The M. Night Shyamalan adaptation of the hit cartoon show “Avatar: The Last Airbender” ended up disappointing fans of the series. Critic Roger Ebert said, “’The Last Airbender’ is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented.” It comes off harsh, but that was extremely representative of the wave of criticism the movie received. The screenplay was lackluster at best, and there was issues trying to cram so much material in such a short running time. The movie was Shyamalan’s most expensive movie, but all the graphics couldn’t save the poor storyline. “The Last Airbender” was supposed to be the first of a trilogy, but the rest of the movies were cut after the criticism.
“Glitter” (2001)
“Glitter” is a romantic musical drama that features pop star Mariah Carey. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has only a rating of six percent. Even with Mariah’s star power, the movie simply could not be saved. Most critics pointed out the hodgepodge of movie clichés and bad acting that generated a bunch of unintentional laughs. Carey’s fans even started to talk poorly about her acting, saying she was emotionless and should “stick to singing”. Ouch! Carey herself though has discussed the film’s poor performance and tried to distance herself from it. She stated that the concept of the film was lacking substance from the start, dooming it for failure and leaving it only appealing to 10-year-olds.
“The Happening” (2008)
“The Happening” is another M. Night Shyamalan movie that didn’t make the cut. “The Happening”, which starred Hollywood’s A-listers Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, was an apocalyptic thriller that left viewers dissatisfied and underwhelmed. The backlash from the movie was so bad, that even the actors started coming out and saying they disliked the movie. Shyamalan said that the tone of the movie turned off audiences, and that he made the humor to inconsistent for it to be a good movie. While there are some people who did enjoy it, it overall flopped with critics and was not worth the time to watch.
“Meet The Spartans“ (2008)
Parody films are funny in theory, but most of the time they are huge flops. “Meet the Spartans” referenced many films, TV shows, and pop culture events but mainly focused on the 2007 film “300”. It opened number one at the box office, but quickly gained huge criticism for its mindless gags and awful CGI. Like other parody films, the movie resorted to gross-out jokes, sex jokes, fart jokes, and racist jokes to try and get a laugh. They also spent a lot of money on celebrity cameos that ended up being pointless and did not really drive the plot. Some will argue that it’s the point of the movie, but overall, it just left audiences bored and uncomfortable.
“Jaws: The Revenge” (1987)
Most sequels are worse than the original movie, but what happens when you get to the fourth movie in the franchise? With “Jaws: The Revenge”, critics only had this to say: trash. No one sets out to make a bad movie, but this film was so comically bad it looked like an inside job. It is known for being one of the worst sequel movies ever made, featuring a rubber shark that growls and bizarre dialogue. What makes the movie even worse is that is had a huge Hollywood budget and a critically acclaimed director on set. However, the movie was rushed, and filming was started before the script was even finished. This ended up in disaster.
