Not every Hollywood release can be a home run, but that doesn't make it any better when
you have to sit through a terrible movie.
In 2018, these are the films that perked up our ears but left us utterly disappointed
on release.
These are the worst movies of the summer.
Action Point
On paper, Action Point seemed like sure-fire comedy gold.
The film is based on the infamously, dangerously real Action Park and features Johnny Knoxville
and his pals putting themselves in harm's way for our entertainment.
"Action Park, this place in New Jersey, it is the most dangerous theme park of all time,
hands down."
It seemed like it would be full of insane stunts, but Action Point arrived in theaters
only to fall right on its face.
Amazingly, many critics found Action Point not insane enough.
Reno News and Review critic Bob Grimm, who survived the actual Action Park as a child,
called it
"basically an insult to the legend of Action Park - or Death Park, as we liked to call
it."
Gotti
A passion project for star John Travolta, the biopic Gotti arrived after cycling through
producers and directors at an alarming rate.
Its release date was pushed back several times as a result, and when it finally landed in
theaters, all that discord was visible right there on the screen.
Many critics praised Travolta's committed performance, even though it was delivered
in the service of a borderline-incoherent film.
The New York Times Glenn Kenny concurred, saying that
"That the long-gestating crime drama Gotti is a dismal mess comes as no surprise.
What does shock is just how multifaceted a dismal mess it is."
The Happytime Murders
Starring Melissa McCarthy as a human police detective in a world where people coexist
with sentient puppets, The Happytime Murders had all the makings of a raunchy, edgy laugh-fest.
Unfortunately the film arrived without any of the laughs.
The production is the first from Henson Alternative, an adult-themed offshoot of the late Jim Henson's
studio, and was helmed by his son Brian - both facts that seemed to depress the majority
of critics.
Bloody Disgusting's Scott Weinberg summed it up as
"ugly, mean-spirited and aggressively redundant"
and his fellow critics seemed to agree.
Gringo
If this is your first time hearing of the action/comedy flick Gringo, you're not alone.
The film flopped spectacularly in wide release, grossing only about $11 million worldwide
despite an insanely accomplished cast featuring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, and Amanda
Seyfried.
The story follows a mild-mannered American who goes wild on a trip south of the border,
but the film failed to make an impact on audiences and critics alike.
Rolling Stone's David Fear called it
"a 'romp' that's keen on going nowhere."
Most of the critical venom was reserved for its unfunny, contrived mess of a screenplay,
on which the film's amazing cast was apparently completely wasted.
"He has that, like, shoulder holster gun thing under his arms!
Maybe he's a cop or like an FBI guy or, no, a DEA guy."
Slender Man
Fans could be forgiven for approaching Slender Man with a healthy amount of trepidation.
Plot details had been kept tightly under wraps during the film's production, and the entire
endeavor wasn't helped by the real-life tragic case of a young girl was stabbed nearly to
death.
But when the film hit theaters, it became clear why we hadn't heard much about the plot
- there wasn't much of one to speak of.
Critics absolutely flogged the picture for its paper-thin story and lack of any genuine
scares, with John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter calling it
"One of the most boring wide-release horror flicks of recent years" and it's hard to disagree.
Kin
The debut feature of twin brothers Jonathan and Josh Baker, Kin sports an interesting
sci-fi premise: a teenager and his recently paroled older brother find a powerful futuristic
weapon while tangling with a local drug lord.
Kin mashes up elements of road movies, family adventures and futuristic thrillers, but that
wide net of influences is the problem.
Critics almost universally complained about the film's wildly uneven tone.
The film also failed to hit the sweet spot either as a sci-fi action movie or as a family
drama; as Jake Coyle of the Associated Press put it,
"Given the film's title, and that the filmmakers are themselves twins, you would expect the
brother relationship at the heart of the movie to be something more than it is."
Game Over, Man!
A sort of comedic spin on Die Hard, Game Over, Man! features Workaholics stars Adam Devine,
Blake Anderson, and Anders Holm as regular joes forced to fight back against terrorists.
Unfortunately, the film is packed with unnecessary raunchiness and vulgarity far more often than
that premise would seem to justify.
[Gun shots]
Charles Bramesco of The Guardian had one of the harshest criticisms for the film, writing
that:
"With its inexplicable combination of phallic revulsion, fascination, and revulsion at its
own fascination, this wretched film hates itself more than we ever could."
The Darkest Minds
Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson looked set to launch a lucrative new franchise with The
Darkest Minds, but the film wasn't good enough for one movie, let alone sequels.
By and large, critics found that Minds simply wasn't original enough.
Its extreme derivativeness wasn't helped by a confusing script that rushed through important
plot points and even the photography was called out for being drab and visually unappealing.
Dana Schwartz of Entertainment Weekly called The Darkest Minds
"a Mad-Libs version of a dystopian YA adaptation done by someone who saw half of an X-Men movie
on TV once, with no depth, no new ideas, and no point."
Life of the Party
Following a recently divorced middle-aged woman that goes back to college, Life of the
Party seemed like the perfect setup for some bravura Melissa McCarthy setpieces.
But McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone, who co-wrote the picture, inexplicably failed
to provide the comedy fuel to make this star vehicle run.
Critics lambasted the film and poor script, with The Atlantic's Christopher Orr writing
that the film
"doesn't live up to either of the nouns in its title."
"Oh, I'm sorry!
Right in the lady business."
"It's not funny!
It's not funny."