Summary
Fantasy fans look back and cringe at the thought of the worst fantasy movies of the previous decade. In many ways,fantasy and sci-fi movies have been on the rise in the past 20 yearswith the inception of certaingenre-defining franchises. A similar trend in TV shows has also played a role in the genre’s expansion. However, more fantasy movies being produced, mathematically speaking, does mean that more bad fantasy movies are being produced.
Some of the worst fantasy movies in the last 10 years demonstrate overconfidence in the basic concept on the filmmakers' part:They believed that a certain IP, source material, character, or sequel was too popular to fail. Some directors and producers may have wanted to try their hand at fantasy as it became more popular when it was not their strength. Ultimately, execution is just as if not more important when it comes to fantasy. Necessitating some exposition of how the world works, it is easy for fantasy movies to be very tacky if they are not well-written.
8 Movie & TV Genres That Blew Up In The Last 10 Years
In the past 10 years, genres and formats including hard fantasy adaptations, “Eat the Rich,” and corrupt protagonists have increased in movies and TV.
10The Nutcracker And The Four Realms (2018)
Directed By Joe Johnston
The live-actionThe Nutcrackermovie was another attempt at making use of easy IP, with the basic story having long entered the public domain.The Nutcrackerdoesn’t have much of a plot to begin with,but Disney probably thought it would be easy to construct a serviceable magical otherworld story about a girl becoming that world’s heroine. Some of the production design is stunning and the inclusion of the music from the ballet and Misty Copeland’s cameo are nice touches, but that is about allThe Nutcracker and the Four Realmshas going for it.
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Four Realmsrelies upon a force-fed moral of appreciating family and a villain twistthat is just as poorly executed. Keira Knightley’s talents are reduced to a shrill sugar-sweet voice and a caricature with no development. In the end,Four Realmsturned out to be just as bad as theworst Disney live-action remakes.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a 2018 fantasy film starring Mackenzie Foy as a young girl who is transported to a magical realm filled with a mice army and gingerbread soldiers. The film is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, as well as the 1892 ballet The Nutcracker.
9Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016)
Directed By James Bobin
Disney’s first live-actionAlice in Wonderlandmovie was popular and a decent interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel. One of the biggest problems with its sequel is that it is completely redundant after the first installment.Alice Through the Looking Glassrepeats the first movie’s plot:Alice is dealing with the patriarchy in the real world, is summoned to Underland, goes on an adventure where she becomes reassured of her power, and returns home with no real plan to get what she wants but achieves it anyway by simply telling the men how it’s going to be.
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Additionally, the actors' performances and character dynamics become worse with repetition. Whileaccoladed actors like Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter playing the wacky personas of Wonderland worked before,by the time of the second movie, watching was like eating too much candy.Alice Through the Looking Glassalso undermines some of the darker parts of the first movie with easy family reconciliations, captured in a meaningless sequel.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice Through the Looking Glass is a fantasy adventure film directed by James Bobin and produced by Tim Burton. Released in 2016, it is a sequel to the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland. The film stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice, who returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save her friend, the Mad Hatter, played by Johnny Depp.
Directed By Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg
Bad acting (from generally good actors) and forced emotional subplots are far off from the heights of the bestPirates of the Caribbeanmovie, exemplifying how far the franchise has fallen.
All the things that had been getting increasingly worse aboutPirates of the Caribbeancame to a head in the fifth installment.Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesshowcases the worst of how Jack Sparrow has become a bumbling slapstick character,the action is lazier than ever, and too many supernatural elements have been piled on top of each other in a convoluted plot. The new versions of certain character archetypes don’t live up to the people they are replacing, and the dialogue is nauseating.
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The franchise has tried to reboot itself multiple times, with aPirates of the Caribbeansequel and spinoff now both in development. However,Dead Men Tell No Tales’failure to fully commit to being a reboot is also one of its weaknesses.Bad acting (from generally good actors) and forced emotional subplots are far off from the heights of the original andbestPirates of the Caribbeanmovie, exemplifying how far the franchise has fallen.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
The fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales follows young Henry Turner as he enlists Captain Jack Sparrow to release his father, Will Turner, from the curse binding him to the Flying Dutchman. Their quest puts them in the path of ghostly pirate-hunter Captain Salazar, with whom Sparrow has a storied past. To save his old friend, Sparrow must confront his own past to reunite Will with his long-lost son.
