Worst Comic Book Movies of the Decade (2010-2019)

[Filmfreak]

I don't know. BvS at least had some vision, no matter how wrong and pretentious it ended up being. Justice League was a Frankenstein monster of a movie. A product of two very different people and of a studio trying desperately to fix a movie in post production, which is always a mistake.

But yeah, Suicide Squad was just as bad if not worse. Awful movie in almost every aspect. Writing, editing, tone, action, everything.

I understand the classic argument the video is trying to make about other movies being "so bad they're good" while this is just bland but I still don't aggree and find other films even worse without any entertaining side in them. It is indeed near bottom, though.

 

[Erzengel]

Just the whole premise of this version of SS didn't make sense, what if Superman was bad. What contingency do we have? How about someone who shoots really well, a pyscho with a hammer, a guy really good with boomerangs and a guy who can do stuff with rope?

 

[Deck Rickard]

Green Lantern was a massive waste of potential too. A great cast. A great concept. Horrendous execution. I mean who was the absolute bellend who thought getting Martin Campbell to do a 200 million dollar budget space adventure was a good idea? I mean yea Campbell is great... at more grounded, practical, tense action adventures. But a ****ing Green Lantern? You can just see the film has no style or imagination. Which is the ultimate irony considering what GL is all about.

To be fair, you could make the same argument about the Russo Brothers or Taiki Waititi when they signed on to do Marvel movies. Campbell at least had experience doing high octane action, and successfully (his two James Bond films are probably my two favorites), so I could see the logic in getting him to do the film. I do wonder why he signed on in the first place (aside from money; you'd have to think he already had plenty). From all accounts I read, he hated making the film, though maybe that was because of all the studio meddling. I don't know. Such a shame, man. I remember how ecstatic I was when I heard they were making a GL movie.

I hope they know what they're doing with this TV series on HBO Max. What I hope they don't do, however, is learn the wrong lessons from the movie and determine that Hal Jordan as a character or the overall concept of Green Lantern were the problems and try to drastically change it. I remember how horrified I was when they almost turned it into a Jack Black comedy. The Reynolds movie ultimately was bad but there's no doubt in my mind that the Jack Black film would have been worse.

 

[metaphysician]

Just the whole premise of this version of SS didn't make sense, what if Superman was bad. What contingency do we have? How about someone who shoots really well, a pyscho with a hammer, a guy really good with boomerangs and a guy who can do stuff with rope?

Being fair, they did stock the team with several people who have magic powers or weapons. Assuming the magic weakness exists, or just could plausibly exist, its not a *terrible* plan. Especially with the Enchantress being legitimately powerful in a "can kind of do anything" way. The bigger problem is hinging like 90% of the Squad's capacity on a single godlike individual over which you have dubious control.

 

[Kane52630]

1. Batman v. Superman
2. Jonah Hex
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
4. Fant4stic
5. Hellboy
6. Aquaman
7. Venom
8. Green Lantern
9. X-Men: Apocalypse
10. Justice League

It's a tough look for DC post-TDK. It took them the last year of the decade to get their sh** (mostly) straight.

 

[jolldan]

1. Fant4stic
2. Hellboy (2019)
3. Green Lantern
4. Catwoman
5. Green Hornet
6. Suicide Squad
7. X-Men: Apocalypse
8. Elektra
9. The Spirit
10. Iron Man 3

In no particular order would say these are the 10 worst I have seen.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

1. Fant4stic
2. Hellboy (2019)
3. Green Lantern
4. Catwoman
5. Green Hornet
6. Suicide Squad
7. X-Men: Apocalypse
8. Elektra
9. The Spirit
10. Iron Man 3

In no particular order would say these are the 10 worst I have seen.

The three I marked are from last decade, the thread focuses on movies from this decade.

 

[jolldan]

The three I marked are from last decade, the thread focuses on movies from this decade.

Gothca I think I just glanced at worst comic book movies

Would switch those three out for

Captain Marvel
Ant-Man & The Wasp
X-Men: Dark Phoenix

 

[Deck Rickard]

Captain Marvel doesn't deserve to be mentioned in this conversation. Come on.

 

[The Endless]

Captain Marvel was just incredibly boring. But I wouldnt say its anywhere near "terrible".

 

[Batmannerism]

Ummm.....

