These movies did not go over well. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the films that got major negative reactions from audiences or critics.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the films that got major negative reactions from audiences or critics.
00:14Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline.
00:19This is mad trippy. So we're like in the future.
00:22No, wait, this is not trippy, dude. This is catastrophic.
00:26This movie faced backlash before it was even released, thanks to the actions of its star, Ezra Miller.
00:32The Flash finished filming in late 2021. In 2022, Miller was accused of all kinds of nasty behavior,
00:39including assaulting and harassing several people and multiple thefts.
00:43They were arrested, and many people speculated that they were dealing with some mental health issues.
00:48Of course, all of this affected Warner Bros.' ability to market the film,
00:51and turned off a lot of people from going to see it.
00:54It confirms the alibi Mr. Allen has argued and his son, Barry, has corroborated since day one.
01:05Although it received decent reviews, especially for a DCEU film,
01:09it barely made back its massive budget at the box office.
01:16I am Buten Roshi, the principal!
01:20Hahahahaha!
01:23My grandfather is dead.
01:26How do you ruin an adaptation of a beloved manga?
01:30By making a cheap, boring movie that's totally unfaithful to the source material,
01:34and casting a bunch of white people in the lead roles.
01:37Everyone hated this movie. It has a dismal 14% on Rotten Tomatoes,
01:42and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama disliked it so much,
01:46he said he couldn't even call it Dragon Ball.
01:48The hate for this movie was so intense that years later,
01:52both the screenwriter Ben Ramsey and lead actor Justin Chatwin
01:55actually apologized for messing it up so badly.
01:58I was in the heat of battle and I thought you're someone else.
02:00It's alright, I let you hit me.
02:06This film was the surprise hit of the summer,
02:08and was generally well-received by fans.
02:11However, Blake Lively's marketing of the movie was a different story.
02:15Hello, Blake Lively here.
02:16Colleen Hoover.
02:17And It Ends With Us is in theaters now,
02:20so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it.
02:23It Ends With Us deals with some dark themes centering around domestic violence,
02:27and even features a few scenes that can be hard to watch.
02:30Yet Lively promoted the film more like a light-hearted rom-com.
02:34Many people also criticized her for using the press tour
02:36to sell her hair care products and beverage line,
02:39rather than bringing attention to the problem of intimate partner violence.
02:42In interviews, Lively even blew off questions
02:45about how survivors might react to the film.
02:47It's led many to question whether she actually understands
02:50the seriousness of her own movie.
02:53But as your best friend,
02:56Lily, if you take him back, I will never speak to you again.
03:06Evan, right?
03:09Evan?
03:11That... that's your... that's your name?
03:14Yeah, it is.
03:15Sorry, it's Evan.
03:16It's Evan, I'm sorry.
03:17First, let's address the elephant in the room.
03:20Ben Platt looks way too old to be playing a high schooler.
03:23He was about 27 at the time of filming,
03:26and he somehow looks even older than that on screen.
03:29It doesn't help that his co-star, Caitlin Deaver, looks much younger,
03:32making their romantic scenes together a little creepy.
03:36Many critics and viewers also weren't fans of how the movie portrayed mental illness,
03:40with some calling it shallow, cringey, and even harmful.
03:44There seems to be a pattern here.
03:46If you're going to make a movie dealing with dark themes,
03:48you need a deft touch, and some filmmakers just don't have it.
03:52You see everything you wish you had,
03:54and it's right there, right there, right there in front of you.
04:03Please, I love this job.
04:06Elsa, I need to know why you brought a gun into a kid's hospital.
04:10It's a prop.
04:12It's part of my acting.
04:13No.
04:13It's hard to believe how much outrage this movie generated before it was even released.
04:18Many people thought the Joker glorified violence,
04:21and might even inspire people to commit acts of violence after seeing it.
04:25Some movie theaters brought in extra security for opening weekend,
04:28while others refused to show the film at all.
04:31Ultimately, these fears proved to be unfounded.
04:33The 2024 sequel, Joker Folie à Deux, faced a different kind of backlash.
04:38People just didn't like it very much.
