Worst Movies of 2018 So Far

It’s that time of year again. We have reached the halfway point of 2018 so it’s time to take a look at the worst movies of 2018. Below is a consensus list of our top 10 worst movies of the year so far.

Now how did we get this list? Myself, along our other contributors (Daniel Azbel, Dylan S. Phillips, Critics Without Credentials, Jason from Jason’s Movie Blog) took our individual top 10 lists and scored each movie from 1 to 10 with our #1 movies getting 10 points and our #10 movies getting 1 point. The 10 movies with the most points make up our list.

1. The 15:17 to Paris 21points(tie)

The first of two films tied for the worst of the year so far has to be this Clint Eastwood train wreck. While his track record as a director is promising, Eastwood decides to hire the real-life heroes to play themselves in this film and it does not translate well. Mix in an exposition-heavy narrative with scenes that play like a campy hallmark movie and this historical drama becomes a tiresome bore fest that tries to create a story centered around a moment of heroism. Some real-life stories don’t have the backbone to support a feature length film and this one certainly fails to deliver.

-Dylan S. Phillips

2. The Cloverfield Paradox 21points(tie)

The second of the two is this terribly executed attempt of a science fiction thriller. What looked like a promising franchise thanks to the surprise hit Cloverfield and the psychological thrill ride of 10 Cloverfield Lane comes close to losing any redeeming qualities thanks to this abysmal disappointment of a film. It starts off with a great premise and setup centered on a stellar cast, but goes downhill from there cascading into an exposition-heavy, bloated and completely unoriginal sci-fi horror that more or less tacks on the Cloverfield brand to include it in the franchise.

-Dylan S. Phillips

3. Show Dogs 15points

What did you really expect here? Live-action talking animal movies have not fared well and this one was no different. Prepare for a 92 minute state of cringe as a revolving door of obnoxious characters yell unfunny lines at you. The story is pretty much a non-starter and its fascination with dog privates will surely lead to a few uncomfortable questions. The film did boast a decent cast but it doesn’t matter with an atrocious script and direction. While the animals themselves could have been the saving grace, everything about them was cheap thanks to awkward animation and distractingly bad lip syncing. This one should be taken behind the shed and put out of its misery.

-Keith Noakes

4. Fifty Shades Freed 14points(tie)

I’ve never been as tough with the Fifty Shades movie series as most people. They’re nowhere near cinematic masterpieces but at least they were stupid fun. Who doesn’t like a train wreck? All the ingredients are there. The acting is bad, the writing is bad (the books themselves were never literary masterpieces either), and the direction is mediocre. The second film was actually an improvement over the first, albeit a slight one, however the third and final movie of the series is the worst of the three. Everything felt phoned in this time around which made it dull to watch though fans of the series still ate it up so why try?

-Keith Noakes

5. A Wrinkle in Time 14points(tie)

Literary author Madeleine L’Engle book A Wrinkle in Time gets a big screen adaptation with plenty of big named stars (i.e. Winfrey, Kaling, and Witherspoon) and with a promise to deliver. Unfortunately, while film’s visual and technical presentation is huge positive selling point and the story has a strong universally messages, the movie can’t overcome its extremely clunky dialogue, it’s uneven flow, underdeveloped characters (both major and minor), inexperienced acting, perplexing narrative stances, confusing plot holes, and rushed (and lacklustre) ending act. Some movies reach for the stars and achieve cinematic greatness, but A Wrinkle in Time fails to do so, providing a beautiful but messy and underwhelming kid’s fantasy adventure.

-Jason

6. Action Point 13points

The Jackass style of humor dominated the early 2000s and has now tapered off during the last decade. Trying to stay relevant, Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass team bring that same brand of humor to this new film though the problem is that this type of humor just isn’t funny anymore and is just sad. While fans of laughing at people getting hurt should find plenty of enjoy here if there are still any, that’s pretty much all this movie has to offer and it quickly becomes tiresome. It tries to redeem the sheer stupidity with a story, however, it was just hard to care at that point and simply made things worse. Perhaps the worst part was its nostalgia factor but it managed to waste that too.

-Keith Noakes

7. Proud Mary 12points

Proud Mary was marketed as a female John Wick through its trailers and while I was incredibly hopeful going into the theater before seeing this I left the theater the maddest I have ever been in years. In short, it was awful and easily one of the worst movies I have seen in the past five years. Taraji P. Henson plays someone devoid of emotion until the very end and even then her poorly developed character limits her ability to show any range. Her stunted acting is matched with an equally stunted story that halfway through realizes that its focus towards Mary’s attempt to leave the life of a killer isn’t enough and so it introduces a family plot twist that you can see coming from a mile away. The entire film looks and feels as if it were filmed over the course of a weekend and offers no entertainment whatsoever. Proud Mary came out in January and as I write this in June I am still not past seeing this in theaters.

-Critics Without Credentials

8. Life of the Party 10points(tie)

I like Melissa McCarthy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think she’s given up. What’s scary is that she’s about one more PG-13 comedy away from following the same career path as Will Ferrell. You might think that to be a compliment, it’s not. Life of the Party is the perfect example of McCarthy’s strength in a Rated-R comedy rather than PG-13. She’s proven countless times that given her improv ability alongside other comedians and actors that share her rhythm she is able to shine as an actress than if she were just given a scene and told to just go for it. In Life of the Party, she is left to her own devices and attempts to the carry the movie to a better and funnier place but simply can’t due to the weight of a saddled script that does nothing to offer her support outside of occasionally featuring Maya Rudolph.

-Critics Without Credentials

9. Mary Shelley 10points(tie)

One of the toughests sits I’ve been subject to, this was a truly bland and un-special film that brings nothing new to the table. Aside from some alright performances, this was quite unmemorable and boring, and one of the more lackluster films of TIFF 2017.

-Daniel Azbel

10. Pacific Rim: Uprising 10points(tie)

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim was ode to the classic giant monster / giant robots of old and spoke to a more “modern”blockbuster audience. Its sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising, just has a hard time measuring up to its predecessor. While actor John Boyega seems to anchor the film (and seems to be enjoying the role), the movie feels different from Del Toro’s vision. Coupled with undeveloped / bland characters, a goofy story, several plot holes, and lacking substance, Pacific Rim: Uprising is an imperfect sequel that disappoints.

-Jason

(Dis)honorable Mentions

12. Red Sparrow 9points(tie)

13. Insidious: The Last Key 9points(tie)

14. Solo: A Star Wars Story 8points

Here are our individual top 10 lists:

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.