Top 10 Movies That Didn't Live Up to the Hype

Rumors of an “Alien” origin story began as early as 2002, with director Ridley Scott expressing interest in exploring the origins of the aliens and the famous space jockey from the first movie. Although interest in the “Alien” series had petered out (mostly due to the awful “Alien Resurrection”), a lot of people were excited for a well-made and appropriately-budgeted prequel that would answer the series’ most tantalizing questions. Too bad it didn’t. “Prometheus” was finally released ten years after the rumors began, and many people were left disappointed by the quality of the writing and the movie’s lack of answers.

#9: “The Hobbit” franchise (2012-14)

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Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is arguably the greatest trilogy in cinematic history, and many people would argue that they are some of the greatest movies ever made. And while excitement for the “Hobbit” trilogy was high, some fans expressed hesitation upon hearing that it would be a trilogy. Their fears were, unfortunately, realized, as many critics condemned the series’ woefully bloated length. Other people criticized the high frame rate, and devout LOTR fans abhorred its use of mediocre CGI. On Rotten Tomatoes, the trilogy ranged from only 59 to 74%, whereas all three “Rings” films scored within the 90s.

#8: “Spider-Man 3” (2007)

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Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” is one of the earliest examples of the modern-day superhero blockbuster, and “Spider-Man 2” is damn-near universally regarded as being one of the better superhero movies of all time. And then “Spider-Man 3” happened. While the quality of this film may divide audiences and critics, there’s no denying that it’s the weakest film of the original trilogy. There were far too many characters and storylines, Venom was completely miscast and wasted, and we think we’d all like to forget symbiote Peter. There’s a great movie in here somewhere, but it’s buried under a lot of questionable filmmaking choices.

#7: “The Matrix Reloaded” & “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003)

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“The Matrix” is one of the most important movies in history, and it redefined what was possible with visual effects and a little imagination. And while some people were hesitant about a sequel, many others were excited at the prospect. Sure, these movies did contain some kickass sequences, like the freeway chase, the sequels were dreadfully disappointing. The story went in a really weird and confusing direction, the special effects were borderline bad (like the CGI-laden Burly Brawl), and “Revolutions” barely featured any of the characters we actually cared about. While the movies were hyped, many fans like to think that the story ended with Neo flying into the sky.

Bringing back an action franchise after 20 years is always a risk. On the one hand, you could redefine the franchise and introduce it to a new generation. On the other, you could end up with . . . this. Fans were left extremely divided with this fourth Indiana Jones film, as many hated the casting of Shia LaBeouf and the story based in science fiction rather than history and legend. It also received quite a bad rap for the infamous scene in which Indiana survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge. The term “nuking the fridge” even became one of TIME’s “top ten buzzwords” of the year.

#5: “A Wrinkle in Time” (2018)

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Hey, nobody’s perfect, even legendary studios: yeah, even Disney releases a clunker every now and then. “A Wrinkle in Time” was touted to be a sure-fire hit. After all, Disney was putting up $100 million to bring this beloved children’s book to the big screen. But we all let out a collective “meh” when we ended up watching it. Many people were disappointed with the plot holes and writing, awkward performances, questionable casting choices, and the addition of unnecessary action scenes. This movie proves that it takes more than extravagant sets, costumes and Oprah to capture an audience.

#4: “Alien 3” (1992)

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Following up two of the greatest science fiction movies ever made is . . . difficult. Doing it with a first-time director and terrible ‘90s CGI is even harder. “Alien 3” suffered quite a turbulent development period, and it shows in the finished product. Viewers were left immediately pissed off when they learned that Newt and Hicks had been indiscriminately killed off, off-screen. And what followed was two hours of paper-thin characters running around with a horribly-integrated CGI alien. Many people associated with the franchise, including James Cameron and David Fincher, have disowned the movie.

#3: “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006)

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The “X-Men” franchise is quite similar to “Spider-Man.” The first entry in the series is regarded as one of the earliest modern superhero blockbusters; and the sequel, even better. And then . . . the third movie is a huge disappointment. Fans hated the focus on Wolverine and Jean at the expense of other characters, and found the film to be a poor adaptation of the Phoenix Saga. Fans also hated the treatments of Cyclops and Mystique, the poor quality of the plot, and the stupidity of the characters. In short, it was everything that “X2” wasn’t.

#2: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016)

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If it wasn’t for one other movie (which we’ll get to shortly!), this would probably go down in movie history as the greatest disappointment of all time. We mean, this is freaking Batman and Superman finally duking it out on screen! This is what superhero fans have been waiting for for decades! And, as with “Suicide Squad,” and “Justice League” after it, we were all left terribly disappointed by the final result. Of course, the film does have its fans, and it isn’t entirely terrible, but a large majority of viewers found the movie, and particularly the battle scene, painfully underwhelming. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. - “Superman Returns” (2006) - “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” (2017) - “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)

#1: “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999)

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The amount of hype surrounding “The Phantom Menace” was simply unreal. This was going to be the movie to end all movies. And the resulting crushing mass disappointment is now the stuff of cinema legend. The characters were so forgettable and lame (uh, Jar Jar Binks anyone?); it was filled with lots of boring exposition; the writing was often laughable; and perhaps worst of all, (and tragically for him) Jake Lloyd just didn’t cut it. But hey, at least that Darth Maul was pretty cool, with the whole double lightsaber thing. Oh, and George Lucas made a ton o’ money. Right?