Top 30 Worst Movies of the Century (So Far)
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most dismal films of the 21st century. What films do you think are the worst of the century so far? Let us know in the comments below!
#30: “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” (2023)
A horror reimagining of beloved childhood characters is bound to be controversial. But it turns out, even more horrifying than the gory kills in this movie, was the screenplay. In January 2022, the first Winnie-the-Pooh book went into the public domain - allowing writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield to plan his own nightmare version of A. A. Milne’s classic story. A slasher that sees Pooh and friends kidnap Christopher Robin and go on a murderous rampage against a group of university students, the movie was panned for its weak dialogue, story, and acting. However, it did make over $5 million on a budget of just $100,000, and so there’s a sequel in the works.
#29: “After Earth” (2013)
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This 2013 post-apocalyptic action movie starring Will Smith and his son Jaden was directed by M. Night Shyamalan - a director famous for his surprise twist endings. Unfortunately, this entry doesn’t have a surprise twist where we tell you how it was actually a good film. With flat performances and a cliched, preachy, predictable story, “After Earth” was disliked by both critics and audiences. Will Smith had pitched the movie to the studio as just the beginning of a series of films, television shows, theme-park rides and much more. Needless to say that all went away after the film was released.
#28: “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” (2009)
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While the video game franchise is still going strong, we’ve still never gotten a quality live-action “Street Fighter” movie. At least the 1994 film with Jean-Claude Van Damme made money at the box office. However, not only did 2009’s “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” lose the studio money, it was even worse than the 1994 film (something many probably never thought possible). Besides the terrible writing and cardboard acting, “The Legend of Chun-Li” was also criticized for less-than-stellar fight scenes. And if you can’t at least get awesome fight scenes in a “Street Fighter” movie, then what’s the point?!
#27: “Holmes & Watson” (2018)
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After “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers,” we were all ready for another Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly collaboration to be a laugh riot. The only mystery in “Holmes & Watson” is how so many funny people produced such a clueless – not to mention elementary - comedy. The movie basically follows the same formula as every other Will Ferrell star vehicle: an egotistical buffoon needs to learn the value of humility and friendship. This time, however, the formula is devoid of anything resembling charm, humor, or effort. In 2018, did the filmmakers seriously think that people would laugh at jokes about fake mustaches, the Titanic, and women being doctors? The fact that Sony couldn’t even pawn this inevitable bomb off on Netflix says everything.
#26: “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” (2019)
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The premise sounds just awful, but somehow, it was made into a film. Writer-director Daniel Farrands’ horror movie stars Hillary Duff as Sharon Tate, who’s having premonitions of her murder - a murder that, of course, really did happen in the summer of 1969. There are a few worthwhile movies about Charles Manson and the Manson Family Murders. And you’re definitely better off watching them instead. The exploitative screenplay, and miscasting of Hillary Duff, were poorly received by critics and audiences alike. It’s a cheap, schlock horror take on tragic real events.
#25: “Glitter” (2001)
There’s been no shortage of quality musical dramas in the 21st century, but this isn’t one of them. Mariah Carey has tried to blame the film’s failure on the fact it was released on 9/11, even though it was actually released on the much less traumatic 9/21. But, the fact that critics and fans alike loathed the film seems a far more likely explanation. For one, Carey’s performance as Billie Frank was so harshly criticized she ended up winning the Razzie in 2002 for Worst Actress. After just 27 days in theaters, it closed having earned back only around a quarter of its $22 million budget. All that glitters clearly ain’t box office gold.
#24: “Pinocchio” (2002)
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Italian actor, writer and director Roberto Benigni became a household name with the release of his multi-award winning film, “Life Is Beautiful” in 1997. But life wasn’t so beautiful 5 years later when his film “Pinocchio” made its way to theaters. What made “Life Is Beautiful” so amazing was Benigni’s ability to bring true moments of beauty in the midst of unthinkable monstrosity. But in “Pinocchio”, that joie de vivre is missing. Instead it feels like Benigni is just going through the motions. There’s also the questionable edit that Miramax did to the film for the English-dubbed version released in the US. While the Italian release received mixed reviews, the US version rocks 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
#23: “Saving Christmas” (2014)
Best known for his role as Mike Seaver on “Growing Pains”, Kirk Cameron became a born-again Christian at 17 and has spent much of the last decades producing TV and movies that speak to his faith. One such work was the 2014 holiday film, “Saving Christmas”, which begins with Cameron delivering a diatribe to the audience that Christmas is under attack. The movie / sermon that follows consists of Cameron’s arguments to a character playing his brother-in-law - named CHRISTIAN - for the Christian roots of Christmas. The only people who are angrier than Cameron are those that had to watch this poorly written and painfully acted slog. As one YouTube commenter put it, “Finally, Something that both Atheists and Christians can dislike.”
