Top 10 Most Hated British Movies
There's plenty of widely loved British films… but these aren't they. For a variety of reasons, these movies have either been critically derided, have angered or disappointed fans, and have earned themselves a less than impressive reputation.
Special thanks to our user ashjbow for submitting the idea on our interactive suggestion tool: WatchMojo.comsuggest
#10: “Love Actually” (2003)
Not a bad movie per se, this is the quintessential rom-com… Which makes it a go to movie to despise for anyone who’s dead against the genre. And, if you’re one of those, then “Love Actually”s near two and half hour run time is borderline torturous. Of course, the film’s actually comprised of ten separate-but-linked stories, making it a myriad of rom-coms all in one. It packs an impressive cast mind you, but with Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and all the usual suspects included. Liam Neeson also has a key role, and yet doesn’t even kill anybody! Blasphemy!
#9: “Resident Evil” (2002)
Anyone’s who’s familiar with the video game series knows the promise for an epic, nightmarish feature that this title offers. Unfortunately, that potential has yet to be reached. Less a horror and more a high-tech, over-complicated action flick, the film forgoes the creepy atmosphere of the games in exchange for a generic sci-fi experience. The fact the most innovative scene consists of death by lasers and doesn’t even involve zombies pretty much sums up the hate fans have for it. And the barrage of sequels that followed? Just salt on the zombie wounds.
#8: “Pimp” (2010)
A rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and only a reported £205 drawn at the box office speaks for itself. Clearly, not a lot of people saw this one, but judging by the reviews, the few who did certainly hated it! The film is a mockumentary following a London-based - you guessed it - pimp, who gets tangled up in a murder mystery. Relative unknown Robert Cavanagh wrote, starred in and directed this incredible misfire, taking along the likes of Billy Boyd and Danny Dyer for the painfully lacklustre ride.
#7: “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017)
On paper, a King Arthur flick directed by Guy Ritchie seems like the perfect recipe for success. Especially as it reunited Richie with Jude Law, who co-starred in his ultra-fun Sherlock Holmes movies. If he could triumphantly update one legendary British character for modern audiences, surely he could do it again? But, no such luck. The CGI-heavy fight scenes were a peculiar choice given the setting, and the retelling of the story offered nothing original. As far as Guy’s back catalogue goes, this is one of the biggest blips.
#6: “Peter Rabbit” (2018)
James Corden voicing the eponymous character is enough to warrant this entry alone. Even in rabbit form, some will just never take to him. Admirers of “Peter Rabbit” creator Beatrix Potter’s original books were also left disappointed as the film drastically altered the source material. Some viewers even called for a boycott over one scene involving alleged ‘allergy bullying’, while Potter’s biographer even went as far to suggest that Beatrix herself wouldn’t have liked the movie – which is probably as big an insult as you can get!
#5: “Fat Slags” (2004)
Based on the “Viz” comic strip, this live-action take failed to capture any of the humour or heart which made it so loved on the page. It was unanimously panned by critics, with I.Q. Hunter, a historian of British film, putting it in contention for one of the worst British movies ever made. The artist of the strip - Graham Dury - perhaps deterred by the critical reception, famously chose not to watch the film even once. Cameos from Geri Halliwell and Dolph Lundgren couldn’t even save this one!
#4: “Keith Lemon: The Film” (2012)
“Keith Lemon: The Film” sees “Pimp”’s aforementioned 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating, matches it, and then raises it three BARFTA awards. Leigh Francis’ cinematic take on his fan favourite TV character cleaned up at the spoof BAFTAs, picking up Worst Film, Worst Dialogue and Worst Female Acting performance. Oh, is that all? Evidently, Leigh is better off on the small screen as this was a world away from the hilarity of “Bo’ Selecta!” or “Celebrity Juice”. It’s safe to say, there won’t be a “Keith Lemon: The Sequel” any time soon.
#3: “Thunderbirds” (2004)
The beloved ‘60s sci-fi puppet show finally got a live action do over in 2004… and it was a critical and commercial bomb. The major plot choice to side-line the main characters from the original TV series, and instead focus on their offspring, proved a pretty severe mistake – irking “Thunderbirds” fans all over the world. Even the series creator, Gerry Anderson, stuck the boot in good and proper, calling the film “The biggest load of crap” he’d seen in his “entire life”. Harsh but fair, Gerry. Harsh but fair.
#2: “Die Another Day” (2002)
So poorly received was Pierce Brosnan's fourth outing as Bond, that it effectively forced an entire rethink for the super-spy franchise, which had been running for forty years when this film was released. As if the series hadn’t already jumped the shark an instalment earlier – when 007 acquired X-Ray glasses – his invisible car this time round really put the nail in the coffin. With fans and critics up in arms. Fortunately, it wasn’t a final goodbye to Bond, though. The Daniel Craig start over assured the series would truly live on to ‘die another day’.
#1: “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (2003)
This is the film that became the precursor to Sean Connery’s retirement, and it’s likely at least partly responsible for Alan Moore’s reluctance to link his name to adaptations of his works. While it appeared to completely miss the point of its source material, with the studio even adding a character to Americanise proceedings, production of this five-star flop was plagued by on-set differences between Connery and director - Stephen Norrington. It seems laughable now, but “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” was intended to spawn a franchise… What is it with comic book team-up blockbusters with the word ‘league’ in the title?