04:40Reviews were mixed at best,
04:42and it massively underperformed at the box office,
04:45leaving the future of the franchise uncertain.
04:48You can do anything you want.
04:52You're Joker.
05:00I want to have babies.
05:02You want to have babies?
05:04It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
05:07But you can't have babies.
05:09Don't you oppress me.
05:10This classic satire follows an ordinary man who's born next door to Jesus,
05:14and later gets mistaken for the Messiah.
05:16Of course, religious comedies often inspire a lot of outrage,
05:20but the backlash to life of Brian was extreme.
05:23Many town councils in the UK banned the film before they even saw it.
05:27Some of them didn't even have movie theaters in their jurisdictions,
05:30meaning the ban was a purely symbolic act.
05:34It was also banned in Ireland and Norway,
05:36and some religious groups called it blasphemous.
05:47They particularly blasted the ending,
05:52arguing that it made light of Jesus' crucifixion.
05:55The controversy has continued into the 21st century,
05:59with some Christian groups criticizing others for promoting the film.
06:05This movie's biggest crime is that it's just terrible.
06:09The plot is nonsensical,
06:10the acting is wooden,
06:12the editing is awful,
06:13and the effects look extremely cheap despite the $150 million budget.
06:18Critics and fans alike hated it,
06:21with many calling it one of the worst movies ever made.
06:24The decision to cast white actors in two lead roles also didn't help.
06:28To make matters worse,
06:29the TV show that it's based on is universally beloved.
06:44While the live-action movie does everything wrong,
06:47the cartoon gets everything right,
06:49with well-developed characters,
06:51strong themes,
06:52and exciting storylines.
06:53Although writer-director M. Night Shyamalan claimed to be a fan of the show,
06:57he absolutely mangled the adaptation.
07:13One of the most polarizing films of 2022,
07:28this fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's life
07:30seems to dig up the deceased star just to exploit her.
07:34Her real life was filled with tragedy,
07:36but Blonde is downright brutal in its portrayal.
07:39It includes scenes of assault and other horrifying incidents
07:42that never actually happened,
07:44inviting the viewer to gawk at Monroe's suffering.
07:47Although Anna de Armas' performance was widely praised,
07:50many criticized the depiction of Monroe as dehumanizing,
07:53one-dimensional,
07:54and misogynist.
08:03The other characters,
08:04including President John F. Kennedy,
08:06don't fare much better.
08:07Regardless of your opinion on the film,
08:10we can all agree that it is not an easy watch.
08:25Sometimes the backlash to a violent film is unreasonable,
08:28but in the case of A Clockwork Orange,
08:30it's a little more understandable.
08:32Both the movie and the book on which it's based are extremely violent,
08:36and not just by 1970s standards.
08:39It's made worse by the fact that the perpetrators are teenagers,
08:42and the film often depicts their brutal actions as lighthearted and fun.
08:46It was banned in multiple countries,
08:48and even blamed for some copycat crimes,
08:50including a murder committed by a 16-year-old
08:53who claimed he was inspired by the film.
08:55Stanley Kubrick's wife reported that she and her husband
08:57had been the target of threats over the movie.
09:00As a result,
09:01it was removed from British cinemas at the director's request.
09:09Do you understand, Alex?
09:16Do I make myself clear?
09:18Number 21.
09:19Music.
09:20Hello, music.
09:23I'll be up to fix your air conditioner in a couple of minutes.
09:26All right, here you go.
09:28When viewers walk away from a movie wondering what the creators were thinking,
09:32you know something has gone very wrong.
09:34Aside from the fact that it's just plain bad,
09:36music was criticized in practically every corner of the internet
09:40for its portrayal of autism.
09:41Writer-director Sia chose to cast a neurotypical person,
09:44Maddie Ziegler,
09:45to play the role of a nonverbal autistic girl.
09:48The portrayal was slammed as stereotypical,
09:50exaggerated,
09:51and even dangerous.
09:52Members of the autism community called for representative casting
09:56and called out what they perceived as offensive portrayal of people with autism.
10:01Perhaps worst of all,
10:02Ziegler herself was afraid of offending autistic people with the film,
10:05but Sia tucked her into going through with it.