There are some fun, but forgettable films - like Ant Man and the Wasp ( enjoyed it, and forgot the entire plot after I left the cinema). Aquaman, was loud dumb fun - emphasis on dumb. Captain America TFA is almost brought down to mediocrity by the terrible villain and generic plot ( after the origin stuff).

Then there are mediocre films - pretty average but not actually bad. I put Justice League in this category. Captain Marvel was actually a good movie, built around a really boring lead - so also very mediocre. Similarly XMen Apocalypse was a film with great potential that totally failed to deliver - it wasn't awful, but it wasn't good either.


Then there's the crap:

Green Lantern. It's rubbish, but far from the bottom - probably because we didn't have the same level of expectations as for some of the other films I'm going to mention. It has delusions of mediocrity and fails to achieve them, but I don't regret seeing it.

Kick ash 2. Lacked any of the charm and wit of the first film. Believe it or not its actually pretty mild compared to the level of violence in the comic, which was one of its few redeeming features.

Iron Man 3. Made a ton of money....but then so did Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. How does Iron Man challenge a terrorist to attack him at home and then get caught off guard ( with a basement full of remote controlled suits) by helicopters? This is the guy who fought off an alien invasion FFS ! That and the awful Mandarin twist ruined this movie for me.


Fantastic 4.....wow, it was just garbage straight up. Miscast badly, misconceived and once again Dr Doom, Marvel's greatest villain, is utter rubbish.

Dark Phoenix, the greatest ever Xmen story ... brought to life in an even worse adaptation than the one done by Brett Ratner, who would have thought it was possible ?

Batman v Superman. A film that took my 2 favourite superheroes and portrayed them so badly that I didn't care about either of them. When superman died I should have been choked up, instead I was glad because it meant the movie was nearly over.

Suicide Squad. Just when I thought that DC couldn't make a worse film than B v S.... surprise ! It's nearly unwatchable.

Jonah Hex....a film so bad that I can't even be bothered to slag it off.


Just going to say that I really enjoyed both Thor TDW and Man of Steel - good movies with a few faults, but got more right than wrong IMO.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I didn't find Captain Marvel (the character or the movie) boring. I like Brie a lot in the role and I thought the movie was a blast (no pun intended). I also loved the twist with the Skrulls.

IMO, Marvel's only misfires are Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3 and The Incredible Hulk (though that last one doesn't really even feel like it counts anymore).

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I didn't find Captain Marvel (the character or the movie) boring. I like Brie a lot in the role and I thought the movie was a blast (no pun intended). I also loved the twist with the Skrulls.

It's an underrated movie.

 

[Deck Rickard]

It's an underrated movie.

I think it says something about the CBM fanboy community that a movie that made a BILLION dollars at the box office is underrated. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the lead character being a woman. Nope, couldn't possibly have anything to do with that.

 

[Batmannerism]

I think it says something about the CBM fanboy community that a movie that made a BILLION dollars at the box office is underrated. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the lead character being a woman. Nope, couldn't possibly have anything to do with that.

2 of the Michael Bay Transformers movies made over a billion dollars, are they underrated too ?

Honestly, I didn't like Larson in the role.

CM is not a bad movie at all, the rest of the movie is fine, good effects- nice use of the Kree's tech and uniforms from the comics. The Skrulls were terrific and The 90s references are used for good comedic effect.
The supporting cast did a good job, particularly Law, Jackson and Mendelsohn. What really let the film down was Larson in the lead.

I can honestly say that it has nothing to do with Larson's gender but a combination of her phoned in performance, unlikeable characterization and poorly written dialogue.

The reason I can say this, hand on heart, was because I loved Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman - before I saw the film I was a big nay-sayer . Having seen Gal in the FnF movies I knew that her acting range was limited and I never thought she could pull it off. The supporting cast in WW was nowhere near as strong as in CM and the villains were one dimensional, the story was pretty unremarkable.

Despite Gal having nowhere near Brie's acting reputation she managed to make Wonder Woman a charming, likeable and warm character who at the same time is powerful and doesn't take crap from or submit to anyone - particularly the male characters. She was simply amazing in the role, and the director and writers gave her the best material to work with ( although they didn't leave much for anyone else) and she absolutely nailed it.

In contrast I found Captain Marvel kind of boring ( and sounding bored when she delivered the lines), except when she was angry then she was just unlikeable.

I mean, the bit where she discovers everything she knows is a lie and then runs outside and then drawls " EVERYTHING THAT I KNEW IS A LIE !" come on, give the audience some credit. I wanted to laugh out loud at that point.

