With 2017 coming to an end, it’s time to recap some of the worst movies of the year. The staff came together and collaborated on this list that highlights the worst of the worst that dropped this year.
5. The Mummy
The Mummy is likely to be a topic of discussion in film schools across the world for the foreseeable future, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The film is now the quintessential example of putting the cart before the horse. The Tom Cruise-driven vehicle was supposed to launch what was referred to as The Dark Universe. Which would focus on the classic monsters in Universals library in a way that wasn’t too much different from the way Marvel handles the MCU. Interconnected stories that would eventually lead to a team-up of sorts. Unfortunately, Universal got too caught up trying to be the next big thing and forgot that in order to have a successful universe, you need to launch it with a good movie. As of now, the prospects for The Dark Universe look extremely bleak, but hopefully if Universal decides to give this another go in the future they can look back at The Mummy as a shining example of what not to do.
4. Ghost In The Shell
Where to begin with this unmitigated disaster? One of the year’s biggest bombs, it displayed some of the most heinous whitewashing in recent memory and made a mockery of its venerated source material. It’s like an opposite to Get Out and even more so when going into the deeper plot which this one botches spectacularly. Add to that the utter ineptitude and downright disinterest that pervade at every level, and you’ve got something truly deplorable that reflects very, very badly on all involved.
3. Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets
Valerian was supposed to be a launching pad for a new mega-franchise. Instead, it ended up becoming one of the most disappointing films in recent memory. The $200 million-plus film was heavily criticized for its casting and story. Which is extremely ironic seeing as the film was based on a comic that has over 50 years of source material to choose from.
2. Bright
This makes it two straight movies with David Ayer and Will Smith that can be thrown straight into the trash (suicide squad was the other). You know your movie is bad when even before its release, people are claiming it is the worst movie of the year. Despite having all the intentions of being a movie set out to illustrate the racial construct of society (except with Orcs, elves, and magic), the buddy cop movie fails to please even the people who would have just came for the action scenes. The only reason this movie isn’t the worst movie of the year is because of the occasional Will Smith one-liner, but that can be said about a lot of his recent movies. Like Will… you’ve even got Chance The Rapper talking about it now.
Wondering how you guys are feeling about the lynched ork in #Brightmovie
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017
I found the way they tried to illustrate americas racism through the mythical creatures to be a little shallow. #Brightmovie
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017
I always feel a lil cheated when I see allegorical racism in movies cause that racism usually stems from human emotion or tolerance but not by law or systems the way it is in real life. The characters in #Bright live in a timeline where racism is gone… cause we hate ork now ?
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017
I tried to look at it that way but a few minutes into the movie they make wills character say “Fairy Lives don’t Matter” https://t.co/j721N38cdR
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017
1. The Emoji Movie
‘The Emoji Movie’ is essentially the longest commercial ever created. During the course of the film, there are segments that feature Spotify as well as Candy Crush Saga all with the excuse that the film is taking place on your phone. This film took all the plays from the Michael Bay playbook and somehow managed to up the anty. In that respect, The Emoji Movie was truly a late capitalism revelation.