10:08This is one movie that really never should have been made.
10:12Number 20.
10:13Crash.
10:14Although Brokeback Mountain seemed preordained
10:16to win the 78th Academy Award for Best Picture,
10:19a select group of people were rooting for Paul Haggis' ensemble drama
10:23about racial tension to pull an upset.
10:26Well, the little movie that could ultimately crash the Oscars,
10:36and its supporters immediately jumped ship.
10:39Now, when people discuss the most unworthy Best Picture winners,
10:43Crash is typically the easy answer,
10:46with many calling it traffic for dummies.
10:55If you're one of those few people that stand by the Academy's choice,
11:08though,
11:09we won't judge you.
11:10Number 19.
11:11Aloha.
11:13On paper,
11:14Aloha is seemingly a huge hit.
11:16It's written and directed by Cameron Crowe
11:18and stars a slew of A-listers that would otherwise guarantee butts in seats,
11:23including Bradley Cooper,
11:25Bill Murray,
11:26and Rachel McAdams.
11:27But things did not turn out that way.
11:30The writing and directing did not work well,
11:32but most of all,
11:33it faced a significant amount of controversy for its whitewashing.
11:36The brunt of the criticism was aimed at the casting of Emma Stone,
11:40who plays a one-quarter Hawaiian,
11:42one-quarter Chinese pilot named Alison Ng.
11:45Well, sir, I will also be an invaluable addition to our joint mission.
11:49I am a quarter Hawaiian.
11:50Some argued that Stone's poor casting was intentional,
11:54including Stone herself,
11:55who stated,
11:56quote,
11:56the character was not supposed to look like her background,
12:00though she has also expressed regret.
12:02Nevertheless,
12:03it was fiercely criticized and openly mocked at the 2019 Golden Globe ceremony.
12:09It is the first studio film with an Asian-American lead
12:13since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha.
12:15Number 18.
12:16Driving Miss Daisy.
12:18This film starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy
12:21was a huge success in 1989,
12:23grossing nearly $150 million
12:27and earning nine nominations at the 62nd Academy Awards.
12:31I don't need you.
12:32I don't want you.
12:34And I don't like you saying I'm rich.
12:35It also set a few Oscar records.
12:38Tandy became the oldest Best Actress winner,
12:40it's the most recent PG movie to win Best Picture,
12:43and it's one of just five Best Picture winners
12:46to have not received a Best Director nomination.
12:48Something wrong back there, Miss Daisy?
12:50No.
12:52Something I done?
12:54No.
12:56Yes.
12:57Perhaps that speaks to the controversy of its win.
13:00Many people believed that Driving Miss Daisy
13:02was undeserving of Best Picture,
13:04including the members of the Academy.
13:06When The Hollywood Reporter polled members in 2015,
13:10many admitted that the award should have gone to my left foot instead.
13:14Number 17.
13:16The Twilight Saga.
13:17After Stephenie Meyer's bestseller got the big screen treatment,
13:21half of the human population rejoiced,
13:24while the other half was indifferent.
13:26How old are you?
13:2817.
13:32How long have you been 17?
13:37A while.
13:39The more attention Twilight got and the more MTV Movie Awards it won,
13:43the more annoyed people became.
13:46That annoyance quickly turned to anger that was so strong
13:49it was as if the films in the series were the spawn of Satan.
13:55While even once diehard fans are starting to admit
13:58that Twilight received more success than it deserves,
14:01it's also possible we've given it more hate than it deserves.
14:05Number 16.
14:06Mother.
14:07Darren Aronofsky's Mother is one of the most divisive movies of the decade,
14:11and that was made readily apparent during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival,
14:15when it was simultaneously applauded and booed.
14:25Some hated the film's overt religious metaphors,
14:28perhaps expecting a more straightforward home invasion story.
14:35But the worst offense was the graphic violence on display.
14:39Mother was viciously criticized for its degree of violence,
14:42which includes constant mistreatment of Jennifer Lawrence's mother
14:46and a horrific event involving her newborn baby.
14:49Many people can stomach barbarity in film, but this was crossing a line.
