10 Bad Movies with Great Effects

As filmmaking progresses, the craft evolves. That pattern is evident in numerous aspects of a project, but the most noticeable are the special effects. Technology advances to new heights, and the artists use those breakthroughs to enhance the image onscreen. Their hope is to further immerse audiences in the film. That said, their efforts are for naught if their peers fall short.

The industry has several examples of effects-driven movies failing to land. These flicks usually boast incredible leaps in makeup, set design, or computer-generated imagery. However, they neglect essential aspects like story and character. These lopsided projects may be pleasing to the eye, but their lack of substance causes them to fade from memory or lose esteem. That outcome is a tragedy. After all, these effects artists display an admirable passion for their craft, so they deserve to have their work recognized.

Related: 10 Movies with Bleak (but Amazing) Endings

10 Planet of the Apes (2001)

Planet of the Apes has run the full gamut of special effects, from the original”s masks to the recent entries’ performance capture tech. What often gets overlooked is the 2001 attempt. This remake loosely adapts the 1968 classic, but the apes are now a mixture of elaborate costumes and prosthetics. The results are a masterclass of such techniques. On one hand, they have all the textured grit of real animals. On the other, they preserve enough of the actors to enable full emotional range. Never have these intelligent primates looked better. Sadly, the movie isn’t nearly as smart.

This remake is more concerned with being a high-flying adventure than a social commentary. The bland, one-note characters rob the tale of any genuine drama. It’s no surprise that the narrative amounts to a generic quest with virtually nothing to say. For a franchise so steeped in social themes, this surface-level effort is inexcusable.^[1]

9 The Wolfman (2010)

Whenever old horror flicks see a modern update, filmmakers resort to copious levels of CGI. The Wolfman is incredibly refreshing in that respect. This 2010 project uses intricate makeup and prosthetics to depict the protagonist’s transformation. The werewolf suit is reliably monstrous, but it retains key facial features to let the actor emote. The success is similar to Planet of the Apes in how it pushes the makeup department to its limit. However, the film also fails in the same areas.

The Wolfman is frustrating in its unevenness. Few characters are remotely engaging, partly because the story often gets lost in its own spectacle. The desire to go bigger inevitably leads to some cartoonish moments, complete with hammy acting and cheap scares. These blunders are amateurish for a horror story. While The Wolfman looks the part, its oblivious mistakes keep it from matching its legendary legacy.^[2]

8 Avatar (2009)

Avatar is the epitome of a long setup with little payoff. Writer-director James Cameron had this sci-fi script floating around for years, but he waited to make it until the technology caught up to his vision. At first glance, the eventual film seems to be worth the wait. It uses revolutionary digital imagery to craft the planet of Pandora, and performance capture injects uncanny life into the catlike inhabitants. It’s what Cameron does with this world that creates problems.

Avatar amounts to a shallow environmental story with a side of colonialism. The script depicts the natives as serene beings—completely at peace with their surroundings—while denigrating the humans as greedy, genocidal looters. The uninspired performances match those paper-thin portrayals, thereby wasting the mo-cap. Think of this tale as Dances with Wolves with overblown action and none of that pesky subtlety or depth. The foundation is just as flimsy as it sounds. When the creators try to derive drama from that framework, it comes off as cringe-inducing melodrama. The bigger tragedy is how many hours the effects artists wasted on it.^[3]

7 The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

After buying Lucasfilm, Disney announced a new trilogy of Star Wars films, which would hearken back to the series’ rough, adventurous roots. The resulting movies—The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker—certainly look the part. The puppets and other practical effects are not only a welcome change from the prequels’ excessive CGI, but they lend tangibility to every alien planet. That’s about the only lesson the creators learned.

The sequels are an absolute mess. Undercooked characters combine with an underdeveloped setting to make a bombastic barrage of nonsense. When the movies aren’t doing a truncated version of the original trilogy, they’re grasping at ideas so asinine that they break the lore in half. Worst of all is how poorly they utilize franchise favorites, disrespecting them entirely or tossing them in for desperate fan service. When Star Wars devotees reconsider their longstanding hatred for the prequels, you know these new entries are a failure.^[4]

6 The Lion King (2019)

Another mark against Disney ironically comes with one of its most beloved films. In 2019, the company was deep in a divisive mission: remake its animated classics in live-action form. The Lion King was next in line, leading to a photorealistic iteration of the Shakespearean story. The filmmakers certainly accomplish that goal. The computer imagery looks shockingly similar to real-life Africa, with the animals having such detail that they’re practically indistinguishable from their natural counterparts. The problem is that such an approach is utterly misguided.

