Movies can be a big deal, especially if you get all hyped for them. But every now and then, that excitement was misplaced – and your review ends up being nothing more like, “It was alright.” Yikes!
To save you from more letdown, we rounded up 12 movies that disappointed viewers by just being okay. Because let’s face it: a mediocre movie is 2-3 hours of your life you can never get back!
1. The Monuments Men
It was easy to get excited about The Monuments Men when it came out, considering who starred in it. With actors including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, and John Goodman in a gritty World War II setting, our expectations were set pretty high.
After all that, though, it was still pretty average. Maybe Clooney is a better actor than a director.
Moviegoers agree, with one saying, “That cast and somehow it was still just okay.”
2. Glass
If you missed it (I know I did), Glass was a superhero film by M. Night Shyamalan and starring beloved action stars Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. So what happened? Well, Glass is the third film in the Unbreakable Trilogy and is almost universally regarded as the worst of the three. It served its purpose of wrapping up some loose ends, but that’s about it.
“Glass was okay, but nothing special,” someone commented. Another replied with, “It felt like a movie made for TV or streaming.”
3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fans of Harry Potter were really looking forward to this next film series. Leading up to the release, it seemed we’d get another chance to spend time in that magical world, but sadly Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was pretty average. And the sequels? Well, a lot of Harry Potter fans consider them to be downright bad.
“Was so underwhelmed,” one Harry Potter fan said of the first Fantastic Beasts film. Other fans were less kind. “The second one is so bad it made me like the first one less,” someone else said.
4. Cowboys and Aliens
With a name like that, how can it not be great? Sadly Cowboys and Aliens seemed to take itself way too seriously, which in turn ruined what could have been an epic blockbuster movie.
This comment pretty much sums it up: “I think it was boring, and boring is bad.”
5. Ender’s Game
When Ender’s Game was announced as a movie, any fans of the books (myself included) knew it was going to be a challenge to depict on the big screen. Unfortunately for fans and sci-fi lovers, they didn’t rise to the challenge, and the Ender’s Game movie wound up being decidedly mediocre.
“Hey, at least the battle room LOOKED cool?” one fan replied, noting one of the only parts of the movie that did the book justice.
6. Elysium
Another movie with a great cast, Elysium‘s trailers showed a super cool dystopian sci-fi action film. The final product, though, was anything but remarkable – especially for sci-fi fans. Tired and trope-heavy, Elysium did a great job of world-building and a terrible job of telling a story. Such a shame, too.
“Elysium looked like the coolest movie anybody could possibly make. Aggressively mid,” one commenter said, and hundreds of folks agreed.
7. Iron Man 2
I’m personally a huge fan of the MCU and totally agree with this one. Iron Man 2 was pretty lacking, especially compared to the first movie.
“I thought it was going to be amazing like the first one,” one fan complained.
8. Murder on the Orient Express
This is another film that could have been so much more. While it wasn’t the first time this Hercule Poirot detective story has made it to the screen, it was a chance to revitalize it for another generation. If you didn’t already know the twist, it was a fun movie but nothing amazing compared to what it could have been.
“It had such a great cast, and it was… Ok?” the person who suggested this movie said.
9. The Revenant
This one might be a bit controversial, especially since it’s what finally gave Leo his Oscar. But that’s precisely why The Revenant was so disappointing when moviegoers found it to be just okay. Leo’s performance was great, but the movie didn’t compare to some of his other (non-Oscar-winning) films.
Some critics also found the movie boring, with one saying, “Beautifully shot movie that’s about as interesting as a cinderblock.”
10. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
EuropaCorp.
The Fifth Element is one of my favorite movies of all time, so when I found out Luc Besson was self-funding this 2017 sci-fi film, I was pretty excited. It definitely isn’t bad, and I certainly enjoyed Valerian, but it wasn’t nearly as special as some of Besson’s other iconic films.
I wasn’t alone in this feeling, either. “Had high hopes for that one,” someone said. So did I…
11. World War Z
A lot of people think World War Z would have been better off as a TV series, and I agree. It had plenty of potential to be cool, but sadly the movie didn’t come anywhere close to being as good as the book.
Fans of World War Z described it best, saying, “The book was really unique. The movie was just another zombie flick.”
12. Ready Player One
After reading Ready Player One, I couldn’t help but think that it felt like it was supposed to be a movie. I also knew that licensing would have been a nightmare with all those references – and that certainly seemed to be the case.
Personally, I felt the books overdid the references, but fans argued that they’re core to the story. By leaving so many out, it fell short of their expectations and went from nostalgic to just okay.
Maybe a movie wasn’t the best choice? One fan had a great suggestion: “Part of me hopes maybe someone will re-make it as a 10-part streaming series.”
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