14:54Number 15.
14:55Ghostbusters.
14:56As well-intentioned as this movie may have been,
15:00Ghostbusters is just one of those movies you do not remake.
15:03It's an all-time classic,
15:05and nostalgic fans who hold it close to their hearts were not happy.
15:13The all-female cast also drew a large amount of backlash,
15:17as did Leslie Jones's performance,
15:19which some perceived as a loud and stereotypical African-American character.
15:28The trailer quickly became the most disliked on YouTube,
15:32and this only fueled more backlash.
15:34Some saw the hostile response as misogynistic,
15:38and an example of the ongoing culture war,
15:40and people involved in the movie began actively defending themselves on social media.
15:45It was just a huge mess from all directions.
15:48Number 14.
15:49The English Patient.
15:50The story of The English Patient is obviously beloved.
15:54The movie received 12 Oscar nominations,
15:56and the novel it's based on took home both the Booker Prize and the Governor General's Award.
16:02However, both received a fair amount of criticism and debate
16:06regarding the ethics of rewriting history.
16:10The titular patient is based on Laszlo Almaszy,
16:22a man who helped the Axis powers during World War II.
16:25Almaszy died of dysentery in 1951,
16:28whereas in the movie he is given a fatal overdose of morphine after a fiery plane crash.
16:34The movie has also received backlash for Fargo being snubbed at the Oscars,
16:38and was famously mocked on an episode of Seinfeld.
16:51Number 13.
16:53Blue is the Warmest Color.
16:54This European film was warmly received by critics,
16:58and won numerous industry awards.
17:00But controversy was there from day one.
17:03Director Abdelazif Keshiche received a lot of heat
17:06for the reported unfavorable working conditions,
17:08both from the crew and the lead actresses.
17:19Keshiche himself later expressed hesitation about releasing the film,
17:22believing that the negative publicity had tarnished its reputation.
17:26The movie was indeed released,
17:28but only fueled more backlash,
17:30as many people took issue with its more intimate scenes.
17:34Some thought they were too graphic,
17:36and those belonging to the LGBTQ plus community
17:39found them both unrealistic and exploitative.
17:49Number 12.
17:50Zero Dark Thirty.
17:52While Catherine Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty was an impeccably made film,
17:56it also received a ton of negative feedback
17:59that has undeniably marred its legacy.
18:01The film quickly found itself caught up in the 2012 presidential election,
18:05thanks to many outspoken Republicans
18:07who accused it of supporting Obama's reelection.
18:10Some even believed that Bigelow and her team
18:12were given classified information by the Obama administration
18:15while crafting the story.
18:17I need four techs in a safe house in Rampindi.
18:20Four techs in a safe house in Peshawar.
18:23Either send them out or send me back to D.C.
18:25and explain to the director why you did it.
18:27Others, including the director of the CIA,
18:30fiercely and publicly criticized the movie's seeming pro-torture leanings,
18:34with some calling it both propagandistic and historically inaccurate.
18:38Finally, the families of some 9-11 victims
18:41attacked the film for including voice recordings
18:44of their deceased loved ones without consent.
18:48Despite strong critical praise,
18:54Juno immediately found itself the target of movements
18:57that were anti-abortion and those that were for abortion rights.
19:01Some believed that the movie displayed strong anti-abortion themes,
19:05as Juno briefly flirts with the idea before actively deciding against it.
19:10Your baby probably has a beating heart, you know.
19:13It can feel pain.
19:15And it has fingernails.
19:17It doesn't help that Juno was released in the same year
19:19as both Waitress and Knocked Up,
19:21two comedies with similar storylines.
19:24Okay, well, I'll meet you in my office.
19:28Okay.
19:30Give you a little time alone there.
19:32The movie was further blamed for a series of teenage pregnancies in Massachusetts,
19:36resulting in what was termed the Juno Effect.
19:39That ain't no etch-a-sketch.
19:42This is one doodle that can't be undid, Holmes Gillett.
19:45Finally, the movie's political background was brought up yet again in 2019,
19:49when writer Diablo Cody claimed that she wouldn't have written Juno today,
19:53owing to the, quote,
19:55hellish alternate reality that we now seem to be stuck in.
