If you’re wondering why this isn’t a top, you’re forcing me to admit I haven’t seen all the movies that were successful last year and at the beginning of this year. There are some movies with blockbuster success and/or an Academy nomination/award, that give me no desire to waste 2 hours of my life on them. Some of them because of the subject they chose as the plot, others because I keep pushing them on the bottom of my watch list every time I discover a new/old movie that captures my interest.
This list is just for those I have seen and I consider them not as good as the world seems to acknowledge them.
This list is just for those I have seen and I consider them not as good as the world seems to acknowledge them.
1. Big Hero 6 (2014)
Those who have read my “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” review and noticed my posts on Movie Quotes about it, may think that Big Hero 6 got on this list as a revenge for stealing the Oscar from Princess Kaguya. I assure you—This is not the case.
I have seen Big Hero 6 before the Academy Awards ceremony (I watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya the day before yesterday) and I was surprised, in the bad way, that it received an Oscar. I haven’t seen the other movies in the Animation section at that time, and still this one did not seem to me to be Oscar worthy. It doesn’t have an original idea in the entire plot. And if you think that giving them Japanese names while they speak English in American accent makes it original, think again!
The characters are underwritten and the plot has a disturbing familiarity to it, which didn’t happen when Pixar made their own movies. Now that Disney is in charge, we notice their well-known tendency to overuse their ideas to no end. Take the fake death, or the orphan or the magical creature that helps the orphan overcome their past, etc.
It’s not a terrible movie. It’s enjoyable (like most Disney’s animations) for awhile, until you get irritated by the repetition and you’re hoping that it will soon end.
Those who have read my “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” review and noticed my posts on Movie Quotes about it, may think that Big Hero 6 got on this list as a revenge for stealing the Oscar from Princess Kaguya. I assure you—This is not the case.
I have seen Big Hero 6 before the Academy Awards ceremony (I watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya the day before yesterday) and I was surprised, in the bad way, that it received an Oscar. I haven’t seen the other movies in the Animation section at that time, and still this one did not seem to me to be Oscar worthy. It doesn’t have an original idea in the entire plot. And if you think that giving them Japanese names while they speak English in American accent makes it original, think again!
The characters are underwritten and the plot has a disturbing familiarity to it, which didn’t happen when Pixar made their own movies. Now that Disney is in charge, we notice their well-known tendency to overuse their ideas to no end. Take the fake death, or the orphan or the magical creature that helps the orphan overcome their past, etc.
It’s not a terrible movie. It’s enjoyable (like most Disney’s animations) for awhile, until you get irritated by the repetition and you’re hoping that it will soon end.
2. The Equalizer (2014)
Here’s another movie that uses repetition. Did Disney have something to do with it? No. But Denzel Washington did. I believe that The Equalizer was made for Denzel’s action flicks fans to finally witness an ending where the hero doesn’t die. It doesn’t matter that the plot resembles Taken, Man on Fire and others of this type, or that the main role is something Denzel has played many times before so it’s not a challenge for him, or that Chloe Grace Moretz tries to impersonate Jodie Foster’s character from Taxi Driver, or that the bad guy is a mix of all clichés you can possibly think of for a villain… The sole purpose of this movie is to satisfy the audience’s need to see the good guy Denzel breath at the end.
I love Denzel Washington and I did want to see him survive at the end of Man on Fire and in all the other movies he has died after completing his mission, but Equalizer did not do it for me. It was bland, long and underwhelming. The only thing that kept me awake was Denzel’s acting, but not even his talent could have saved the movie from my bad opinion.
Here’s another movie that uses repetition. Did Disney have something to do with it? No. But Denzel Washington did. I believe that The Equalizer was made for Denzel’s action flicks fans to finally witness an ending where the hero doesn’t die. It doesn’t matter that the plot resembles Taken, Man on Fire and others of this type, or that the main role is something Denzel has played many times before so it’s not a challenge for him, or that Chloe Grace Moretz tries to impersonate Jodie Foster’s character from Taxi Driver, or that the bad guy is a mix of all clichés you can possibly think of for a villain… The sole purpose of this movie is to satisfy the audience’s need to see the good guy Denzel breath at the end.
I love Denzel Washington and I did want to see him survive at the end of Man on Fire and in all the other movies he has died after completing his mission, but Equalizer did not do it for me. It was bland, long and underwhelming. The only thing that kept me awake was Denzel’s acting, but not even his talent could have saved the movie from my bad opinion.
3. Non-Stop (2014)
Non-Stop is a clear proof that Liam Neeson has fallen deeply in love with his character from Taken and he refuses to let him go. I think that he’s is a great actor who could take a challenge. That’s it if someone in the movie making business would throw him a script where his character could do something else instead of playing the tough guy you should not be messing with. And except for a few minor roles that aren’t worth mentioning, Hollywood does not give me the pleasure.
