Whether through trailers, sneak peeks, or from the beloved source material, many of Hollywood’s biggest movies showcase heaps of promise, and many live up to that potential. Not every movie is that lucky, though. Some films, whether from casting or writing, fail to live up to the potential that audiences saw in them.
Recently, users on Reddit got together on r/movies to talk about films that failed to live up to their potential. From the zombie thriller World War Z to Ant-Man’s latest outing inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Reddit had their fair share to say about some of Hollywood’s biggest disappointments.
10 ‘Suicide Squad’ (2016)
After capturing some of the world’s most dangerous and super-powered criminals, the US government assembles a team of violent offenders to help put an end to a world-ending event. The team, led by Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) and Deadshot (Will Smith), must learn to work together or risk the death of millions, including themselves.
Suicide Squad was released in 2016 and intrigued audiences with stylish trailers. The goodwill was short-lived, however, as the film received harsh reviews from critics and viewers alike. User ze11ez wrote of the film, “So disappointing. It was terrible. Really terrible.” Another user described the film as having “a very good first 30 mins, after that yuck”.
9 ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)
After seeing a photo of Jonathan Harker’s (Keanu Reeves) fiancé, the undead vampire Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) travels from Eastern Europe to London. Once in London, Dracula uses his vampiric powers to terrorize the townspeople and try and seduce Harker’s fiancé, Mina Murray (Winona Ryder).
Released in 1992, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a box office success and received favorable reviews from critics. The film has been applauded for the performance given by Oldman and the plot. The most major criticism of the film, as described by Reddit user Sea_Supermarket_2632, was casting Keanu Reeves as an Englishman.
8 ‘Hotel Artemis’ (2018)
In the near future, the city of Los Angeles has become decrepit from years of rioting. A nurse (Jodie Foster) who runs a secret emergency room for criminals is encountered by injured criminals who just had a bank robbery go bad.
Hotel Artemis was released in 2018 and featured a large ensemble cast that included Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum, and Dave Bautista. The film was suggested by FancyRaptor, who said, “Amazing setup and cast for what could have been an interesting movie. Then it ended up being 90% small talk with an action scene at the end.”
7 ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ (2023)
After being dragged into the Quantum Realm, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) must find a way to escape the dangerous world where there are threats around every corner. In the Quantum Realm lives a dangerous person known only as Kang (Jonathan Majors).
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniawas released in 2023 and received mixed reviews from critics after a series of successful trailers. On Reddit, user No_Cap_822 wrote that the film’s trailers looked great, but “the final product was half a good movie and half 13-year-old jokes that just made me cringe.”
6 ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (2015)
Thirty years after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger, and Finn (John Boyega), an ex-stormtrooper, must join forces with Han Solo and Chewbacca to take down The First Order, a military threat that is as dangerous as the Empire. Leading the army is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a powerful Sith with ties to the Skywalker family.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in 2015, bringing back many classic Star Wars characters. General audiences enjoyed the movie, but of the returning cast, mattbt667 wrote, “Bring back Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford then don’t write them into a single scene together. Now that to me was ‘wasted potential’.”
5 ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ (2022)
After the destruction of Isla Nubla, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) took in and protected Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon). After years of solitude, Maise goes missing, forcing Owen and Claire to leave isolation and travel the world to find her.
Jurassic World Dominion was released in 2022 and received negative reviews from critics. Redditor Chemical_Lavishness6 criticized the film for “spending half the movie talking about and showing bugs” in a film that reunited the cast from the original Jurassic Park films.
4 ‘World War Z’ (2013)
After the world is plagued by a mysterious infection that turns the human population into zombies, former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) escapes the zombie threat with his family. Upon his rescue, he is recruited on a mission to travel the world and race against time to find a way to stop it.
Adapted from the book of the same name, World War Z was released in 2013 and was a box office success. Despite sharing a name with the novel, one Reddit user pointed out that the film didn’t use any of the source material when adapting the incredibly successful book.
3 ‘Terminator Salvation’ (2009)
In 2018, the leader of the human resistance in a post-apocalyptic world, John Connor (Christian Bale), must rescue young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), a resistance fighter who is vital to the future of the war against machines. Connor aligns himself with Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), who soon proves himself to be either a great asset to the resistance or their biggest threat.
Terminator Salvation was released in 2009 and was criticized for failing to compare to the original films. Multiple Reddit users, including TrueLegateDamar, cited the film’s director, McG, as the cause for the disappointing film.
2 ‘Tenet’ (2020)
Fighting to save the world, a CIA operative (John David Washington) is recruited by a mysterious organization known as Tenet. His mission is to prevent Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), a Russian oligarch, from starting World War III, but to do so; he needs to master the art of time inversion to succeed.
Tenet was released in 2020 and received mixed reviews from critics, with many applauding the film’s performances and visuals but criticizing the confusing plot. Redditor leftlane1 described the final act as “soo confusing,” and that repeat viewings don’t help the plot make sense.
1 ‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013)
After moving into a small house in Long Island, Nick (Tobey Maguire), a writer and Wall Street trader, is drawn into the lavish lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Following a party, Jay asks Nick to arrange a meeting with Nick’s cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), a former love who is now married.
Released in 2013 and adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews from critics. The consensus among Reddit users, including 600lbsofsin77, was that Baz Lurhmann, the film’s director, had an artistic vision that didn’t line up with what fans of the novel wanted.