20:02Although most of us knew The Hobbit didn't need to be three movies,
20:05we were just excited to revisit Middle Earth
20:08and went along on Bilbo's unexpected journey.
20:10I'm going on an adventure!
20:12At first, it was fun to see Gandalf and Gollum again.
20:15After sitting through the trilogy's following chapters, however,
20:18Peter Jackson was officially trying our patience.
20:21Because The Hobbit began as a relatively short children's novel,
20:25many believed this drawn-out adaptation had more filler than a never-ending soap opera.
20:30You turned your back.
20:33You turned away from the suffering of my people
20:36and the Inferno that destroyed us.
20:38Perhaps a director's cut or, better yet, a fan cut is in order.
20:42What was also unexpected was the mixed results over the new 48 frames per second tech used,
20:48with many moviegoers finding it less than an improvement.
20:53It's possible for a movie to become too successful,
20:56Titanic being an evident example.
20:59He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments
21:04that its supremacy would never be challenged.
21:06And here she is.
21:07The film broke all kinds of records at the box office and the Oscars,
21:11but James Cameron's unsinkable hit did not stop there.
21:15For the longest time,
21:16it was impossible to go anywhere without seeing Titanic being referenced.
21:20Once the world finally got sick of it,
21:22they really, really got sick of it.
21:24Well, it's a simple question.
21:26Do you love the guy or not?
21:29This is not a suitable conversation.
21:31Why can't you just answer the question?
21:33Be that as it may,
21:35chances are you saw Titanic in theaters multiple times.
21:38Any film that accomplishes that must have done something right.
21:45Scarlett Johansson is a great actress,
21:47but was Motoko Kusanagi the right role for her?
21:51A lot of people did not think so.
22:05Being an adaptation of a Japanese manga,
22:07Ghost in the Shell received a lot of pre-release publicity
22:10owing to the casting of Johansson,
22:12with many people calling it an example of whitewashing.
22:15It received further backlash when it was reported that the filmmakers
22:18were going to use CGI to make Johansson appear Asian.
22:21However, many others including the director of the anime films
22:25and the Ghost in the Shell rights holder defended the casting
22:28and heaped praise upon Johansson.
22:36It was also widely reported that many Japanese natives
22:39and fans of the manga were not upset,
22:41nor that surprised with Johansson's casting.
22:44The bigger the movie, the bigger the backlash.
22:49Between 2009 and 2019,
22:52Avatar was the highest grossing film ever.
22:55While it was briefly overtaken by Avengers Endgame,
22:58it retook the top spot in 2021 thanks to a Chinese reissue.
23:03Unsurprisingly, the epic sci-fi has suffered a behemoth backlash
23:08unlike any other throughout this time,
23:10paralleling Titanic.
23:12Avatar has gone from reigning at the box office
23:15to being the most heavily criticized entity online.
23:18Bloggers and commenters alike cannot stand the notion
23:21that a movie with such simplistic themes and a cliched story
23:25made over two billion dollars.
23:27It's hard to imagine a movie like this
23:29Regardless, there are still plenty of pro-blue people
23:33who proudly defend the film, which is fortunate
23:36considering how many sequels are set to be released in the 2020s.
23:43Martin Scorsese has often received backlash
23:46for the degree of violence in his films.
23:48He's been accused of being a racist,
23:50and he's been accused of being a racist
23:52and he's been accused of being a racist.
23:54He's been accused of being a racist
23:56and he's been accused of being a racist.
23:58In this case though, it was for depicting Jesus Christ
24:02getting personal with Mary Magdalene.
24:08While the movie includes a disclaimer stating
24:11that it is, quote,
24:14that didn't stop some Christians from getting upset.
24:16Many Christian groups protested and boycotted the movie's release,
24:20and a few theater chains caved to the pressure
24:22and refused to show the movie.
24:23Scorsese reportedly received death threats.
24:26And the film was outright banned in several countries.
24:29But the worst came on October 22nd, 1988,
24:33when a Paris cinema showing the film was set on fire by a group of Christian fundamentalists.