Despite its technical prowess, 2019’s The Lion King is a downgrade in every way. The plot is padded, and the characters are unengaging. That’s partly because the actors are all pale, irritating imitations of their predecessors, but it also comes down to the aesthetic. Slavishly adhering to photorealism saps the tale of color or expression. As a result, this emotional fable is now oddly lifeless.^[5]

5 The Transformers Movies

It’s hard to know what to expect from a movie based on toys, let alone the shape-shifting robots of Transformers. In bringing those bots to life, though, these blockbuster flicks exceed expectations. The titular Transformers burst onscreen through eye-popping CGI. When they morph, you can see each individual component move to its proper place, making the premise appear oddly palatable. This process combines with director Michael Bay’s undeniable gift for action, creating explosive spectacles with every battle. That’s part of the problem.

The Transformers flicks are exercises in excess. They’re so long and unrelenting in their bombast that they become assaults on the senses. They then exacerbate that feeling with the most offensive excuses for comedy ever conceived. The humans here are all loud, vulgar, and obnoxious. Despite that lack of appeal, these idiots constantly steal screen time from the Transformers, who are the supposed stars. All these aspects and more make you truly feel the films’ three-hour runtimes.^[6]

4 Prometheus (2012)

Failed comebacks are tragic. Few films embody that disappointment like Prometheus. The prequel represents Ridley Scott’s attempt to restore the Alien franchise to its former glory. That grand vision is evident onscreen through the massive sets, gorgeous landscapes, and seamless blend of practical and CG effects. It’s just a shame that attention to detail doesn’t extend to the script.

Prometheus squanders its ambition through witless writing. The characters are all utterly incompetent. Not only are they unfit for scientific missions of any kind, but their stupidity routinely puts their peers in danger. Adding insult to injury are the repeated efforts to tie the xenomorphs into humanity’s origin and say something about the human condition. The material isn’t nearly smart enough for such themes, so it’s a case of the filmmakers biting off more than they can chew. That phrase is sadly emblematic of Prometheus as a whole.^[7]

3 Man of Steel (2013)

Talk about tripping at the starting line. Man of Steel kicks off a shared universe of DC heroes, starting with Superman. The filmmakers strive to showcase the icon’s godlike powers in ways only dreamt of, and that mission is clear from the results. Modern techniques let Superman move and fight with such titanic might that the rest of the world feels like cardboard. Therein lies the issue.

Man of Steel misses the point. The script doesn’t bother defining Superman or anyone else beyond their roles; it would much rather go on repetitive diatribes about his religious and cultural significance. These attempted themes ultimately fall by the wayside in lieu of disastrous battle scenes. The alleged hero lets innocent people die by the thousands, even those he professes to value. That’s not surprising since he only puts on the costume because the story forces him into it. In short, he’s Superman in name only, which sadly fits the film. Man of Steel is a mindless popcorn flick masquerading as an arthouse project.^[8]

2 Waterworld (1995)

Post-apocalypse settings are usually dry wastelands, but Waterworld goes the opposite route. This dystopian flick presents a world engulfed by a crushing flood. Survivors must live in floating communities on the water’s surface, with scavengers and pirates preying on people’s misfortune for all its worth. The filmmakers do a great job of presenting this setting. The makeshift colonies, detailed props, and maritime stunts give the setting a lived-in quality akin to an aquatic Mad Max. When trying to copy the Road Warrior, though, Waterworld falls flat on its face.

The movie is more unsteady than the waves. The tone can’t decide whether it wants to be campy or serious. That contrast is all the worse, thanks to the hokey dialogue, which is truly cringe-worthy at times. Any attempted drama sinks like a rock because of these shortcomings. These terrible puns are somehow more sophisticated than the script. All joking aside, Waterworld fumbles its epic production on a flimsy foundation and crumbles into mediocrity.^[9]

1 Warcraft (2016)

Hollywood has a long, sad history of translating video games to the big screen, but Warcraft looked like a step in the right direction. Portraying the Horde’s first foray into Azeroth, the movie paints an immaculate picture of this fantasy realm. The Orcs, in particular, benefit from nuanced performance capture work, elevating them above mindless monsters. The rest of the tale lacks that nuance.

Warcraft is textbook flash over substance. The key players are all one-note archetypes rather than fleshed-out characters. In addition, the predictable plot often derails itself through clunky contrivances. Such sloppy execution reeks of a first draft. Maybe the creators should have spent less time on rendering and more on rewrites.^[10]