Lionsgate
It ’s a coarse misconception that the most disappointing movies of the year are also the worst film . There is some overlap between them , but you wo n’t find pic likeMadame WeborKraven the Hunteron this list . We never expected those picture to be any salutary , so it was inconceivable for them to disappoint us . The real disappointment are the films that had the potential to be something more than they turned out to be . An interesting assumption , a neat cast , and even highly anticipated subsequence can go a prospicient way toward work up up expectations .
Although there are far bad films this year — which we ’ll get to in our end - of - the - year round - up — the come after flick are our picks for the seven most disappointing movies of 2024 .
Lionsgate
7. Trap
commend when M. Night Shyamalan looked like he might become one of the practiced filmmakers of his generation ? If it seems like that was a long fourth dimension ago , that ’s because it really was about two X in the past . After starting out so strongly withThe Sixth Sense , Unbreakable , and others , Shyamalan got himself bogged down in trying to have a arresting twist in each and every movie .
Trapkind of hand away its biz with the first trailer for the film , which revealed that Josh Hartnett ’s girl - dad case was in reality a serial orca stuck at a concert with his teenage daughter that was specifically meant to ensnare him for law enforcement agency . That was an interesting assumption , and Hartnett ’s been due for a retort sincePenny Dreadfulcame to an end .
To his credit , Hartnett eat up up his function with abloom . He ’s just amaze in a maddeningly stupid and implausible moving-picture show that hardly resembles realness by the time that Shyamalan gets through with it . It ’s almost as if the director has forgotten how to make characters who even vaguely act like normal human existence . And who did Shyamalan cast as the Taylor Swift - corresponding champion that everyone was there to see ? His own girl , Saleka Night Shyamalan . “ What a twist ! ”
6. Argylle
What happened to Matthew Vaughn ? His movie used to be a lot of sport , and his first superhero flick — X - man : First Class — was one of the best movies that 20th Century Fox ever made with Marvel characters . On paper , Argyllelooked like it was going to intercept into the same military action - comedy mineral vein as Vaughn’sKingsman — the first one , not the lacklustre sequel or even bad prequel . Vaughn also put a blaze of a cast together for this picture , admit Bryce Dallas Howard , Sam Rockwell , Bryan Cranston , Samuel L. Jackson , and Henry Cavill . That definitely got our hope up .
Shockingly , Vaughn was n’t able-bodied to deliver on any of that hope . It feel like a Matthew Vaughn film to a mistake and hits a lot of the same beat that we ’ve seen before . But this playscript bend itself into a pretzel to suit its wrench and comes off as artificial and unentertaining . This is the variety of film that Vaughn should have been able to make in his sleep , although we have to enquire if he actually was numb when he made this . That would explain a lot .
5. Hellboy: The Crooked Man
The only way thatHellboy : The Crooked Manmanaged to avoid disappointing more fans in 2024 was by skip over theaters altogether . If you ’ve ever have a go at it the Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movies or even the one that hadStranger Things ‘ David Harbour in the result theatrical role , outride far away from this one . It will have you down on every level .
There are no redeeming qualities in this movie , and it ’s shocking how crummy it appear , founder that this film supposedly had a $ 20 million budget . Director Brian Taylor ’s camera selection are as bland as can be , and some scenes are even inexplicably bleary . Hellboy Divine Mike Mignola co - wrote the playscript , which only fix it more amazing that it could n’t recapture the fun and excitation of the previous picture . This movie is presently in direct - to - video purgatory , and it should detain there forever .
4. Drive-Away Dolls
It turns out that a film directed by one Coen pal is n’t in the same beetleweed as a movie point by both Coen brother . Ethan Coen went solo withDrive - Away Dolls , a moving-picture show he co - wrote with his married woman , Tricia Cooke . And a lesbian gal - pal route trip with a severed top dog and a collection of something unmentionable in the trunk while being pursue by mobster does sound like something the Coen brother would do together . But from the poor instruction execution , it seems that Joel Coen was very lost .
The Substance‘s Margaret Qualley comes out of it completely unscathed because her carrying into action is the best thing in the movie . We just ca n’t say that an Ethan Coen solo movie is going to get our expectations zoom again .
3. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
If anyone ’s surprised that an Oscar - winning director like Kevin Costner does n’t always have the best instincts for what makes a good moving-picture show , then they clearly have n’t seenWaterworldorThe Postman . Costner only directed the latter of those two , but he was also partially responsible for a lot of the mistakes made in the former .
Regardless , Costner ’s affinity for Westerns led him to bet on himself withHorizon : An American Saga , the first of what was meant to be four epic movies . Costner ’s piece of work onDances with Wolveswas large , so it was n’t a stretchability to desire that this project could recapture some of that film ’s spirit .
rather , Horizonpulled up like a stagecoach with a boring and bloated hand that was more puzzling than entertaining . Costner set the microscope stage with so many character that keeping track of them all is hard , and most of them are n’t right served by the tale . Regardless , Costner has n’t given up on his dream , and he ’s still working on the third Horizon movie . Yet , withHorizon 2on indefinite hold and without a firm release escort , it ’s hard to see how Costner can exchange the negative first impression that this pic left behind . Was it really worth blowing upYellowstonefor this ?
2. Joker: Folie à Deux
The firstJokermovie may not have had Batman or a comic - book - accurate narration , but it was unimpeachably a giving hit that a bombastic portion of the lover al-Qaida cover . UntilDeadpool & Wolverinecame along , Jokerwas the highest - gross radius - rated pic of all time . The sequel , Joker : Folie à Deux , had a lot of good will from fan , all of which steadily wane as it became exculpated that director Todd Phillips was driven to include some musical element in the script for Arthur Fleck ( Joaquin Phoenix ) and Harleen “ Lee ” Quinzel ( Lady Gaga ) .
To make a recollective floor short , the respectable audience of the firstJokerfilm stay home , and those who saw the subsequence werelargely put off by its ending . This film is a tour de force for dashing fan Bob Hope and expectations .
1. Megalopolis
In the year 2024 , could the No . 1 pick on this list be anything byMegalopolis ? To be sure , there were plenty of red flags on the way toward this motion-picture show ’s release , and the bombilation was anything but good . However , Francis Ford Coppola is licitly one of the greatest director in movie house history . The Godfather , The Godfather Part II , andApocalypse Nowspeak to that , and that allowed him some welfare of the doubt thatMegalopoliswas going to be more than just an out - of - control vanity undertaking .
Think of it this way : Megalopolisis only disappointing if you were require something that reflected some of Coppola ’s past workplace . As a stand - alone movie , it ’s the most gonzo and insane motion-picture show of the year with a nonsensical story , an all - star cast overacting in a script they hardly seem to realise , a freakish sci - fi skin senses , and metaphors for the potential gloaming of America . Not every covering ofMegalopolisgot the vista where Adam Driver ’s Cesar Catilina talks to a live actor in the theater .
We ca n’t say thatMegalopoliswasn’t ambitious or that it was n’t the fulfillment of Coppola ’s dreaming . It was just a disappointment that it could n’t survive up to the 40 old age of effort that Coppola put into it … along with a sizable portion of his personal luck .
