I’ve been amazed at how the 2013 movie year has been one of the most divisive in recent history. I know that every year has its share of movies that draw a variety of opinions. But it seems like this year there have been more movies that people have strong opinions on one way or another and the debates over them have been interesting to say the least. Well today I want to tap into some of those opinions. Many of us have expressed our favorite movies of the year so far. I want to focus on the biggest dissappointments of the year so far. I’ll share mine then it will be time for Your Voices.
There have been a number of 2013 movies that I would consider dissappoitments. “Cloud Atlas”, “The Lone Ranger”, and “A Good Day to Die Hard” all fell well short for me but each had their own baggage that had me worried from the start. Then there are films like “Before Midnight” which I had sky-high expectations for but that ultimately left me dissappointed even though it’s still a pretty good movie. That’s the category that “Iron Man 3” falls into for me. At the start of the 2013 movie season “Iron Man 3” was #2 on my Most Anticipated of the Year list. The story sounded good. Robert Downey, Jr. was back. Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, and Rebecca Hall joined the cast. It was the launch of the second wave of Marvel’s Avengers solo films and it should have been amazing.
Unfortunately “Iron Man 3” didn’t live up to those expectations. It felt long, at times boring, and it spins off into directions that should infuriate any fan of the source material. But my aversion to the big changes isn’t just a fanboy’s rage. They don’t work all that well in the film and end up undoing the movies strengths. I really wanted more from “Iron Man 3”. But for me it fell into the same traps that many superhero third installments have (I’m looking at you “Spider-Man 3” and “X-Men: The Last Stand”). And even though it isn’t a horrible movie by any means, it still never succeeds as it should have.
So now you know my choice. It’s time for Your Voices. What has been the most disappointing film if 2013 so far?
So lets get to it. I hope you’ll take time to list some of your choices and share a few comments about them. Let everyone know why your pick left you disappointed. I have a feeling many of the films mentioned will also have their share of fans. Its been that kind of year. Thanks again!
keithandthemovies.com 
How about all of them? Or at least most of them. Iron Man 3 was terrible, Star Trek 2 was … so frustrating.. and Man of Steel has gotten increasingly more sour with me the more I think about it. Thank God for Pacific Rim. Can’t wait for Elysium.
You touch on what I mean about a divisive year. I loved Star Trek and really liked Man of Steel. I also liked Pacific Rim but not as much as the other two.
Oh man, where I begin. Iron Man 3 definitely, Oblivion, The Lone Ranger, Monsters University. But number one has got to be Gangster Squad, a terrific cast brought down by an awful script which ultimately resulted in nothingness.
Bummer, I enjoyed Oblivion. But Gangster Squad is interesting. I haven’t seen it mainly due to the many comments about what a disappointment it is.
My vote is for Man of Steel. It could’ve been so cool, yet it was so…meh. Plus the script was just painful. And I would agree on Iron Man 3. I don’t know if I hated it, but it was just so very different from what I expected.
Many people share your feelings on Man of Steel. I actually liked it but it wasn’t the tremendous Dark Knightish movie I was excited for.
great post, Keith. this is sure to be a controversial one lol. (Glad it’s on your page, not mine 🙂 haha). I’m going to go with The Great Gatsby, actually. I was letdown incredibly by Gangster Squad for sure, but by the time I had gotten to it I was familiar with its many shortcomings thanks to so many poor reviews and the like, so Gatsby for me. Great costume design and lavish decor on set took the front seat, leaving the essence, tone and heart that was present in the wonderful novel to take a back seat. Maybe it was even in the trunk. So disappointed with it.
Thanks Tom. Ah yes, Gatsby. I did actually like Gatsby but there are several that didn’t for sure. Another divisive movie of 2013.
I think I’ll have to go for my most recent cinema trip, which was to see The World’s End. It was by no means the worst film I’ve seen this year (After Earth) but it was the film that missed my expectations by the widest mark. Man of Steel is also up there, too.
I think I mentioned this when I commented on your review. I’ve noticed a lot of people have been let down by that movie. It just doesn’t seem to be living up to the expectations.
LOL. As soon as I saw the title in my email notification, I thought: Iron Man 3!! 🙄
Bingo! I’m with ya!
I was so hyped up for Only God Forgives. Although I will give it a positive review, I really was expecting a masterpiece. very disappointed with that.
I’ve heard a lot of those same thoughts on that film. I was one of the only people not blown away by Drive. But so many had high hopes for this picture and many have voiced their discouragement with it.
Yeah, it’s a little bit of a let down. Same way Evil Dead was a let down.
I second this – what a joke!
Star Trek Into Darkness. It could have been so much better with an original ending other than the blatant “Wrath of Khan” rip off that the producers intended as an “homage”. Then have Superspock chase Khan down and nearly kill him in an emotional rage. Highly illogical.
You make some really good points. I gotta say though I loved Into Darkness. I wasn’t a huge fan if the first reboot film but this one won me over. But you’re definitely not alone. Thanks for the comment.
