie she plays a vigilante hellbent on exacting revenge on the people responsible for killing her husband and child. It's kinda like a female version of Taken.
But the film was panned with one critic even labelling it "gun porn".
Rolling Stone — Peter Travers:
"Anything Liam Neeson can do, Jennifer Garner can do better. Ha! Not in this hilariously awful, insanely hard-to-swallow action thriller from Taken director Pierre Morel. No one gets taken here, except audiences."
San Diego Reader — Scott Marks:
"There must not have been enough zeros on the alimony cheque; why else would Garner agree to lend her name to what is essentially gun porn?"
Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks and Maya Rudolph are three of the funniest women in the world, but not even their comedic talents could breathe life into this film.
According to the synopsis, The Happytime Murders is "a filthy comedy set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist.
"Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show."
Critics certainly agreed with the "filthy" comment, but not so much the "comedy" bit.
Rolling Stone — Peter Travers:
"A few critics are calling it the worst movie of the year. Unfair! This R-rated look at a serial killer running wild in a puppet-populated LA, has what it takes to be a contender for worst of the decade."
"Hardcore puppet sex and four-letter words that would make Big Bird blush sound like a googly-eyed good time until you're faced with 90 unfunny minutes of it."
DARK CRIMES
Jim Carrey puts on a Polish accent and plays a detective in this dark film which premiered at the Warsaw Film Festival in 2016.
It wasn't actually released around the rest of the world until this year and according to the majority of critics, it certainly wasn't worth the wait. Jim Carrey has proven that he can pull off dramatic roles with Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Truman Show, but this one totally missed the mark.
New York Post — Johnny Oleksinski
"That this exercise in vulgarity was made at all is shameful."