I'm massively looking forward to WW1984. I'll probably go see CM 2 , but have low expectations.
I thought that Larson was better as CM in Endgame, but then she's only in the film for about 5 minutes.

 

[Deck Rickard]

2 of the Michael Bay Transformers movies made over a billion dollars, are they underrated too ?

Honestly, I didn't like Larson in the role.

CM is not a bad movie at all, the rest of the movie is fine, good effects- nice use of the Kree's tech and uniforms from the comics. The Skrulls were terrific and The 90s references are used for good comedic effect.
The supporting cast did a good job, particularly Law, Jackson and Mendelsohn. What really let the film down was Larson in the lead.

I can honestly say that it has nothing to do with Larson's gender but a combination of her phoned in performance, unlikeable characterization and poorly written dialogue.

The reason I can say this, hand on heart, was because I loved Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman - before I saw the film I was a big nay-sayer . Having seen Gal in the FnF movies I knew that her acting range was limited and I never thought she could pull it off. The supporting cast in WW was nowhere near as strong as in CM and the villains were one dimensional, the story was pretty unremarkable.

Despite Gal having nowhere near Brie's acting reputation she managed to make Wonder Woman a charming, likeable and warm character who at the same time is powerful and doesn't take crap from or submit to anyone - particularly the male characters. She was simply amazing in the role, and the director and writers gave her the best material to work with ( although they didn't leave much for anyone else) and she absolutely nailed it.

In contrast I found Captain Marvel kind of boring ( and sounding bored when she delivered the lines), except when she was angry then she was just unlikeable.

I mean, the bit where she discovers everything she knows is a lie and then runs outside and then drawls " EVERYTHING THAT I KNEW IS A LIE !" come on, give the audience some credit. I wanted to laugh out loud at that point.

I'm massively looking forward to WW1984. I'll probably go see CM 2 , but have low expectations.
I thought that Larson was better as CM in Endgame, but then she's only in the film for about 5 minutes.

Sorry man, I apologize if it sounded like I was singling you out with my post or implying that ALL fans who didn't care for CM (or Larson's portrayal) were sexist. I was referring more to the incel a**holes who were trying to review-bomb the movie and encouraging people to go see Alita instead in an effort to "prove" to people that they weren't just being sexist. And also, I would throw in some people I usually like (like the Double Toasted guys) who came off a little sexist in their comments about her. I remember when a clip from Endgame was released and they got all up in arms about her acting cocky or whatever. It probably wouldn't have rubbed me the wrong way too much but I've heard them say some misogynistic things at other times so it led me to think they had their minds made up about her even before they saw CM.

I do agree that some of the dialogue in CM could have been improved (like the line you mentioned specifically). To be fair to Brie, I don't think anyone has made a line like that work because it just sounds silly no matter who is saying it. I remember Matt Damon had a similar line in the last Bourne movie (I think it was "I volunteered because of a lie!") and it was also kinda cringey (maybe less so, even if CM was an overall better movie). Anyway, I've gone back and forth on the Gal vs. Brie debate and I'd probably agree that Gal's performance as WW edges out Brie's CM (thought Brie is definitely the better actor of the two), though I really enjoyed both personally.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Alita as a movie is a more fun one, and the protagonist felt more pleasant to me as someone who liked both characters and both films.

Too bad Alita is a big fat obvious sequel bait though.

 

[Batmannerism]

Sorry man, I apologize if it sounded like I was singling you out with my post or implying that ALL fans who didn't care for CM (or Larson's portrayal) were sexist. I was referring more to the incel a**holes who were trying to review-bomb the movie and encouraging people to go see Alita instead in an effort to "prove" to people that they weren't just being sexist. And also, I would throw in some people I usually like (like the Double Toasted guys) who came off a little sexist in their comments about her. I remember when a clip from Endgame was released and they got all up in arms about her acting cocky or whatever. It probably wouldn't have rubbed me the wrong way too much but I've heard them say some misogynistic things at other times so it led me to think they had their minds made up about her even before they saw CM.

I do agree that some of the dialogue in CM could have been improved (like the line you mentioned specifically). To be fair to Brie, I don't think anyone has made a line like that work because it just sounds silly no matter who is saying it. I remember Matt Damon had a similar line in the last Bourne movie (I think it was "I volunteered because of a lie!") and it was also kinda cringey (maybe less so, even if CM was an overall better movie). Anyway, I've gone back and forth on the Gal vs. Brie debate and I'd probably agree that Gal's performance as WW edges out Brie's CM (thought Brie is definitely the better actor of the two), though I really enjoyed both personally.