This question is interesting because for me at least, there have been a lot of “disappointing” movies this year, I sort of felt before I went to them that they might not be that good. Like The Great Gatsby. I wasn’t really sure about it, but in the end it turned out to be okay. Not good, but not great either. Only God Forgives is a pretty good example, I guess, except I was already starting to have doubts about it before I saw it with it being booed at Cannes and such. Iron Man 3 went the opposite way for me actually, I wasn’t expecting much but I had a lot of fun with that movie. I don’t know how I would have fared if I had been more familiar with Iron Man though. So I guess to wrap it up I’ve been slightly disappointed with some films (The Great Gatsby, Oblivion, Man of Steel, Only God Forgives), but I haven’t experienced any giant let downs because I wasn’t hard core anticipating any of them.
I think you’re really hitting on something. I do think our anticipation plays a big role in whether or not a movie really disappoints. That was absolutely the case with Iron Man 3 and me. My expectations were through the roof.
I think I’ll have to say Man of Steel. I really liked some parts of the movie but found the (**SPOILER**) whole destruction of Metropolis over-the-top.
I agree on that final scene. It simply didn’t know when to stop. That definitely effected my score but it really didn’t overshadow all that I liked about it.
They were all dissappointing because they all have the same Hollywood cliche, cookie cutter plots. You could easily exchange the characters of Superman, Iron man, and Wolverine into each other’s movies to some extent, in basic plot and outline. I was not dissappointed with The Lone Ranger because I knew it was going to bomb anyway and had no desire to see it.
So no disappointments at all this year? There is a very positive way you can look at that! 🙂
In terms of films that I expected to be good i’d say Iron Man 3 and The Worlds End 😦
We are on the same page for sure! IM3 flew right off the rails!
I’ve listed my top 5 worst films already, but the list is only from Jan – June. But given how much I’ve been anticipating the film, I’d say my biggest disappointment so far would be Wolverine. You already know why Keith 😀
Booooo!!! 😀
No seriously, you have stated your case very well and I certainly respect it. Even if I wasn’t crazy about this Wolverine film it wouldn’t qualify for me. I say that because my expectations were so low that even if I didn’t like it it wouldn’t have disappointed me.
As for my pick, Iron Man 3 Isn’t the worst film of the year by a longshot. I wasn’t really shooting for that. But in terms of disappointment, it tops my list. But it’s interesting, the more I think about it the more I take into consideration my extremely high expectations. That may not be fair but I think it plays into it.
The Place Beyond The Pines… Bradley Cooper & Ryan Gosling… and it still didn’t work. The third act was a waste of everyone’s time. Actually, I’m sure there’ve been worse movies this year, but this was a major disappointment for me.
Exactly. There are worse movies but in terms of disappointment, well that’s what I was looking for. I’ve heard the same thing about this film. About how the third act completely ruins it.
Good to hear from you Phagester!
Only God Forgives hits the UK tomorrow. Now, I’ve read so many people on this page saying it disappointed… But I’m naively going to keep my lofty expectations… Come on Ryan and Nicholas…
I haven’t seen it but it doesn’t really excite me. I thought Drive was very “ok” and I’m still not blown away by Gosling.
I’ve got to say The Place Beyond The Pines, Trance and Welcome to The Punch. McAvoy… What happened?
Several people have mentioned Pines. I’m just not as high on Gosling as many are so it wasn’t high on my list. But many people like him and almost all seemed disappointed in this movie.
It had such an epic, atmospheric trailer… And then it was just so… Meh.
Oh that’s right! I remember that trailer! It really did set the movie up to impress.
I haven’t seen too many terrible films this year, thankfully, but my most disappointing is Only God Forgives. A decent film, but not what I was expecting.
I also felt a little let down by Trance, though that was still mostly enjoyable.
Another one for Only God Forgives! I’ve been hearing a lot of this from the folks who were big fans of Drive. I can see where you’re coming from.
Pacific Rim for me. I thought it will be original and it was filled with cliches and boring. And they had my baby Idris blow himself up again, this is just outrageous 🙂
LOL! You’re right, it is cliched but intentionally so. I liked it but it wasn’t all that high on my expectations list. Honestly I’m kinda surprised at the high praise it has received.
I may not have seen a whole lot of movies in 2013 (already more than last year though) but I’m with you. Ironman 3 wasn’t terrible, but its good I wrote my review so quick afterwards because the more I thought about it, the more it just got worse and worse. Even now, as I think about it…its really forgettable…
Forgettable is a great description. U really, really expected more but there’s nothing good about it that stands out to me now nor do I have any desire to quickly see it again.
I haven’t been to the cinema much this year but I would say Despicable Me was my most disappointing me. Minions are adorable but a better story would have made them even cuter!
I think that’s a great choice. I’m not a big animated guy but I loved the first movie so my expectations for this one were pretty high. Unfortunately, like you, I did feel let down. I still liked it but it didn’t have the warmth and good story like the first film.
I actually really liked Iron Man 3 but I know that it split a lot of critics. I’d say my personal biggest disappointment was Man of Steel, simply because it should have been amazing and only settled for pretty good. After that it’d be Good Day to Die Hard, After Earth, and The Lone Ranger.
LOL, I’m the opposite. I really liked Man of Steel even though it wasn’t the epic success I had hoped for. The Lone Ranger was terrible but my expectations were fairly reserved so I couldn’t say I disappointed me the most. Still, it sure wasted a ton of potential didn’t it?
For a big Hollywood picture: “The Great Gatsby”
For s small infie: “The Way Way Back”
I actually like Gatsby but maybe not as much as I wanted to. I haven’t seen the other although I’ve heard good things about it.
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