This week’s Ten on Tuesday topic, “10 Movies That Disappointed You,” has been unexpectedly difficult for me. I have a few ideas why:
- I tend to base my decision on whether or not to see most movies on the consensus of reviews – and if they’re mostly unfavorable, I probably won’t go. Therefore, I avoid setting myself up to be disappointed in the first place.
- On the other hand, there are certain movies I will see no matter what anyone says. I’ll probably read a few reviews to see whether I should adjust my expectations, but I don’t expect to be disappointed.
- As I mentioned in this post about best and worse movie adaptations from books, I tend to block the bad ones from my memory, so it really was hard to think of very many disappointments.
I think that last category is the source of a lot of movie disappointment. Adaptations come with a potentially built-in audience, but that audience can be very demanding about faithfulness to the original source material – and very vocal about their displeasure if the movie version falls short. The disappointment risk also runs pretty high with sequels, although I think many of us have learned to be skeptical about them and set the bar a little lower. What both adaptations and sequels have in common is a knowledgeable viewer base – and often a high nerd factor – but with that base come expectations. Disappointment occurs when the expectations aren’t met, for one reason or another.
Three movies immediately came to mind in response to this week’s question:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – We waited 16 years for this. And we got Jar Jar Binks.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones – There were some really good battle scenes, but they were almost canceled out by the awful Anakin-and-Amidala ones.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Less disappointing than the first two, but still less than what it might have been.
I stalled there, and asked my husband for some ideas. He agreed with mine (well, duh), and contributed three of his own selections:
Superman II – I never saw it, so I’ll take his word for it.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – I completely agree with him. What “motion”? I know several people that fell asleep in the theater during this one, and all of them were fans, not just casual moviegoers.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – “Too different from the book” is my husband’s verdict. I’m not sure they should have even tried to make it into a movie, although I think they did get the Vogons right.
Collectively, we’re not making it to ten, so I’m throwing in a couple of 2008 releases that have major disappointment potential, especially for Tall Paul:
Get Smart – We both loved the TV show when we were younger. I’m probably more optimistic about this one than he is – I think Steve Carell is a good choice for Maxwell Smart – so, conversely, I actually may be more disappointed if it falls flat on its face. Sorry about that, Chief.
The Dark Knight – He loved Batman Begins and has high hopes for the sequel. I hope they don’t let him down.
See what I mean about adaptations and sequels?
Head over to Ten on Tuesday to find out about other people’s cinematic disappointments, and share your own right here, if you like!
I’d have to consult with my husband for help! Haha He has a lot better memory of the movies we’ve seen and what I didn’t like. Like you, I tend to block the ones I didn’t care for. He’s asleep (he was up until 4 am raiding), and so I won’t be much help for you, I’m afraid.
Still, from you list–I agree with you about the “first” three Star Wars movies. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy–definitely a disappointment.
I loved Batman Begins and am looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger looks like he’ll make a great Joker. I love superhero origin stories, I admit, and so anything that comes after probably will end up being not quite as good.
Literary Feline – I hope neither you nor my husband are disappointed by The Dark Knight 🙂 He agrees with you about Heath Ledger as the Joker, and I think he’s got the release date already marked on his calendar!