#1 Ghostbusters
This poor movie. This poor, poor movie. Before we even get into the specifics, let's just look at the record it has broken. It's the most disliked movie trailer ever released on YouTube. That right out the door is a bad, bad omen.
Looking past internet nerd rage, let's actually talk about why this trailer, and by extention movie, is so disliked. It's Ghostbusters, but with women. Now, that in itself isn't a bad move. Personally, I think they look great, especially lady-Egon. They really do look like lady-counterparts of the original cast.
However, in a world of nostalgia, there is a fine line between paying homage to a beloved franchise and stomping on the grave of one. This new story will happen in a world where Ghostbusters never existed, wiping away all knowledge of Egon, Ray, Peter and Winston. The movie could have done just as well by implying it was 30+ years in the future and the old team had retired, or even still existed and the leading ladies were another precinct of ghostbusters because the original team had become so successful that they expanded. Something like that would happen if you saved New York City from a giant Marshmallow Man…
Then there's the character, okay, I already said that they got the looks right. Melissa McCarthy does a pretty great Peter Venkman impression. Kristen Wiig does an okay Raymond impression, but Leslie Jones' character is just… hoo boy. She's obviously the stand in for Winston but man. "You guys are really smart about this science stuff, but I know New York"? They might as well have written her as Madea the Ghostbuster. Winston wasn't like that. He was a common man among scientists, sure, but this lady only belts out stereotypes through the whole trailer. One can only hope that she's more than just a walking stereotype in the actual film.
They also changed the theme song too much… I dunno. I love the old one.
You know what makes the trailer, and ultimately the movie, worth a second glance though? Kate Mckinnon. I love her. She's great and looks like an awesome genderbent cosplay of the cartoon Egon. I will most likely watch this movie solely for her and hope that the rest is just inflated internet rage. But with record breaking dislikes on YouTube, I feel sorry for the movie, even if some parts really do deserve it.
#2: Suicide Squad
This movie has me worrying, I want it to be good… but I just never really felt 100% about it. First of all, I totally want to see WIll Smith in a superhero movie, but I don't think his role as Deadshot is the best way of going about that. I also really like Margot Robbie as Harley, but from the trailers it seems to be Harley and friends, not the Suicide Squad. Then again, trailers are all about marketing and getting butts in seats, not accurately portraying a movie.
Perhaps the most worrying piece of information is what the crew behind this movie did after Deadpool hit theaters. They implied that Suicide will have more humor than initially let on and after Batman V Superman? They did a ton of reshoots. This movie seems to be having an identity crisis which does not bode well for anyone involved.
To finish off with a low hanging fruit, the movie has one other glaring problem: Executive Producer Zack Snyder.
#3: Assassin's Creed
I know people are pretty excited about this one, but I had to put it in here for my own personal worries. In the pre-Unity Era of Assassin's Creed, I was a major fan. I was a little iffy on the yearly release concept and Assassin's Creed 3 honestly bored me a bit. But the series was an all-time favorite of mine.
Then Unity happened. It was then that the cracks started to show. Story and breadth of the first few titles of the series were much more expansive than the following games. Revelations barely mattered at all besides the few minutes of present-day happenings, 3 starred a boring protagonist and some support characters that I can't even be bothered to remember, and Black Flag, let's face it, had nothing to do with Assassin's Creed. The series was running out of steam.
After Unity, they released Syndicate, which I hear was actually pretty good but the fatigue had already hit me. It was then that Ubisoft said they were taking a break from the yearly release schedule… the year a movie of the series comes out. This, ladies and gentlemen is why I worry about the game. Was the break in development just a way to stealthily shove more Assassin's down our throats through a different medium, or are they actually trying to refinish the paint job on my once-upon-a-time favorite franchise?
#4: Star Trek Beyond
Ever since J.J. Abrams started making the Star Trek movies in 2009, people have been divided on their success. The cold hard facts are: They did pretty great. They were pretty, people went to go see them, and they made a good amount of money.
But long time Star Trek fans have expressed their disapproval of the departure from the original series the movies have taken. This was especially true with Star Trek Into Darkness where Khan is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is truthfully the polar opposite of Ricardo Montalban, the original actor. Fans of the original series also complain about the lack of diplomacy and tact the new movies show.
Instead of playing a game of charismatic chess, they tend to go in phasers blazing and the trailer for Star Trek Beyond seems to change absolutely nothing about that. Is this just what people want, or will the third installment go Beyond the realm of acceptable change?
#5: Rogue One
Okay, I know what you're thinking. "Wow, what kind of clickbait BS is this?" But the day of recording this, news of extensive reshoots for Rogue One were revealed. Now, MAYBE this begs the question of how news travels in the 21st century with the internet. Did reshoots happen all the time in the days before Facebook and we just didn't know? Or did Rogue One only have enough awesome to fit into the reveal trailer?
According to a source at Page Six:
“The execs at Disney are not happy with the movie, and ‘Rogue One’ will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July.”
As a stoic defender of all things Star Wars (what prequels?) I almost didn't want to add this to today's list, but the question must be asked! Will Star Wars: Rogue One be a bust? Or is it all exaggeration and in fact, the Star Wars Franchise can do no wrong. (Jar Jar Who-now?)
Movies have become a hot button issue in 2016. With flops like Batman V Superman and record breaking hits like Deadpool, it seems like movies only have two options: destroy the box office or get destroyed themselves.
Of course, I'm not talking about the romantic comedys that come out every year or dramas, I'm talking about what matters – superhero movies, game movies, Star Wars – stuff like returning juggernaught franchises and superhero movies. These are special films in many people's hearts and seeing them fail can be detrimental to a poor nerd's health.
I pulled out the magic the Magic 8-Ball and tried to figure which movies were going to be ripped apart and this is what I came up with.
You can watch it in the video above or go through the following pages and see for yourself (with movie trailers so you can make up your own mind). What movies do you think will be flops? Let me know.
