Top 20 Bad Movies With Good Actors

Despite big names such as Jennifer Lawrence, Chis Pratt, and Laurence Fishburne, this film failed to impress audiences with its big budget. During a massive voyage to save humanity, a man named Jim awakes ninety years before schedule. Depressed and desperate for human connection, he awakens a woman named Aurora without her consent. The film’s inconsistent tone pales in comparison to its idealization of Stockholm Syndrome. When Jim risks his life to save the ship, Aurora professes her love for him. The inclusion of this complicated relationship isn’t the issue. However, the film’s failure to critically explore this dynamic makes the premise unbelievable.

Film adaptations of video games have a long history of failing to honor the narrative richness of their source materials. This one is no different. Here, a death row inmate named Cal Lynch is rescued by a corporation called Abstergo Industries. He’s then forced to relive the memories of his assassin ancestor to find a powerful artifact. Not even a cast including Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons can elevate a convoluted plot that introduces inconsistencies with the game's lore, a grave offense for dedicated gamers. That likely explains why the action sequences fell flat for most audiences. Despite Fassbender's dedicated performance, this film certainly does not showcase his best work.

You know a movie is bad when you don’t even remember Tilda Swinton was in it. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Richard, a young American traveler in Bangkok. When he discovers a hidden island paradise, he’s caught in a web of relationships, secrets, and moral dilemmas. The film initially promises to dive into the "Hell out of Heaven" concept. It presents viewers with stunning imagery of the Thai beach. However, beneath the beauty lies a sinister undercurrent that fails to reach its full potential. But the negative impact of this film extended beyond the screen. Its popularity caused tourists to travel to the Thai beach where filming took place. This damage was so bad, the beach had to be closed to allow the ecosystem to recover.

After a space mission communication failure, astronaut Spencer undergoes a disturbing transformation and impregnates his wife, Jillian, with twins. It seems that execs believed a blonde Johnny Depp would be enough to entice moviegoers. But the film’s terrible dialogue and formulaic plot leaves the audience with little to remember. Amidst the mediocrity, there is a very silly little scene where Jillian dances around her apartment. While it does manage to get some tense moments in, the overall story feels dull and unremarkable. It feels more like a piece of X-Files fanfiction than an intense sci-fi thriller. Even a young Charlize Theron couldn’t save this disastrous project.

Following the success of the first two films, this attempt at exploring parenthood fell flat. In fact, some consider it the worst installment of any trilogy to appear in a movie theater. Jack and his wife are raising a pair of lovely twins when his father-in-law appears. Then the standard family antics ensue. Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro, and Dustin Hoffman all reprise their roles as hilarious characters. But it seems that the film was riding on star power alone to become a success. There seems to have been minimal effort in the screenplay. The overreliance on crude and shocking humor fails to translate into genuine comedy. The humor loses its charm in this film, and that’s a real “Focking” shame.

George Clooney directed this catastrophe of a film that was supposed to be part black comedy, part murder mystery, with a dash of social commentary. Matt Damon plays a father in 1959 who must confront his fears after a home invasion. Also, a Black family moves into an all-white neighborhood. The talents of Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac added some luster to the plot’s uninteresting characters. But the most egregious flaw lies in the neglect of the Black characters within the story. It may have been Clooney’s aim to comment on the marginalization of Black folks at the time. His strategy of omission is not the meta-commentary he seems to imply. Instead, it serves as a missed opportunity to address the critical issues at hand.

As the CEO of a satirical, Google-ish company, Tom Hanks’ performance is the biggest highlight of this tedious and confusing film. Emma Watson plays Mae, a disillusioned cubicle worker who accepts a job at the titular company. She soon uncovers a plot that threatens the safety of humanity. The story itself is interesting, but the ham-fisted Orwellian references insult the audience’s intelligence. We don’t see much of the outside world or this supposedly evil company’s impact. When Mae ultimately concedes and lives her life with virtually no privacy, it’s not as horrifying as much as it is absurd.

This film follows a group of men who try to save culturally significant artifacts during World War II. John Goodman and Bill Murray add some great talent to the big-budget picture, but the story’s drabness does nothing to utilize them. Critics were quick to point out the narrative's weak structure. The film’s episodic nature suggests that it may be better suited for television. George Clooney’s direction also drew fire. The lackluster cinematography and stiff performances. While it’s not the biggest offense to cinema, it fails to captivate us despite its star-studded cast that also includes Matt Damon, Jean Dujardin, and Cate Blanchett.

When they made “The Matrix,” the Wachowski siblings spurred a new era of special effects in filmmaking. But this attempt to recapture their former glory failed to impress audiences. In this story, a young woman fights alongside her guardian to protect Earth. The rest of the story is… a little difficult to follow. Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum seem to be a perfect match on paper. But the shallow characters and clumsy story didn’t seal the deal. What’s truly disappointing is that this film feels like a cheap imitation of other sci-fi and fantasy movies. The one redeeming factor? Eddie Redmayne’s Razzie-winning performance is so awful that we kind of love it. Kind of…

The final installment in this iconic series ventures into the territory of so-bad-it’s-good. Following the death of Chief Brody, his widow Ellen becomes convinced that the iconic shark has developed a taste for revenge against her and her family. But when the shark follows her from Amity all the way to the Bahamas, it’s clear that this time it’s personal. Michael Caine plays Ellen’s love interest and shark slayer. It’s almost unbelievable that he missed accepting his first Oscar in order to film this movie. In fact, Sir Caine claims to have never watched the film. Among the slasher films of the 80s, this is the nuttiest. A shark that has a human-like desire for vengeance makes this absurd movie too entertaining to pass up.