7Clash Of The Titans (2010)
Directed By Louis Leterrier
The originalClash of the Titansisn’t even that well-reviewed (64% on Rotten Tomatoes and 59% on Metacritic) but gets points for being a classic adventure flick. This on its own spelled doom for the remake.Sam Worthington is an awkward action star who had a lot of success withAvatarbut not much else,with movies likeClash of the TitansandTerminator Salvationbringing criticism upon him as an actor. Other performances inClash of the Titanswere just as bad.
Clash of the Titans
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It tries to translate what is an inherently cheesy story into gritty action and high stakes, but the action is completely generic.This somehow still led to the sequelWrath of the Titans, also starring Worthington and Liam Neeson,which received just as scathing reviews. It is symptomatic of how studios think a remake of a legendary story is an easy way to profit, but they bungled it along the way if the premise would ever have worked.
Clash of the Titans is the 2010 remake of the eponymous 1981 fantasy movie. It is based on the Greek myth of Perseus, a demigod who fights the dark forces of the Underworld, and it stars Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Jason Flemyng as Perseus, Zeus, Hades, Io, Andromeda, and Calibos, respectively.
6Red Riding Hood (2011)
Directed By Catherine Hardwicke
Red Riding Hoodattempted to translate a lot of tropes popular in a modern context into a medievalist setting — star-crossed lovers, familial betrayals, and dirty dancing — and the result was a mess. These narrative elements (except for the dancing) are universal and can work in any setting, butRed Riding Hoodmaligned them with bad dialogue and acting.Some of the actors, such as Amanda Seyfried, Billy Burke, and Gary Oldman are good,demonstrating how the problem was more with the contrived story.
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Red Riding Hood’sromantic relationships are supposed to be the core of the story but are completely superficial,while its plot twist has momentary shock value before becoming completely lackluster. Coming out the same year asAlice in Wonderlandand following the firstTwilightmovies, one can see the vision of an enticing, sexy Little Red Riding Hood story. It ended up being an altogether embarrassing movie for Seyfried (and the rest of the cast) before she went on to much better opportunities.
red riding hood
The 2011 fantasy movie Red Riding Hood is a live-action adaptation of the eponymous fairy tale. Amanda Seyfried stars as Valerie, who falls in love with woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) and receives help from Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) to hunt down a deadly werewolf.
10 Fantasy Movies That I Would Love To See Be Turned Into Animated Shows
Many great fantasy movies are visually iconic & have fully developed fictional worlds, making them the perfect candidates for adapting into animation.
5Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)
Directed By J.J. Abrams
Objectively speaking, the last installment in theStar Warssequel trilogy is not as bad as some of theworst sci-fi and fantasy moviesof the decade. However, it is still notorious within the fandom and cinematic history because of howit maligned a beloved property and proved to be a disappointing conclusion, nothing like what the Skywalker Saga deserved.It is demonstrative of all the problems with the sequel trilogy, namely too much fan service and no coherent overall plan.
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The plot twist of Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter could not feel like more of a retcon if it tried.Luke is amovie character completely ruined by the sequel, which only gets worse when the third movie makes his arc in the second redundant. Finn and Poe aren’t given their due, while the appearances by Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams are a last-ditch attempt to make the movie enjoyable for die-hard fans.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concludes the Skywalker saga with Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron leading the Resistance against the First Order. As the final battle unfolds, they draw upon the wisdom and strength of previous generations to confront their adversaries. Released in 2019, the film concludes the sequel trilogy.
4The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 (2011)
Directed By Bill Condon
The consistently bad reviews forTwilightshow that all the movies comprising the franchise aren’t that good,with profitability stemming from a dedicated fanbase. The whole story is characterized by unhealthy relationships and bad performances, but there is still an argument that the firstBreaking Dawnis theworstTwilightmovie. The finale at least has the wild spectacle of the fake-out battle and a great extended cast, with the introduction of vampires from all over the world who come to the Cullens' aid.
