Sometimes we need to take a break from all of the excitement and celebrations of awards season and come back down earth. What better way to do that than by reminding ourselves that not every 2016 movie was a good one. In fact there were some real stinkers. To prove it I’m sharing what I thought were the five worst films of the past year.
Keep in mind I was fortunate enough not to see all of the cinematic dreck that funneled through theaters so you may notice a few missing. I consider that a blessing. Still these five movies more than hold their own against any others.
#5 – “The Purge: Election Year”
I find something oddly intriguing about the Purge franchise’s concept despite its absolute absurdity. This third installment teases its potential but completely loses it in a mire of silliness and heavy-handed sermonizing. There wasn’t must subtlety in the political messaging of the first two films, but this installment is so laughably direct and it smothers out any hint of a decent story.
#4 – “Suicide Squad”
This epic blunder was the last thing DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers needed. It certainly doesn’t help them gain ground on Marvel’s cash cow. There is an interesting concept hidden somewhere within “Suicide Squad” but we never see it. Instead we get a pasted together mess filled with flat characters, dull action, and a bland, forgettable antagonist. In fact, that actually describes the movie perfectly – flat, dull, bland, and forgettable.
#3 – “Independence Day: Resurgence”
You would think if someone was going to make a sequel some 20 years after the original film that they must have something good in mind. Nope. “ID: Resurgence” is basically a rehash minus any of the charm from the original. This film is a joyless slog featuring cheap, paper-thin characters and some of the worst performances of the year. And it doesn’t help to have a truly awful script at the center. I didn’t think this would be good, but I also didn’t think it would be this bad.
#2 – “Gods of Egypt”
I have an incredibly high tolerance for cheesy fantasy, but even I couldn’t get over the myriad of problems with “Gods of Egypt”. This thing is filled to the brim with lame plot contrivances, mind-numbing action sequences, uninspired creatures, and some truly terrible performances. Even the effects (supposedly the film’s bread-and-butter) can be shockingly gaudy. Sadly we have come to expect this from a Gerard Butler movie, but talk about a crazy way for a studio to waste $140 million.
#1 – “The Do-Over”
Expecting a decent movie from Adam Sandler has become an exercise in futility. He is content with churning out garbage and cashing his checks for it. This is one of his worst and that’s saying something. “The Do-Over” is yet another excuse for Sandler to take vacation with his buddies on Netflix’s dime. It’s stupid, juvenile, disgusting, and offensive yet it masquerades as comedy. I happily checked out before the end simply because there was nothing redeemable about this slop. Yet another new low for Sandler.
So there are my worst films of 2016. See one I miss? Have any thoughts on these? Please let me hear them.
Not a fan of Adam Sandler. Gods of Egypt must have been bad!
In terms of suckiness Gods of Egypt and The Do-Over are toss-ups. Gods could have been one of those ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of movies. Sadly its not. It’s not offensively bad like Sandler’s trash, but it’s a baffling movie. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
When did you last walk out of a movie at the cinema?
That is a really good question. I generally make myself endure. The Do-Over was a different story. It was on Netflix so I simply turned it off and felt good doing it. It’s so bad.
Okay, I believe you. Luckily, I didn’t see any of them.
None? I applaud your discernment! Don’t feel you need to test them to make sure! 😁
I’ll happily spend the money in another way. Like a ticket to see La La Land. 😉
YES! Or getting a tooth pulled. Even that would be less painful! 😉
I think I should consider myself lucky that I’ve only seen 2 of these movies! It’s a shame the Purge movies aren’t better, because I love the concept so much.
It’s funny, The Purge movies had been a guilty pleasure. They tend to start good but finish poorly. This third one was really frustrating. It wasn’t that it had a message, it’s that it bludgeons us to death with it.
What was the other stinker you saw?
Oh I actually haven’t seen the third Purge movie yet! The two I’ve seen were Suicide Squad and Independence Day, and I wasn’t expecting them to be bad either!
Oh okay. Independence Day was just ridiculous. Such a shoddy unforgettable effort. I read where these new characters were meant to be the headlines for a series of new movies. I don’t think that’s happening now.