No sweat. Ordinarily I suspect Larson would be the better actress - the Academy seems to think so.

However, IMO she failed to make me care about Carol Danvers at all.

There have been plenty of female action stars who have made cocky and tough women who are also engaging and characters that we can cheer for ( e.g. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Uma Thurman as the Bride, Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl , Lucy Liu, Maggie Q, Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich in a bunch of roles and best of all Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley , ). Honestly, any of the above probably could have been better in the role.

At the same time I think Gal benefitted from a perfect combination of factors, including:

1)playing a character who is within her acting range;

2) solid direction from a talented director who understands the character and what audiences can relate to; and

3) dialogue and action written by people who also understood what Wonder Woman is all about.

In CM I felt like they tried hard to make us like Carol, but for whatever reason it fell flat - maybe they tried too hard. In WW they didn't need to try because the story and Gal's portrayal just made it happen.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Alita as a movie is a more fun one, and the protagonist felt more pleasant to me as someone who liked both characters and both films.

Too bad Alita is a big fat obvious sequel bait though.

I need to give Alita a chance but those eyeballs, man. It’s like something out of a horror movie.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I need to give Alita a chance but those eyeballs, man. It’s like something out of a horror movie.

It's worth a watch once, and you can get used to the eyes.

 

[Deck Rickard]

It's worth a watch once, and you can get used to the eyes.

I'll give it a chance eventually I'm sure.

 

[BoredGuy]

No sweat. Ordinarily I suspect Larson would be the better actress - the Academy seems to think so.

However, IMO she failed to make me care about Carol Danvers at all.

There have been plenty of female action stars who have made cocky and tough women who are also engaging and characters that we can cheer for ( e.g. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Uma Thurman as the Bride, Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl , Lucy Liu, Maggie Q, Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich in a bunch of roles and best of all Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley , ). Honestly, any of the above probably could have been better in the role.

At the same time I think Gal benefitted from a perfect combination of factors, including:

1)playing a character who is within her acting range;

2) solid direction from a talented director who understands the character and what audiences can relate to; and

3) dialogue and action written by people who also understood what Wonder Woman is all about.

In CM I felt like they tried hard to make us like Carol, but for whatever reason it fell flat - maybe they tried too hard. In WW they didn't need to try because the story and Gal's portrayal just made it happen.

I think your dancing around it here
but the real issue with CM is the directors
They chose the performance they wanted out of her, it's up to the director to push an actor in the direction they feel is right for the character. They chose a bland and generic performance, same way they chose bland and generic music, and bland and generic cinematography. And it doesn't help that CM has always been a pretty vanilla-ash character in the comics that most writers have struggled to make interesting.

CM needed a strong director with an affinity for the character and a vision for how to bring it to life. It didn't have that, and so Carol came off wooden and underdeveloped.

I was really hoping the Russos would've fixed it (like they did for Strange in IW), but then they went and ditched her for 95% of Endgame

 

[shinlyle]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I didn't find Captain Marvel (the character or the movie) boring. I like Brie a lot in the role and I thought the movie was a blast (no pun intended). I also loved the twist with the Skrulls.

IMO, Marvel's only misfires are Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3 and The Incredible Hulk (though that last one doesn't really even feel like it counts anymore).

I didn't DISLIKE Captain Marvel, I just felt it was a weaker entry into the MCU. That being said, my daughter LOVES her. She has the flight jacket. She rocks that crap to school with a smile, too!

 

[Spider-Fan]

Fan4stic. Easily. Not even close.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Curious, which of these movies do you think had the worst CASTING?

Like, Jonah Hex is a terrible movie. But Brolin might have worked had the script and direction not been a mess. On the other hand, I think a lot of Fant4stic's casting was a mess. I had no issues with Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, but if you're going to do that, why not cast a black actress as Sue as well instead of making her adopted? I guess only one black person is allowed on the team? But that aside (Kate Mara isn't bad casting), I really thought Miles Teller, Jamie Bell and Toby Kebbell were totally miscast. Teller especially; he not only looks nothing like Reed Richards but he was just too youthful to be believable as the character. Bell is a good actor, but he's not a convincing "tough guy" type. And maybe Kebbell could have pulled off Doom in a better movie but he just came off like a whiny jerk.