#22: “The Hottie and the Nottie” (2008)
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Shockingly, Paris Hilton’s acting isn’t even the worst thing about this movie. She plays the titular ‘hottie’, Cristabel, the love interest of Joel David Moore’s Nate. When Nate asks her out, she agrees … but only if he finds a date for her best friend, the ‘nottie’. What follows are cruel jokes at the ‘nottie’s expense … a dramatic makeover … and true love. While the film may see itself as celebrating inner beauty … it definitely is not. The script, the dialogue, and the depth of characters are as surface level as the beauty that really matters in the movie.
#21: “Catwoman” (2004)
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Here’s a movie executive board meeting we can’t imagine happening: “Hey guys, the campiness of “Batman & Robin” was such a success, let’s create the same cheesy atmosphere for this “Batman” spin-off and not use Batman at all.” Extra points to Halle Berry for agreeing to do this fresh off her Oscar win though. It won Razzies for Worst Picture, Screenplay, Actress, and Director, and everybody, even Halle Berry, agreed that this was a piece of garbage. Not only did it have barely anything to do with the DC Comics characters, but it also lacked any strong female characters, action sequences, or even a compelling plot. Where is Michelle Pfeiffer when we need her?
#20: “Fantastic Four” (2015)
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The next entry on our list is a case of tripping right out of the gate. Director Josh Trank was a relative newcomer to the scene when he was hired to helm 2015’s big budget reboot of Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” franchise. Trank had only one prior directorial credit in film to his name with 2012’s “Chronicle,” yet the writing was on the proverbial wall when Trank posted a negative tweet about his experience on the film prior to its release. This was in addition to the already poor reception “Fantastic Four” was receiving from critics, who wrote off the film as “a woefully misguided attempt to translate a classic comic series without the humor, joy, or colorful thrills that made it great”. Ouch.
#19: “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star” (2011)
We guess you could say that Nick Swardson was the 2010s equivalent to Rob Schneider, i.e. the guy who frequently pops up in Adam Sandler movies. Where Schneider had a few star vehicles back in the day, though, Swardson was given one shot to prove that he could carry a movie. If “Bucky Larson” proves anything, it’s that Swardson wasn’t born to be a star. Centering on a buck-toothed mouth-breather who learns his parents were adult film stars, Bucky Larson sets out in pursuit of fame. It’s basically a poorer version of “Orgazmo,” which didn’t exactly set the bar very high. Throw in Pauly Shore and you’ve got a movie that’s clearly not even trying.
#18: “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” (2002)
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This sci-fi comedy was in development for almost two decades. We’re not sure why they bothered. After Eddie Murphy signed on, several writers took cracks at the story, but Murphy rejected them all, asking for a regular action movie script, like they’d write for Sylvester Stallone - promising that he’d bring the comedy. Well, unfortunately, “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” just isn’t funny, and the action isn’t very interesting either. Even director Ron Underwood has admitted that it isn’t good, and said of Murphy, “[he] wasn't feeling that funny, I don't think.” Yeah, we noticed!
#17: “Norm of the North” (2016)
If anyone thought that making a good animated movie is as easy as throwing together a bunch of cute talking animals, “Norm of the North” is here to prove you wrong. Talking animals alone do not a good movie make - because what they’re saying is also very important. And what they say in this one are mostly a lot of lame and tired jokes interspersed throughout a film that obviously takes, um, ‘inspiration’ from the likes of “Happy Feet,” “Madagascar,” and “Ice Age.” But without any of the charm or heart.
#16: “Cats” (2019)
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We all know that having an all-star cast doesn’t always translate into a successful picture, but that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to “Cats”. The Tom Hooper-directed fantasy musical was absolutely annihilated upon release, with critics tearing apart CGI glitches that were so obvious, Universal Pictures had to send out visual updates to theatres after the movie was already released! Meanwhile, audiences had to sit through a nightmarish and disjointed story that had silver screen icons like Ian McKellen and Judi Dench clawing away needlessly at their storied careers and reputations. Plus, with those post-release CGI fixes, the losses on “Cats” are expected to reach between $70-100 million, making it a total flop on all accounts.
