The 10 Worst Movies of 2015
- 1/10
10. ‘Insurgent’
The smash success of The Hunger Games set off a rush to buy up and adapt dystopian YA novels; unfortunately, none of them has come anywhere close to being anywhere near as good or successful as The Hunger Games. The only half-decent wannabe of the lot, 2014’s Divergent, got a very long and boring sequel in this year’s Insurgent, which has none of the political smarts or visual production values of any Hunger Games movies, not to mention a certain Oscar-nominated lead actress. – Jordan Zakarin (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 2/10
9. ‘The Boy Next Door’
Granted, this utterly predictable “thriller” about a hot mom (Jennifer Lopez) stalked by her high school neighbor (28-year-old Ryan Guzman) almost qualifies for so-bad-it’s-good status, if only for its ludicrous barnyard finale. But that means we’d have to admit there was pleasure had watching it, and beyond a sex scene that drew audience applause, that ain’t happening. – Kevin Polowy (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 3/10
8. ‘Aloha’
Alternate title: Lost in Paradise. Writer-director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) must have been so distracted by the lush Hawaiian scenery that he simply forgot to write a script, leaving the appealing cast flailing in his wake. Wasting Emma Stone, let alone Billy Murray, is enough to rank as a national tragedy. – E.A. (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 4/10
7. ‘Terminator Genisys’
Every movie studio wants to be in the franchise business, and for some that don’t have comic books or Star Wars, that requires rummaging through the past properties to see if they can revive an old moneymaker. Paramount tried to inject some new life into the Terminator series with its old star, Arnold Schwarzenegger. They retconned the time-traveling story line, recast classic characters like Sarah Connor, and made a movie that wanted to make money so bad, it forgot it had to be worth watching. – J.Z. (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 5/10
6. ‘Hot Pursuit’
A comedic disaster of such epic proportions that it leaves you feeling bad for everyone involved, especially Reese Witherspoon (a buttoned-up cop protecting Sofia Vergara’s mob witness), an Oscar nominee a year ago who goes all in to the tune of few very laughs. At least the lead actresses grew extremely close on the road filming it. But this one is like Thelma and Louise meets… a really, really awful movie. – K.P. (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 6/10
5. ‘Strange Magic’
The lump of coal at the bottom of the Lucasfilm stocking that Disney purchased in 2012, this George Lucas-conceived animated oddity was reportedly in the works for some 15 years. Based on the lifeless 3D animation and awkward integration of pop songs into a sketchy fairy tale world, it probably should have remained locked in the vault. – E.A. (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 7/10
4. ‘Pixels’
A promising premise — invading aliens in the form of retro arcade characters inspired by a delightfully clever short film — gets squandered by the Adam Sandler machine. You’d think having Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Centipede running amok across the globe would make a fun romp, but Sandler barely seems to care. Neither should we. Game over, dude. – Marcus Errico (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 8/10
3. ‘Mortdecai’
It was a formulaic art-heist comedy so aggressively hated by critics, the title should’ve been Mort-ify. Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow’s fake British accents and lack of chemistry weren’t the worst thing about this movie, but rather its sophomoric gags and litany of awkward sex jokes that reeked of cliché. – Meriah Doty (Photo: Everett Collection)
- 9/10
2. ‘The Cobbler’
This bizarre stab at magic realism features Adam Sandler as the titular shoemaker with a sewing machine that allows him to morph into his costumer’s bodies. This was meant to be one of the Sandman’s dramatic indie films, yet he approaches it with all the charisma of a man with a rock in his sneaker. Shockingly directed by Tom McCarthy (whose other film this year, Spotlight, tops our best-of list), this misstep should’ve gotten the boot. – Brian Mann (Photo: Image Entertainment)
- 10/10
1. ‘Fantastic Four’
More like the Floptastic Four (ba-dum-bum). The ingredients were there for a Marvel-ous franchise: hot director (Josh Trank) with indie chops and superhero-movie cred; a cast of smart, young up-and-comers; and one of the richest comics history to draw on. But the project got bogged down by bad backstage buzz, and the finished flick was a joyless, aimless excursion into the wrong dimension. Want a real fantastic foursome? Watch (or rewatch) Pixar’s Incredibles instead. – M.E. (Photo: Everett Collection)
As filmmakers and actors will tell you time and time again, it is extremely difficult to make a great movie. There are so many factors that need to jibe together, from hiring the best director to finding the right tone to establishing believable chemistry between the leads. For 10 recent examples of how these things can easily go so gloriously wrong, look no further than the following list of our picks for this year’s worst of the very worst. (Go here to see our list of The 40 Best Movies of 2015.)