The longer a movie franchise goes, the more it risks releasing one bad entry that could tank it. This is a sad fate that hits every franchise in any genre, and it’s something that arguably happens more often in today’s franchise-heavy landscape.
While Rotten Tomatoes may consider these movies to be their respective series’ worst, they’re not without merit–both of the sincere or ironic kind. Excluding spin-off TV series (i.e. Inhumans) and parodies (i.e. Casino Royale), these movies have more going for them than expected.
10 Thor: The Dark World Completes The MCU Lore
While the debate about whether or not the Marvel Cinematic Universe is good or bad for pop culture’s future rages on, the shared universe is credited for having a mostly consistent quality across movies. The rare exception is Thor: The Dark World, Thor’s much forgotten and maligned second solo movie that’s also the MCU at its most generic.
Even so, the MCU retroactively made this inconsequential sequel matter. Avengers: Endgame turned The Dark World into a whole side-story for the Reality Stone while giving Frigga more time with Thor. Meanwhile, Thor: Love & Thunder will build off Jane Foster’s story from the first two Thor movies. Basically, Marvel completionists need The Dark World more than they’d like to admit.
9 A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) Starred A Great Freddy Successor
The remake of Wes Craven’s classic was doomed from the start. Not only was its mere existence blasphemy to the Elm Street faithful, but ditching the franchise’s dark humor and surreal nightmares for gritty realism was ridiculed. The one thing it got right was casting Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, something everyone praised.
Haley’s take on Freddy was completely separate from Robert Englund’s, as he turned the once playfully sadistic Springwood Slasher into a creepy lurking predator. Despite its questionable creative decisions, 2010’s A Nightmare On Elm Street could be viewed as a showcase of Haley’s acting prowess that could’ve and should’ve been put in a better horror movie.
8 Godzilla (1998) Works As A ‘90s-Era Monster Movie
The kindest way to describe Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla is that it’s informed by an incurious misunderstanding of who and what Godzilla means to Japan and fans worldwide. More Jurassic Park knock-off than Gojira installment, Godzilla was hated so much that Toho pulled its Godzilla franchise from retirement just to show Hollywood how to make a proper Godzilla movie.
As a Godzilla movie, Emmerich’s remake is irredeemably bad. But as a standalone disaster movie, it’s passable. With its rampaging monster fighting the American military, Godzilla is basically an updated ’50s-era creature feature. In this light, Godzilla is an inoffensively disposable ‘90s disaster movie hampered by the usual clichés and tropes.
7 A View To Kill Is 007’s Exercise In Excess
As the fourteenth canonical James Bond movie and Roger Moore’s last turn as MI6’s top agent, A View To Kill is both Moore’s and the series’ weakest entry. Aside from recycling the usual Bond formula and being more violent than usual, it was lambasted for still starring Moore, who was visibly too old for the role at the time.
Despite it being Moore’s least favorite Bond movie, A View To Kill is not without entertainment value. For one, a still charismatic Moore fought the psychotic Max Zorin and towering May Day, who remains one of the franchise’s best villain/henchperson duos. The movie’s excess is what drew some fans to it since, for them, a Bond movie should be anything but subtle.
6 Friday The 13th Part III Is A 3D Guilty Pleasure
To be fair, all the Friday The 13th movies can only be appreciated ironically. That said, the third part takes this to the next dimension. Friday The 13th Part III was made in that brief moment in the ‘80s when Hollywood was certain that the third dimension would be a goldmine, only for the fad to be laughed into obscurity until Avatar broke records decades later.
Friday The 13th Part III offers the usual gory slasher fun, but in 3D. Props, machetes, and dead people fly at the screen and linger there, all of which are made unintentionally hilarious in non-3D viewings on regular DVDs or streaming. The sequel’s one stroke of genius was giving Jason Voorhees his legendary hockey mask, which hasn’t left his face since 1982.
5 Suicide Squad Is A Fun DC B-Movie
To say that the DC Extended Universe had a rocky start is an understatement. After angering an entire fanbase with two excessively dark Superman movies, the DCEU followed it up with the messy Suicide Squad. Task Force X’s cinematic debut was weighed down by many issues, from its rushed story, sloppy editing, and intense studio interference.
Suicide Squad is better in concept than execution, and it’s an ode to wasted potential. Among the things it got right were the villains’ looks and casting, such as Will Smith as Deadshot and especially Margot Robbie as the DCEU’s definitive Harley Quinn. When viewed as a midnight movie, Suicide Squad will find its sincere fans and audiences.
4 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald Expanded The Wizarding World
As spin-offs of the mega-successful Harry Potter movies, Fantastic Beasts initially had lots of hype surrounding its release. Unfortunately, two uninspiring movies and controversies surrounding certain cast and crew hampered Newt Scamander’s adventures. The worst hit was The Crimes Of Grindelwald, which some even considered to be Hogwarts’ cinematic death knell.
That said, some of its world-building was intriguing. Extremist wizards’ hatred of Muggles was made clearer, seen in Grindelwald’s fear that human progress would lead to war and magic’s fall. Grindelwald himself is a more politically dynamic villain than Voldemort, and it would benefit the Harry Potter movies if he (or someone similar) were the new overall threat.
3 Dark Phoenix Is A Better Adaptation Of The Dark Phoenix Saga
Despite ending perfectly with Days Of Future Past, Fox’s X-Men dragged on and ended with a whimper. Not counting the spin-off The New Mutants, the mutants’ movies canonically closed with Dark Phoenix, the second take on the iconic Dark Phoenix Saga. While flawed, it’s still a lot better than the previous Phoenix movie, X-Men III: The Last Stand.
In terms of comic accuracy, Dark Phoenix has the upper hand. For one, it introduced the comics’ grander sci-fi ideas, like aliens and the Phoenix Force being of cosmic origin. As a movie, Dark Phoenix is also better since it interrogated Prof. X’s hero complex and the X-Men’s place in a world now accepting of mutants. The Last Stand, meanwhile, was too shallow to care for.
2 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Is A Weirdly Ambitious Misfire
Better known as that time when Kirk, Spock, Spock’s never-before-seen half-brother, and the Enterprise’s crew literally meet God, The Final Frontier is the most polarizing entry of the original Star Trek movies. Infamous for its excessive slapstick, cheap special effects, and esoteric story, William Shatner’s directorial effort was blamed for nearly killing Star Trek entirely.
It’s also because of these that The Final Frontier is one of the more interesting Star Trek movies in existence. Contrast this to J.J. Abrams’ decent but forgettable Star Trek duology, which is only remembered for nostalgic references and lens flare jokes. Meanwhile, The Final Frontier has a genuinely interesting existential story buried under too much comedy and a low budget.
1 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Gave Fans The Clone Wars
The only thing worse than the divisive Prequel or Sequel Trilogies is Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the first fully CGI Star Wars movie. Unlike the polarizing trilogies which have their defenders, The Clone Wars won no one over due to its stilted script, lack of a compelling story, and the fact that it was more of a TV show’s backdoor pilot than a movie.
That said, The Clone Wars was a good step forward and learning experience for the creators. This otherwise lackluster movie led to the beloved cartoon of the same name, which recently closed with a critically acclaimed series finale and expanded into the spin-off The Bad Batch. Completionists need to watch The Clone Wars to appreciate where it all began.
0 Comments