#15: “Dragonball Evolution” (2009)
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This movie lives in live-action adaptation infamy. “Dragon Ball” has been a beloved franchise since the release of the manga and anime in the mid-1980s. But this 2009 live-action adaptation wasn’t for the fans, showing very little faith to the source material. Then there was the casting, which invited accusations of white-washing. Add in a weak script and awful acting, and you’ve got “Dragonball Evolution”. Critics and fans aren’t always on the same page, but in this case they were lock-step in their agreement. Needless to say - the rest of the movies in the planned “Dragonball” series were canceled.
#14: “Alone in the Dark” (2005)
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Especially known for his video game adaptations, Uwe Boll has built a reputation for directing some of the worst movies of all time, with most of his productions becoming critical and box office disasters. He also doesn’t care what you think. Although “House of the Dead” deserves a special mention, it’s his other video game adaptation that is our runner-up. In “Alone in the Dark,” Christian Slater uses his special powers to chase after these demonic creatures that used to be worshiped by an extinct civilization. And it. Is. Epically bad.
#13: “Gotti” (2018)
Congratulations, John Travolta, you’ve made your silliest movie since “Battlefield Earth.” But, we’ll get to that one later. The script for this crime biopic reads like it was written by an A.I. bot that gathered all of its data from Italian-American stereotypes and gangster clichés. “Gotti” hits all the familiar mob movie beats, but it’s completely deprived of any humanity. When all is said and done, what do we really learn about John Gotti by watching this movie? Well, he was a mob boss, he had a family, he swore a lot… that’s about it! There’s no real insight into what made Gotti such a fascinating figure. The only thing more confused than the movie itself is the soundtrack, which includes the musical stylings of Pitbull and the theme from “Shaft.”
#12: “The Emoji Movie” (2017)
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In 1914, Winsor McCay premiered his animated short “Gertie the Dinosaur,” launching a groundbreaking art form into the mainstream. 103 years later, this art form was used to turn Sir Patrick Stewart into a taking piece of poop. McCay would be so proud! “The Emoji Movie” doesn’t even feel like a real animated feature, but rather a satire of one. Come to think of it, if smarter writers were involved, maybe this could’ve been a clever satire about product placement and Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. Since this is a movie about a society that inhabits a device, however, it’s nothing more than a commercial, really. As Rotten Tomatoes will tell you, the whole movie can be summed up with a general prohibition sign emoji.
#11: “Freddy Got Fingered” (2001)
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Even when he was making “The Tom Green Show” for local Canadian television, then The Comedy Network, and eventually MTV, we understood that the comedian is an acquired taste. And while many of us enjoyed the subversive comedy on his show, his 2001 film, “Freddy Got Fingered” is a flavor many of us did not ever acquire. Sausages hanging from ceilings and newborns swung around by their umbilical cord just didn’t scream funny to a lot of us. While the movie has gained a cult following in the intervening decades, it still holds a 10% critic score and a 56% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
#10: “Gigli” (2003)
Thanks to Bennifer 1.0, this monstrosity received way more attention than it deserved. However, that didn’t stop the movie from being among Hollywood’s most expensive bombs ever. In “Gigli,” Ben Affleck is a mobster who needs to kidnap a prosecutor’s mentally handicapped brother in order to help a crime boss - played Al Pacino - avoid prison. You all guessed right; this is clearly a romantic comedy. This movie is offensive to the mentally challenged, to lesbians, and to any audience members with eyes or ears. After winning six Razzies, it later won a seventh for Worst Comedy of the Razzies’ First 25 Years. Well deserved.
#9: “Son of the Mask” (2005)
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Following the mega-success of “The Mask”, the studio found a sequel irresistible, and wanted to bring back Jim Carrey. The problem was that Carrey didn’t want to do it. And that’s why, instead of “The Mask 2”, we got “Son of the Mask” instead. And the results were anything but sssssmokin'! The script feels like a premise desperately trying to find a story, and the CGI can’t hide just how unfunny it all is. And, no disrespect to Jamie Kennedy, but he’s no Jim Carrey. To paraphrase the original Mask - somebody should’ve stopped him from agreeing to be in this movie. In fact, somebody should’ve stopped everyone from making it.
#8: “The Last Airbender” (2010)
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“The Last Airbender” lived up to its title, but not in the way that director M. Night Shyamalan intended. Shyamalan built up this adaptation of the beloved animated classic as if it was going to kick off Hollywood’s next epic trilogy. Between its rushed plot, wooden acting, over-produced special effects, unnatural dialogue, and accusations of whitewashing, though, a sequel naturally never saw the light of day. The good news is that there’s already an epic trilogy: the three-season-long animated series that inspired this cinematic travesty. That being said, the fact that “The Last Airbender” derived from such a brilliant show is what truly gets under people’s skin. A terrible movie is one thing. A terrible movie based on promising source material is just shameful.