24:38Join me, together we'll rule the living and the dead.
24:42Fourteen people were injured in the attack.
24:47This Larry Clark-directed coming-of-age drama was originally given the rare NC-17 rating
24:52owing to its explicit content.
24:54First time is always wet. Just be glad you didn't lose your virginity
24:57in the back seat of a rental car on the way home.
24:59Shot in a quasi-documentary format,
25:02Kids received immediate criticism owing to its graphic nature,
25:05with some even calling it exploitative and bordering on illegal.
25:10Not only was the content itself controversial,
25:12but many of the main characters were deemed abhorrent and unlikable.
25:16One scene, which we will not show, continues to draw immense criticism,
25:28both for its horrific content and for the unflinching manner in which it's filmed.
25:33Very few people saw any artistic merit within the film,
25:37instead calling it provocation for provocation's sake.
25:40Number four, the interview.
25:42If the hullabaloo around the interview taught us anything,
25:46it's that people will absolutely cater to the demands of North Korea.
26:01The movie immediately drew criticism in the totalitarian country
26:05for its depiction and on-screen killing of Kim Jong-un.
26:11Sony Pictures' releasing was hacked prior to the release of the film,
26:26and the hackers, who had North Korean connections,
26:29threatened future attacks if the release went ahead as planned.
26:32Following the threats, Sony pulled the interview from wide release,
26:36a move that was fiercely criticized by critics and actors alike.
26:40Even President Obama decried the move, saying,
26:43quote,
26:43we cannot have a society in which some dictator in some place
26:46can start imposing censorship in the United States.
26:50Number three, Cuties.
26:52This is the debut of French director Maimouna Ducouré.
26:55It was not a great first impression.
26:57This morning, Netflix is under growing fire
27:00after its release of the award-winning French film Cuties.
27:03Netflix absolutely bungled the release of this film
27:06by unveiling a controversial poster depicting scantily clad young girls.
27:10While the movie criticizes this type of hypersexualization in preteens,
27:14Netflix subscribers and organizations found the poster extremely inappropriate
27:19and demanded the cancellation of the film.
27:21Numerous American politicians publicly condemned the movie through social media
27:25and even opined that its release broke federal laws
27:29and constituted criminal behavior.
27:31But despite the very prominent backlash,
27:34Netflix continues to defend the film and claims that it's misunderstood.
27:38My film Cuties is a mirror of today's society,
27:41a mirror sometimes difficult to look into and accept,
27:45but still so true.
27:47Number two, Nymphomaniac.
27:49Directed by the ever provocative Lars von Trier,
27:52Nymphomaniac is about a woman named Jo
27:54regaling a stranger about her wild personal life.
27:57But if you're to understand her, I'll have to tell you the whole story.
28:03And it'll be long.
28:04With the uncut version running a patience-testing five and a half hours,
28:08Nymphomaniac received criticism both for its indulgent runtime
28:12and explicit content.
28:13It's extremely common to react sexually in a crisis.
28:18Maybe shameful to you, but in literature there's many worse examples.
28:23In fact, the lower body parts of various adult entertainers,
28:27who acted as body doubles,
28:29were superimposed over the actors in the movie.
28:32As such, the film features incredibly graphic shots
28:35that some find highly uncomfortable to watch,
28:38and it faced some backlash regarding the unrestrained nature of the visuals.
28:43This is certainly not one to watch with your parents.
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29:04Really, anything involving Jesus is bound to be controversial.
29:16While an enormous success and obviously well-made,
29:19Mel Gibson's biblical epic was relentlessly crucified by the media.
29:23Some argued against the biblical accuracy of the film,
29:26but one of the biggest claims was that the movie was anti-Semitic.
29:30However, many of these claims were made prior to release,
29:33and many prominent movie critics praised the film
29:36and argued against its supposed anti-Semitic themes.
29:39Others focused on the extent of the graphic violence
29:42and compared it to a snuff film.
29:50Not only was the violence hard to watch,
29:53but some also argued that the movie missed the story's teachings
29:56by focusing solely on its brutality.
29:59Which movies do you think deserved the backlash?
30:02Let us know in the comments below.
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