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On the other hand, all the creepiness of how possessive Edward and Jacob both are of Bella is at the forefront ofBreaking Dawn Part 1, as well as the problematic imprinting storyline. The story is very slow when the conflict with the Volturi is put on hold because the narrative is occupied with Bella’s life-threatening pregnancy.Like most of theTwilightseries, it operates on aesthetics and the idea of romantic loverather than a strong story, with the wedding scene admittedly being beautiful.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
The fourth film in the Twilight film franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, sets up the finale for the adaptation of the popular book series. Following the wedding of Edward and Bella, the two are soon with child, but its unnatural rate of growth begins to threaten Bella’s life, as well as strike fear into the hearts of the wolves. However, a greater threat marches ever closer for the residents of Forks.
3Cats (2019)
Directed By Tom Hooper
Besides the disturbing results of the CGI cast onto actors undeserving of it, Cats' story does not provide a strong enough foundation for a movie.
The concept ofCatsas a live-action movie was always a disaster, and the CGI humanoid cat characters will forever live in infamy. Emboldened by the success ofLes Miserables,Tom Hooper decided to helm another adaptation of a classic Broadway musical, possibly seeing the risk involved withCatsas one that could eventually equate to reward.However, besides the disturbing results of the CGI cast onto actors undeserving of it,Cats’story does not provide a strong enough foundation for a movie.
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Cats’success as a Broadway production is more due to vibes than an actual story;what the cats all want is pretty vague, used as a weak but decent vehicle for the landmark musical numbers and stunning costumes. The costumes are in fact beautiful when they are more cat-themed masquerade attire than uncanny valley CGI. The movieCatswas ultimately just a bad idea and its backlash is not that surprising.
Cats
An adaptation of the stage musical by the same name, Cats boasts a star-studded cast playing the Jellicles, a tribe of street cats who make a choice once a year about which one of them will ascend to what they call the Heavenside Layer and be reborn to a new life. The original musical is itself based on a book by famous poet T.S. Eliot, and remains one of the longest-running Broadway shows.
2The Dark Tower (2017)
Directed By Nikolaj Arcel
The Dark Toweris sadly a movie that should have worked out,at least where what the actors and the fandom were owed is considered. As one of Stephen King’s most famous fantasy novels, it deserved a good adaptation. People generally agree that everythingwent wrong forThe Dark Towermoviebecause it was too short to capture such a complex story. Even if the first book in the nine-book series could have been effectively related in a movie, it needed more than an hour and a half runtime.
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It is surprising that they didn’t grant themselves a longer runtime whenThe Dark Toweris the book that links all of King’s works within one literary universe.As a result, the movie didn’t have enough time to properly develop the characters or the story. Not even Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey were able to save this movie, and any plans for a sequel were promptly abandoned.
The Dark Tower
Idris Elba, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, and Matthew McConaughey star in The Dark Tower, a Western Sci-Fi film directed by Nikolaj Arcel. Released in 2017, The Dark Tower follows a young boy with visions of an apocalyptic future in which a powerful man, dubbed The Man in Black, lays waste to the universe. The film is based on the Stephen King book series.
12 Great Fantasy Movies That Bombed At The Box Office
Even great fantasy movies sometimes lose millions at the box office, as evidenced by these under-appreciated classics that flopped upon release.
1The Last Airbender (2010)
Directed By M. Night Shyamalan
The 2010s kicked things off with one of the most notorious fantasy movies of all time.The live-action movie adaptation ofAvatar: The Last Airbenderhas whitewashed characters, terrible acting (except for Dev Patel as Zuko), and a rushed storythat shows no understanding of what the saga of the Avatar is supposed to be. Bad technical and choreography choices also contributed to this movie being a disaster.
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The movie sets up a sequel, which is laughable evidence of how confident the makers were in its success. Unsurprisingly, when everyone hated the movie, the idea was abandoned until the show was rebooted a decade later by Netflix, which has been much better received. This is why,when thinking of the worst action movies of the 2010s,The Last Airbenderis doubtlessly one of the first titles that comes to mind.
The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender follows Aang, the young successor in a lineage of Avatars, as he embarks on a journey to stop the Fire Nation from dominating the Water, Earth, and Air nations. Based on the animated series, this film weaves themes of destiny and responsibility in a fantasy setting.
