Another year draws to a close and another year of movies go into the vaults. 2019 felt like a disappointing year where many films and franchises failed to live up to their expectations. 2019 trails the 2018 box office but sits in line with 2017. The last key here of course is a big one. How much can Rise of Skywalker turn in before years end? I saw more movies than I thought I would this year, and it seems like there are a small handful of films vying for the top movie of the year and a whole lot in the mediocre range. Of the twenty seven movies I have seen, here are the top 5 worst movies of 2019. (Note: big bombs like Men in Black: International are missing because I never saw them.)
Worst of 2019 #5 – Captain Marvel
Now many I’m sure are wondering what this movie is doing in a top 5 WORST movies list. This movie could have been so much more than it was. I walked out of this movie thoroughly bored and ho-hum. While the scripting plays a part, the largest blame lays squarely on Brie Larson. Her performance was flat. She added nothing to the character as she seemed to walk through the part, totally emotionless, and her off screen, anti-men ranting of both viewers and costars killed all good will towards a Marvel staple.
The movie also followed the typical Marvel movie formula. The first dozen films that’s fine, but when your title count reaches the 20s, you better reinvent something. The script was 100% safe, took no risks and did not push the character in the slightest. This may not be a worse movie so much as a major disappointment.
Worst of 2019 #4 – Godzilla: King of Monsters
I loved the first Godzilla film, but I agree it focused a bit too much on the humans with Godzilla remaining in the background for 80% of the film. They promised more in this movie and while technically they might be right, more didn’t equal better.
Perhaps the most disappointing part was the human cast. It was totally wasted. Millie Bobbie Brown did adequate with what she was given. Charles Dance was wasted, save for the end credit scene and the promise of more. They had the pieces in place, they simply did not make use of them at all.
Instead they relied on a pathetic script using environmentalist wacko movements to push the film. That grew old really quick and killed most of the believability of the plot.
The monster fighting entertained, but even it fell a bit flat. It never lived up to the expectations of having multiple Kaiju all fighting at once. Let’s hope the addition of Kong to the next one will help.
Worst of 2019 #3 – Doctor Sleep
The first half of Doctor Sleep was long, boring, and positively disgusting. If a movie resorts to a demons feeding on and torturing a kid, it has nothing going for it. Once the fights began the pace picked up and was slightly better, but the problem is I hate horror movies. I saw The Shining for the first time a week before this movie. I hated it so much I was in full MST3K mode the whole movie.
Title: Thursday
Title: Monday
Me: That’s sacrilegious! They left out Sunday! For shame! Blasphemous bastards!
Doctor Sleep did a better job setting up and explaining what the shining actually was unlike the original, but in the end, McGregor was not enough to salvage this film even though he and costar Kyliegh Curran were very good. I still do not get the whole Doctor Sleep title either. Guess I have to read the book.
Worst of 2019 #2 – Midway
I so wanted to love Midway. I love Pacific theater WWII and the Battle of Midway turned the tide of the war. If one studies it, its amazing how many flukes, turn of luck, and indecisions went into that victory. Wee probably should not have won that day but fortune favored us…. unlike this movie.
This movie seemed to want to cover every single event, communique and person involved from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the battle itself. As Bilbo said, it was “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” The length and lack of focus made the movie drag and made no event feel very important. They had to cast a big-name actor for every major name in the war and give them a few minutes. The movie came out long and diluted. Stick to the 1976 version.
Worst of 2019 #1 – Detective Pikachu
This one baffles even me. I have never favored Pokémon even though I know it well. Digimon will always be #1. I love Ryan Reynolds as well, but I watched this movie and was never hooked. Nothing ever drew me in or made me excited to be there. For many this was a surprise hit, but I just was not feeling it. I hardly expect movies like this to amongst the great mystery movies, but I saw every move coming from the beginning of the film. Pokémon fans went bonkers over the sheer number of Pokémon shown in the film, and it was cool they made it so realistic with today’s world, but something about this movie just fell completely flat.
Worst of 2020 Final Thoughts
This is undoubtedly the weirdest bottom 5 group of movies I think I have ever done. I know there were far worse out there. Let’s face it. We all know Cats will be the worst film of the year, but like I said, if I didn’t see it, I can’t count it. So many movies this year just fell into that blah middle ground. They didn’t suck but they weren’t what fans were hoping either. Wait til you see the top 10. For me it’s just as weird as this bottom five!
