#6
Dumb and Dumber To
DIRS. Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly
Another comedy misfire, this one running into the problem of trying to recapture the same magic that made the first film a success. Problem is, that first film was merely trying to capture magic, not mimic what had come before. The imagination felt lost and the entire production felt uninspired.
REVIEW SNIPPET:
Dumb and Dumber To more or less plays like a remake of the first film, but instead of getting a couple guys in their 30s to play the lightning-in-a-bottle roles, they thought it would be funny to get a couple guys in their 50s. It just so happens the guys they got were the same guys that starred in the first film, and both Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels seem entirely uncomfortable as the inseparable idiot pairing, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two characters that seemed to come so naturally 20 years ago and now they feel like forced caricatures.
Read my full review here.
#5
The Purge: Anarchy
DIR. James DeMonaco
Redundant, uninspired, unimaginative… common words and a common theme for this list and The Purge: Anarchy can’t escape their grasp. There was an opportunity here to make something truly interesting. Something that would have even elevated the lackluster original movie, but the problem arises when the intent is to make something focusing on ridiculous violence rather than the characters of the piece. The first film left us with a city slathered in bloodshed, but instead of focusing on the aftermath of “The Purge” we get just another Purge, all of which makes me want to… you get the point.
REVIEW SNIPPET:
Sorry, watching people run for their lives in a world with no consequences doesn’t interest me. Especially when the premise essentially sells me on a world heading toward that of The Road Warrior only to be told it reverts back to some sort of utopia once the Purge comes to an end. I hate to put it so bluntly, but it’s stupid and the level of thought put into it is minimal at best.
Read my full review here.
#4
Divergent
DIR. Neil Burger
It amazes me how something as fun and different as Beautiful Creatures can be entirely ignored and something as purely awful as Divergent can have a sequel greenlit and planned for release less than a year after the first hits theaters. Divergent is no better than The Mortal Instruments was and Mortal Instruments was an abomination, but even that film I would have rather seen what happens next than seeing anything more from the world of Divergent, a movie that makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever, even within the confines of the narrative that’s created. In fact, it’s making me mad just thinking about it…
REVIEW SNIPPET:
I’m sure Divergent will end up being a success and pop culture will glom onto that success and each new film will be bigger than the last, but if movies of this quality are all we have to offer the young adult, target audience then there is little else we can do but sigh and pretend it never even happened.
Read my full review here.
