It seems every year I have this debate with myself whether or not to do a “worst of” list. Aren’t the worst films of any year best forgotten, ignored, never to be mentioned again? Well, yes and no. Let’s definitely forget them, but not forget the lessons they’ve taught us, lessons in what not to do, lessons of which 2014 was full of.
Now before you go digging into this list, clicking the reviews and wondering how something that received a “D+” review could make the list over something that received a “D-“, just understand grading movies isn’t a science and, for me, what makes something the “worst” is very similar to what makes something the “best”, it’s the legacy the film holds in my mind.
The films that made my “Top Ten Movies of 2014” are films I not only love, but films I hold fond memories for and would most likely want to watch again at this very moment. When it comes to this list of the worst movies of 2014, those that made the final top ten are movies I would prefer to do most anything other than watch them again, some of which are not only best forgotten, but were movies I actually had forgotten. What says “bad” more than a movie you’ve completely erased from your memory.
However, before we get to my worst of the worst, there are a few dishonorable mentions I feel must be mentioned…
Dishonorable Mentions
- Begin Again (read my review)
- Big Eyes
- Devil’s Knot* (read my review)
- Dracula Untold (read my review)
- Draft Day (read my review)
- Exodus: Gods and Kings (read my review)
- Filth (read my review)
- Herculues (read my review)
- The Immigrant* (read my review)
- Into the Storm (read my review)
- Need for Speed (read my review)
- That Awkward Moment (read my review)
- Unbroken (read my review)
- Winter’s Tale (read my review)
* Was included on last year’s list also.
The one film on that list that almost made this top ten was Angelina Jolie‘s Unbroken. At one point I had it at #10 and at another point it sat at #5, but I couldn’t come to a complete understanding of just how much I felt it was a bad movie for its poor filmmaking and treatment of Louis Zamperini’s story and just how much it was a disappointment. Since I will be publishing a list of my top ten disappointments of 2014 I felt it was best left for that list, rather than attempt to rationalize its placement here.
That said, what follows are what I consider to be the ten worst films of 2014. Keep in mind there are, as there always will be, some films I never saw. Films such as I, Frankenstein, A Haunted House 2, Ouija, The Legend of Hercules, Devil’s Due or Left Behind. Perhaps those will make your list and I can’t wait to read those in the comments, but first, here’s my top (or is it bottom?) ten worst movies of 2014.
#10
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
DIR. Kenneth Branagh
Chris Pine attempted to follow in the footsteps of Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, playing the title star in the D.O.A. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and when the star of your movie is offering up a bit of a backhand you know things didn’t go right. Speaking with Moviefone, Pine said, “No, I don’t think it made enough money for [a sequel] to happen. That’s one of my deep regrets, that we didn’t totally get that right.”
“We didn’t totally get that right” is a bit of an understatement given the “by the numbers” presentation of this flick with its stereotypical villain, generic romantic angle and use of computers to solve any and all problems. It’s hard to say they weren’t trying with this movie, because they were clearly trying to make something that didn’t take any risks. The big question is to wonder what they felt was so compelling about the story to begin with? What did they think was different? What did they think made this story worthwhile?
REVIEW SNIPPET:
Screenwriters Adam Cozad and David Koepp have managed to turn Tom Clancy‘s most cherished character into nothing more than a piece of airport fiction in a film that reintroduces Jack Ryan in a story we’ve seen many times before, only the faces have changed. Once again a disgruntled foreign villain (with a random handicap of course) has a grudge against America, that stems all the way back to his childhood, and is determined to carry off an act of terrorism in the U.S. which we’re told would send us into a “second Great Depression”. I know what you’re thinking, Can anyone stop him? Yes. The guy whose name is in the title of the film can stop him and does stop him. No, that’s not a spoiler, and look, he uses a computer and a phone to do it!
Read my full review here.
