The 10 Worst Movies of 2016
Overall, 2016 was an excellent year for movies, as evidenced by the number of films we’d strongly recommend adding to your queue on our list of the 50 best. But every bouquet of roses has its thorns, and there were some, um, sharp ones this year. That’s particularly true in the pre-sold franchise department, with big fails from the worlds of YA (Allegiant), gaming (Warcraft), and comics (both DC releases). Here are our picks for this year’s biggest turkeys.
10. Allegiant
And we thought Insurgent was bad. If The Divergent Series didn’t jump the shark with its 2015 sequel, it certainly did with this threequel — a sloppy and lifeless hooey-filled sci-fi flick that, admittedly, is beholden to some pretty weak source material.
9. The Forest
One of two terrible American movies about Japan’s infamous “suicide forest” released this year, The Forest is a turgid hike through horror clichés and nonsensical storytelling. Backpackers and horror fans alike would be wise to take the scenic route and avoid this washout.
8. Warcraft
There’s a good — possibly even great — movie buried somewhere in Duncan Jones’s overstuffed adaptation of the internationally-renowned video game. Unfortunately, that version of Warcraft is lost amidst truncated storylines, personality-free characters, and generic CGI violence.
7. USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage
Nicolas Cage headlined four films this year, and the worst of the bunch — by a lot — was this dramatic account of the famed WWII ship sunk by a Japanese torpedo. Chintzy special effects and unconvincing performances abound, though its biggest crime is saddling Cage with a painfully bland lead role.
6. Independence Day: Resurgence
Will Smith’s best career decision in 2016 was saying “No” to the sequel that nobody was asking for. Indifferently directed by Roland Emmerich, Resurgence manages to be less exciting — and looks more dated — than the original ID video game… which was made in 1997.
5. Get A Job
After a four-year delay, this comedy arrived in theaters in 2016 — only to disappoint. Miles Teller and Anna Kendrick are charmless in this unfunny story about entitled twentysomethings who deserve nothing, but eventually get everything. It’s a film to make you hate millennials.
4. Suicide Squad
2016 proved DC has yet to master its cinematic universe. If the grim Batman v Superman wasn’t bad enough, David Ayer’s anticipated Suicide Squad proved no consolation prize, wasting charismatic performances of Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) and Will Smith (Deadshot) in a frenetic, incoherent antihero teamup that spent more time on its soundtrack than screenplay. There’s always Wonder Woman, right?
3. Ice Age: Collision Course
It might be unfair to put a kids movie on here, but it’s not like they can go to the movies by themselves. We still had to sit through this forced, painfully unfunny sequel. In an incredibly impressive year for animation, Ice Age substituted story for slapstick and humor for horrible puns.
2. Collateral Beauty
Will Smith’s worst career decision in 2016 was saying “Yes” to this uniquely bizarre attempt at a heart-tugging drama. In a year where “gaslighting” was the word on everyone’s lips, Collateral Beauty offers not just one, but two improbable plot twists that will leave you doubting your own sanity.
1. The Sea of Trees
Back in 2015, Cannes audiences greeted Gus Van Sant’s treacly, culturally tone deaf film with boos. They’d gotten a sneak peek at what we’d all eventually learn when it hit theaters this year — that this fake-profound tale of a suicidal American (Matthew McConaughy) who travels to Japan’s Aokigahara forest would’ve been better off staying lost in the woods.
Check out our ranking of the 50 best films of 2016:
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