I’ll be truthful, there were a good number of things about Suicide Squad that I enjoyed. I actually liked a number of the characters: Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Diablo and The Joker. Those characters were done fairly well, but I would certainly have to agree on the film’s villain. A movie like Suicide Squad really didn’t need a “potential apocalypse.” They tried to make the movie bigger than it needed to be. Considering all the re-shoots and re-writes because of the response to Batman V. Superman, it didn’t really help. I don’t consider Suicide Squad to be the worst film of 2016, but it is a disappointment. I even found enjoyment in Gods of Egypt. Good movie? Oh, hell no! It was awful. But for me, Ghostbusters was the worst movie of the year. It could have been what the franchise needed, but instead we ended up with a movie that was horrendously written with mediocre visual effects and a story that was too self-aware. The cast wasn’t the problem. I loved the cast. I really did. But the movie surrounding them was not good. Ghostbusters was the movie that killed my enthusiasm for movies for 2016. I didn’t see another movie in theaters until Doctor Strange. That’s how bad Ghostbusters was for me. I gave it a 6 out of 10, because there were elements that I really liked, but the movie was really bad. Hopefully, 2017 will be better.
I really wish I could have gotten more out of Suicide Squad. I liked some of the characters but not how the film handled them. The Joker…I had a lot of issues with him. He kept reminding me of Alien from Springbreakers. Ghostbusters was a letdown for sure. It never delivered on its promises or press. I’m with ya there. Not planning on seeing it again.
Pretty fair list. Only saw The Purge and Independence Day and they were both terrible. Anything with Adam Sandler these days is usually terrible, and Gods of Egypt I actually laughed out loud at when I saw the trailer in theaters. Like, is this a real movie? Kinda bummed about The Purge, the first one was mediocre but the second I really enjoyed. Currently sitting at the bottom of my list is Dirty Grandpa. Not only is it not funny, but you get to watch an acting legend’s career die a slow, painful death. Please, for the love of God, Scorsese, give Leo a break and take De Niro back under your wing. He needs guidance.
Oh I’ve heard really bad things about Dirty Grandpa. It looked horrendous. And what’s up with De Niro? Will he literally except any offer tossed his way??? Sandler… ugh!
This is a list that makes me shudder. Gosh, Resurgence was awful. The Do-Over — no words necessary.
The worst thing I saw all year was the new Sacha Baron Cohen disaster, Brothers Grimsby. For the love of god, please don’t check that one out. I know you’ve already got this thing posted but if you were to catch it,I’m sure it would prompt you to rearrange everything. 😉
Ha Ha! I will heed that warning! You know, one of the great things about not getting paid for this is that I can completely determine what movies I see and review. That means I can willfully say NO to some of this crap. This five though…well, I let my guard down.
Such a good point! Yeah if I were with a paper and god forbid I was lucky enough to be afforded the opportunity to write reviews for the entertainment section, I’d totally be at the whim of the editor(s). I doubt I’d have much choice about what I saw. So with that in mind, I definitely prefer the autonomy of movie blogging!
Absolutely. Can you imagine being forced to review some of the tripe that Hollywood churns out. That would be one painful aspect of what would otherwise be a wonderful job.
I have to strongly disagree with you regarding Suicide Squad but everything else… yes
Completely fair. I wish I could have defended Suicide Squad but my reaction to it was so sour. Maybe I was expecting it to be too subversive and fresh. I dunno. Certainly not the case with The Do-Over. I went in expect trash and got extreme trash. How does Adam Sandler still have a career?
That is a question I can’t answer lol
Neither can I. It’s baffling. The guy has consistently churned out garbage for years now. Sigh..
I think the last one I liked was Click
And that’s one I haven’t seen. Just my luck! 😁
It’s not based and Christopher Walken is in it which makes it infinity better 😉
True! That Walken magic. I’ll give it a look.
Didn’t see Purge but rest are awful. The Do-over is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen
Isn’t it though? Such a disgusting, unfunny mess. To be honest it probably should be #1
Gods of Egypt at least had some so bad it’s good appeal for me. It ended up 12 on my list
Gods was just baffling to me. I was stunned at how bad it was. And Geoffrey Rush fighting the big space smoke demon…I was absolutely speechless.
