Disappointing Movies of 2020

Hello, Everybody! I will be discussing the most disappointing movies of this year.  Most of these movies did not live up to any expectations and there will be no honorable mentions since that many expected releases were pushed back.

10. The Grudge

Based on the Japanese horror movie, Ju-On: The Grudge, it was first adapted for Western audiences back in 2004 and started a franchise, but after The Grudge 3, it seems as though that the franchise was dead, but 2020's Grudge reboot promised to recapture the scares, unfortunately the reboot was actually a sidequel taking place during and before the events of The Grudge(2004), which confused many viewers. It had a weak plot, lackluster characterizations and it relied too much on jump scares. Not even Sam Raimi's producer credit could save this film.

9. Downhill

Based on the Swedish film, Force Majeure, Downhill is about a family who were nearly killed by an avalanche while on a Ski trip and their forced to reevaluate their lives. It had the potential to be great due to Nat Faxon and Jim Rash directing and Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession as a writer and Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were going to have awards buzz, but it failed to mix both comedy and drama and it will most likely be forgotten in the years to come.

8. The New Mutants

The New Mutants already failed to disappoint when it was pushed back for 2 years. The final installment of the X-Men franchise was in the middle of the Disney-Fox acquisition and it certainly didn't help and due to the extended reshoots and negotiations on when to release it, The New Mutants was destined to be dead on arrival. It failed to be an effectively scary comic book adaptation by introducing new characters and its visual effects were sorely lacking. It's safe to say that we won't be seeing these mutants anytime soon. Hopefully.

7. Capone

After Josh Drank directed the garbage fire that was Fantastic Four(2015), it seems as though that he would never direct and then it was announced that he would direct a movie about Al Capone's final days starring Tom Hardy, which promised a potential comeback. Unfortunately, despite Trank's and Hardy's best efforts, it's an empty and underwhelming look of an aging mobster. Hardy's performance is great, but it does nothing to save this movie from its own suffering.

6. Scoob

This Scooby Doo reboot film was in development hell for quite some time. It was also the starting point of a potential cinematic universe of Hanna-Barbara cartoon characters and that's basically all it was. It focused too hard on bringing together characters that seemed to go nowhere and its voice cast was a bit disappointing, sure it's nice to have Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Mark Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, Will Forte and Gina Rodriguez in the cast, but I'd personally prefer to have Matthew Lillard reprise Shaggy and what was with that Simon Cowell cameo?

5. Mulan

Mulan is an iconic Disney film! But seeing it in Live-Action feels like a dishonor to the source material. Yes, it did have potential to be a great remake, but not including Li Shang and Mushu was VERY VERY DISHONORABLE! To top it all off, the movie was very controversial in China with many issues like Liu Yifei being accused of supporting police brutality in Hong Kong and the fact that it was filmed in Xinjiang where internment camps containing Turkic civilians were located. I get that filmmakers were going for accuracy, but this is way too far. Despite, the fight choreography and cinematography, I can't overlook these controversies which makes the movie less enjoyable.

4. Antebellum

In the wake of many events in 2020 like the Black Lives Matter movement, a film like Antebellum was something that we all needed. Antebellum told the story of a successful author who's finishing up a book tour, but a shocking turn of events threatens her existence which forces her to confront her past, present and future. Despite it's premise and ambition, it ultimately fails on both fronts. Janelle Monae just feels wasted in a movie that had a lot of potential. 

3. The Witches

Here's one remake that nobody really wanted. Out of all the movies that Robert Zemeckis chooses to direct, he picks this?! 1990s The Witches was a classic and unsettling piece of cinema that could never be replicated. While the visuals and Anne Hathaway's performance was decent. The remake failed to deliver laughs.

2. Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy promised to be an eventual comeback for director Ron Howard and it was going to be the film that would finally give Amy Adams and Glenn Close their acting Oscars... but nope! It was just a very obnoxious look of the lower-class. It was melodramatic, it had a weak script and story making it a shameful and stereotypical interpretation of the South.

1. Wonder Woman 1984

Ok ok ok. WW84 is by no means a bad movie, it just didn't have the same magic as the first film and it was pretty cheesy, I'm not going to lie. Although Diane and Steve's chemistry is watchable, the sequences were great and Steve's look is already unmatched(Steve wearing a fanny pack lives in my mind rent-free)it's hard not to overlook its many plot holes. Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal did their best(Barbara's fashion is already iconic and I love me some Pascal) but they failed as DC movie villains. This is partly because the movie got delayed by almost a year and a half. This was a movie that we all needed by the end of 2020. I personally liked it, I just feel like it didn't have an effect on me.