#7: “Movie 43” (2013)
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Helmed by Peter Farrelly, who’d ironically go on to direct a Best Picture winner only five years later, “Movie 43” was supposed to be “Kentucky Fried Movie” meets “Funny or Die.” Instead, we got “the ‘Citizen Kane’ of awful,” as Richard Roeper put it. Comprised of several sketches, this anthology comedy enlisted a cornucopia of gifted actors and filmmakers. The selling point was a skit where Kate Winslet goes on a date with Hugh Jackman, who’s given… err, a unique neck abnormality. From there, more and more stars signed up for a comedy that ultimately produced few laughs, but plenty of groans and cringes. We dare you to find a movie released this decade that flushed more talent down the toilet.
#6: “Birdemic: Shock and Terror” (2010)
Because of global warming, birds have mutated into creatures who attack humans, spit acid and explode upon hitting the ground. Lovers Rod and Nathalie are caught in the middle of this deadly phenomenon and must escape with their lives and those they can save along the way. Trust us, we feel even dumber saying all that then you do listening to it. But that’s 2010’s “Birdemic: Shock and Terror” in a nutshell. The film was made for just $10,000 and oh does it show. The CGI effects are laughable. And while money can be blamed for the effects, it isn’t an excuse for such an awful script, painful dialogue and some of the worst acting you’ll ever see.
#5: “Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2” (2004)
At the heart of this movie are babies who can talk to each other using baby talk, and a super-baby who drinks some kind of green drink to become a powerful fighter. There’s also Jon Voight with a German accent as the bad guy, a whole lotta terrible puns and boring action scenes. Just because it’s all done with cute kids doesn’t make it better. And if you’re wondering why “Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2” made our list but the original “Baby Geniuses” didn’t, it’s only because the latter was released in 1999 - last century.
#4: “Foodfight!” (2012)
Some movies should stay in development hell. This computer-animated adventure comedy about food mascots” was originally set to be released in 2003, but delayed until 2012, when the world finally got to see what they’d been working on all that time. And the world wasn’t impressed. We’re not sure what they were doing that whole time but, based on the poor script and awful animation, it can’t have been writing, or animating. It failed on every level. As an adventure, it wasn’t fun; and as a comedy, it wasn’t funny. Then there was the annoyingly obvious product placement. We’d rather have someone throw actual food at us than ever have to watch this thing again.
#3: “Jack and Jill” (2011)
We’re glad that Adam Sandler closed out the decade with his acclaimed performance in “Uncut Gems” because he kicked off the decade with a Razzie-winning performance in “Jack and Jill.” Actually, he gave two Razzie-winning performances, playing adman Jack and his unbelievably obnoxious twin sister Jill. The film even managed to win a Razzie in every category, an unprecedented… um, “achievement.” Even in a decade that brought us “Pixels” and “Grown Ups 2,” “Jack and Jill” is Sandler’s crowning achievement of lazy anti-humor. Al Pacino says it best in the final scene where he orders Jack to “burn this.” In the story’s context, he’s talking about a commercial, but it just as easily could be applied to the movie we just endured.
#2: “Battlefield Earth” (2000)
Many of our entries can be seen as career-killers, but “Battlefield Earth” brought John Travolta to an all-time low. Although most actors are forced to take these steps-down for a paycheck, Travolta spent years bringing this movie to the world, claiming its source material was better than “Star Wars.” Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, wrote the book in an attempt to bring the religion to younger audiences, and that book serves as the basis of the sci-fi action flick. Needless to say, the world wasn’t interested. When the most horrible acting you’ve ever seen is topped by camerawork that will give you a cramp in the neck, it’s not surprising that you have a recipe for unintentional hilarity.
#1: “The Room” (2003)
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When your movie sparks a debate about film as “outsider art” and gets compared to “getting stabbed in the head”, you know you’ve done something…special. And no, we’re not talking about “Birdemic: Shock and Terror”. “The Room” was created by Tommy Wiseau, a mysterious eccentric who delivers one of the most head-scratching performances ever as the lead in this cringe-worthy romantic drama. Wiseau plays a banker in San Francisco named Johnny who’s trying to cope with the infidelities of his fiancee Lisa. From the melodramatic acting and awkward sex scenes to the nonsense plot, the movie tries to convince audiences that it's authentic and real, while somehow missing every single note. There’s a reason “The Room” has often been called the ‘best worst movie ever made’.