Yeah that was hilariously awful
12th worst
I walked into Independence Day 2 knowing it would be bad, but it was far worse than I could possibly imagine. It wasn’t even the good type of so-bad-it’s-good like the original, it’s just dreadful, plain and simple.
It really is. Horrible movie. Absolutely none of the cheesy charm of the original. Everything in it was flat, even the wonderful Jeff Goldblum. Don’t you think he probably regrets his decision? Or was the pay good enough to warrant it? Who knows.
Goldblum’s a good actor, but it was clear he (and everyone else involved) was just phoning it in. I’m sure most involved in the project knew they weren’t making a good film but just cared about the profit. Unfortunately that’s all too common these days.
All to common indeed!
What pissed me off the most about ID4: Regurgitation is that it has both Charlotte Gainsbourg(Nymphomaniac Vol I and II) and Maika Monroe(It Follows, The Guest) in it’s cast. I hope they got paid well to shoot a better movie
Yes they were. I’m assuming it was for the checks because these were such drastic departures for them.
I only saw bits of Gods of Egypt on TV. Holy shit. It was pretty fucking bad. Not only did we see Gerard Buttwad scream his dialogue like an asshole but we also had the insipid and un-charismatic Brenton Thwaite in a lead role. Who discovered this pretty boy and has anyone told him to trim those fucking eyebrows? Alex Proyas bitches about critics shitting on the film, well they have a reason to shit on it because it fucking sucks. I bet you wish you could DELETE this film from existence.
Soooo a contender for your year-end top 10? 😉
Of worst films… most bloody likely.
Managed to avoid all of them, but I still kind of want to watch Suicide Squad for the sake of it.
Count yourself lucky. Those are 10+ hours of your life you saved! Of those Suicide Squad may be the one worth revisiting, but honestly I have no desire to do so. Kind of a hollow endorsement, I know! 😁
I agree with THE PURGE 3 and specially THE DO-OVER, literally one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen almost 4,000). I disliked INDEPENDENCE DAY 2 and GODS OF EGYPT, but not enough to say that I agree with them being added here. I thought that SUICIDE SQUAD was merely decent.
Why doesn’t this list have honorable mentions and/or a mention of movies that haven’t been released in your area yet?
Simply because I haven’t seen them. I don’t really want to list movies just because I heard they are bad. I feel it does a disservice. But that’s why I mentioned there are movies I haven’t seen that could easily qualify.
Gosh, Election Year was bad. And the trailer for Gods of Egypt kept me SO far away from that. Phew. Great list!
Gods is a baffling movie. It will blow your mind by how terrible it is. My wife watched it with me and sat there shaking her head the entire time. Sounds like you’ve (luckily) missed the others mentioned?
Yeah, I did. Luckily xD
I applaud your wisdom! 😀
Gods Of Egypt was probably the worst film I watched in 2016, although a couple of documentaries ran it close. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience in the cinema, and laughed quite a lot. Can you believe they blew close to $150m on it?
I know!!! $150 million!!! And where did it go??? The cast maybe? You would think the effects but sometimes they look horribly shoddy. As I’ve said elsewhere, Gods is a truly baffling film.
I didn’t see any of these films Keith, now I have no desire whatsoever to seek them out.
Stay faaaaar away my friend. They will leave a pretty deep scar! 😀
Message received Keith. Staying clear at all costs.
Brutal! I wholeheartedly agree with 3, 2, and 1 . They each left me scratching my head and trying to find some redeeming moment. I gave up looking… and it looks like you did too my friend. This is the BEST worst list I’ve seen ha
Ha! It may be the online kind of lists these films will be topping. It’s can be frustrating to see this kind of slop. But then I just go back and look at my Top 10 of 2016 list and remember that it was a pretty good movie year overall.
Gods worked for me.
I really wanted it to for me. Just couldn’t connect.
Couldn’t agree more on Suicide Squad
I was really wanting to disagree with the majority but found the movie to be so bad in so many areas.
Same here! I must admit I’m more than a little worried for the DC movie universe.
I am too even though I liked BvS more than most (despite its problems).
#5 seemed OK.
Sincerely, The Purging Lutheran