Lately when I hear about a new Liam Neeson movie, I already know what’s it going to be about. That’s what happened with Non-Stop. Putting him on a plane does not change a thing. He’s still the guy who’s fighting an unseen villain, trying to save everybody, while he’s fighting his own demons. Jesus, how much more of this can a person take?
Non-Stop is a clear proof that Liam Neeson has fallen deeply in love with his character from Taken and he refuses to let him go. I think that he’s is a great actor who could take a challenge. That’s it if someone in the movie making business would throw him a script where his character could do something else instead of playing the tough guy you should not be messing with. And except for a few minor roles that aren’t worth mentioning, Hollywood does not give me the pleasure.
Lately when I hear about a new Liam Neeson movie, I already know what’s it going to be about. That’s what happened with Non-Stop. Putting him on a plane does not change a thing. He’s still the guy who’s fighting an unseen villain, trying to save everybody, while he’s fighting his own demons. Jesus, how much more of this can a person take?
4. Maleficent (2014)
Take Sleeping Beauty, add a little twist so that Angelina Jolie could play the main role in a fairytale, and you have Maleficent. Because she couldn’t play the Sleeping Beauty now could she? She’s far too old for it and the Evil Stepmother from Snow White and The Huntsmen was taken. You could’ve seen the irony though if she was cast instead of Charlize Theron, with all that adopting going around in her personal life. And no, I have no idea if she tried for Snow White. I’m just speculating.
Aside the fact that in this depiction of the original fairytale by Charles Perrault, Maleficent is the most boring villain of all time and in the same time, the most predictable, she’s is now a fairy, not a human, like in the original story. Which should’ve upset me, but it didn’t. What did upset me was that she has had plenty of chances of killing Aurora way before the curse and yet she didn’t. She just waits around for 16 years to be avenged, lurking in the shadows, bonding with the little girl. If you’re going to change an entire story to make it your own, why not change this ridiculous fact?
Here’s another thing worth mentioning. Focusing their entire vocabulary on Maleficent, the writers forgot to bring some depth or noticeable development to their other characters, which makes them forgettable and forgotten as soon the movie has ended. And the ending was predictable and cheap.
Next time when Hollywood threatens to bring their own ideas to a story known for centuries, I will be prepared.
Take Sleeping Beauty, add a little twist so that Angelina Jolie could play the main role in a fairytale, and you have Maleficent. Because she couldn’t play the Sleeping Beauty now could she? She’s far too old for it and the Evil Stepmother from Snow White and The Huntsmen was taken. You could’ve seen the irony though if she was cast instead of Charlize Theron, with all that adopting going around in her personal life. And no, I have no idea if she tried for Snow White. I’m just speculating.
Aside the fact that in this depiction of the original fairytale by Charles Perrault, Maleficent is the most boring villain of all time and in the same time, the most predictable, she’s is now a fairy, not a human, like in the original story. Which should’ve upset me, but it didn’t. What did upset me was that she has had plenty of chances of killing Aurora way before the curse and yet she didn’t. She just waits around for 16 years to be avenged, lurking in the shadows, bonding with the little girl. If you’re going to change an entire story to make it your own, why not change this ridiculous fact?
Here’s another thing worth mentioning. Focusing their entire vocabulary on Maleficent, the writers forgot to bring some depth or noticeable development to their other characters, which makes them forgettable and forgotten as soon the movie has ended. And the ending was predictable and cheap.
Next time when Hollywood threatens to bring their own ideas to a story known for centuries, I will be prepared.
5. The Giver/The Maze Runner/Divergent (2014)
If you’ve seen Hunger Games, you’ve seen them all. Yes, Hunger Games started this “special girl/boy tries to change the dystopian society and in the same time falls in love with another special boy/girl” and I can’t take it anymore! It’s exhausting watching the same story over and over again, only with different actors and with a different take.
The Giver shouldn’t be in this list. The book was released years before Hunger Games but adapting it for the big screen in the same year with Divergent and Maze Runner, was not a good idea.
Do you agree with my list? If not, which 2014's movies you think are overrated?
If you’ve seen Hunger Games, you’ve seen them all. Yes, Hunger Games started this “special girl/boy tries to change the dystopian society and in the same time falls in love with another special boy/girl” and I can’t take it anymore! It’s exhausting watching the same story over and over again, only with different actors and with a different take.
The Giver shouldn’t be in this list. The book was released years before Hunger Games but adapting it for the big screen in the same year with Divergent and Maze Runner, was not a good idea.
Do you agree with my list? If not, which 2014's movies you think are overrated?