The off-screen romance between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck played a large role in promoting one of the biggest flops in cinematic history. In this story, Larry Gigli and Ricki kidnap the son of a federal prosecutor. With misogyny and homophobic monologues, to say this film was disappointing would be an understatement. It failed to break even at the box office, recouping only about nine percent of its budget. One culprit could be the overexposure of “Bennifer” in the media. The couple had a near-constant presence in pop culture. Simply put, audiences were tired of having their relationship forced on them at every turn. In later years, critics revisited the film to find that the performances weren’t that bad despite the terrible screenplay.

This romantic comedy follows a military contractor, played by Bradley Cooper, who is tasked with developing a space center in Hawaii. Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, and Alec Baldwin round out the ensemble, but one casting choice became a focal talking point. The Media Action Network for Asian Americans criticized the film for whitewashing a central role. Emma Stone was cast as a character who was meant to be a quarter-Chinese and a quarter-Hawaiian. While the director offered apologies, the studio was firm in its defense. They maintained that the film respected the people and cultures of Hawaii. Regardless of morality, this controversy resulted in a PR nightmare from which the film could never recover.

Adapted from the novel of the same name, this movie attempted to bring this literary classic to life once again. But the film was marred by a messy production and a clash of egos. It received a whopping six Razzie nominations, including Worst Supporting Actor, which Marlon Brando won. His strange performance included a bizarre costume and the frequent improvisation of his lines. Behind the scenes, the legendary actor was rumored to have contentious relationships with the film’s cast and crew. Not to be outdone, his co-star Val Kilmer was also reported to have hostile interactions with others on-set.

This over-the-top camp classic was panned by critics for its bad dialogue and anatomically correct costumes. George Clooney is tapped to play Bruce Wayne with Chris O’Donnell as Robin. Together, they battle Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, played by Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzenegger, respectively. Aside from the odd casting choices, some critics believe the film didn’t match the darker tones of the source material. The inclusion of Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl felt shoehorned and created a narrative pile-up which made the movie feel disjointed. While it’s considered one of the worst Batman films, it has since gained a cult following for its hilariously absurd plot.

Harry Hole, played by Michael Fassbender, is an investigator in Norway who tracks a serial killer that builds snowmen at the scenes of his crimes. With a talented roster consisting of Charlotte Gainsbourg, J. K. Simmons, and Chloë Sevigny, one could expect at least a decent movie. But upon release the film was panned by critics, citing uninspired filmmaking. The nonsensical plot can be explained due to the fact that the pre-production phase was cut short. Financing woes caused a large portion of the story to vanish. In the eyes of the editors, the film resembled a jigsaw puzzle with crucial pieces gone astray.

With a cast like Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, and Sean Penn, a film like this seems like it would be Oscar-worthy. It actually garnered a lot of Oscar buzz before it was even released. However, this story about a corrupt Southern politician bored audiences to death. Critics pointed out that the film’s pacing issues, coupled with boring voiceovers spelled failure. While some folks praised Sean Penn’s acting, others interpreted his performance as hilariously extreme. This scenario serves as a cautionary tale. It underscores the pitfalls of movies marketed as Oscar bait, where pre-release praise does not guarantee a compelling experience.

Scientology's presence in Hollywood has been a subject of intrigue and controversy for years. The source material for this film was written by the religion’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and John Travolta spearheaded this project. During its promotion, the film promised epic space battles and big-budget sci-fi visuals. It ultimately fell short. The movie lacked a surprising amount of action and the plot was nearly incomprehensible. It would take several hours to fully cover the public’s response to this film. It was a critical and commercial failure to the highest degree. Even the film’s screenwriter derided the project, asserting that the final version bears little comparison to his script. Don’t worry, Forest Whitaker. An Oscar-winning role is just six years away.

For most cinephiles, the prospect of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino leading a crime thriller would be a guaranteed hit. But the novelty of this pairing wears off almost immediately. As they hunt for a serial killer in the streets of New York City, these detectives suffer from a lack of character development and atrocious dialogue. Critics have rightfully pointed out the director's inability to craft a cohesive narrative that avoids making plot twists feel cheap. Overall, this movie feels like a bizarre episode of “Law & Order” that overstays its welcome.

When tragedy strikes an advertising professional played by Will Smith, writes letters to Time (Jacob Latimore), Death (Helen Mirren), and Love (Keira Knightley). Personified versions of these abstract concepts appear before him to answer his questions. This movie’s attempt at a wholesome message rubbed critics and audiences the wrong way. The topic of grief feels superficial, rather than an emotion worthy of thorough exploration. Critics described this film as an offensive attempt to make a sentimental tear-jerker. Due to this, the reviews felt a little more scathing than normal. The notable cast, which also includes Kate Winslet and Edward Norton, appears to be an obvious attempt to compensate for the glaring shortcomings of the story.

Few movies have the distinct honor of wasting the talents of so many actors at once. Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Richard Gere are just a few of the incredible actors in this cast. This anthology comedy is chock-full of crude humor and aimless direction. Even critics who are known to enjoy so-bad-it's-good movies hesitate to extend the "good-bad" title to this film. Instead, it commits the mortal sin of boring its viewers. Behind the scenes, a plethora of stories circulate regarding the chaotic production process. However, this movie is good for one thing. It affords us the opportunity to witness actors typically associated with more serious work flex their comedic chops.