The 2010s as a decade were filled with countless incredible movies that will stand the test of time and be remembered and studied for generations after their release. However, for every fantastic and groundbreaking movie that changes the filmmaking landscape, some films are released that accomplish the exact opposite. There are always films that enter an echelon of poor reception and negativity that transcend just being “bad” and become something entirely new in itself.
Especially in an era defined by and evolved by technological advancements and the digital era, it makes sense that a rising digital platform would be the perfect place for discussion of all things modern film. Letterboxd has been exploding in popularity in recent years, not only because of its users’ love of the best that film has to offer but also their hatred for the worst films in recent memory.
10 ‘Fantastic Four’ (2015)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.3/5
Based on the classic Marvel comics, Fantastic Four tells the origin story of the classic superhero team, as they are teleported to a dangerous alternate universe where a complication gives them all superpowers. Amidst the chaos and confusion, the quartet is forced to team up and work together in order to save the Earth from total destruction from a former friend turned enemy.
Especially with all of the amazing and highly successful superhero movies and superhero origin stories released throughout the 2010s, the ones that fail to meet their mark stick out like a sore thumb. Fantastic Four did very little to set itself apart from the multitude of other superhero films of the time, and in many cases for fans felt like a major step back instead of a step forward. It will only be a matter of time before the MCU’s upcoming take on the classic characters attempts to finally do the super team justice on the big screen.
9 ‘Tall Girl’ (2019)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.3/5
Tall Girl follows the story of Jodi, an average high school girl who has been a social outcast all her life thanks to being significantly taller than her classmates. After years of hiding in the shadows and being ashamed of her height, the introduction of a new student gives Jodi the confidence to stand up for herself and show the world her true colors.
Letterboxd users collectively had a chuckle at the painfully unaware and miscalculated plot of Tall Girl, which attempted to weave a tale of bullying and self-confidence but failed to understand what made these stories work. While these types of teenage rom-coms would normally have its lead’s struggles come in the form of something much more serious, the film’s insistence on height being a major issue only dilutes and minimizes the message it’s attempting to say.
8 ‘Foodfight!’ (2012)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.3/5
Foodfight follows the story of a community of brands and mascots of everyday grocery store items who come to life when the store closes for the night, living their own secret lives with one another. When a new, mysterious, and evil brand enters the store and a number of brands go missing, it becomes up to Dex Dogtective to solve the mystery and save the store.
While films like Toy Story and Wreck-It Ralph have done the “everyday characters brought to life” premise with great success, Foodfight fails to understand even the basics of what makes these stories work so well. As opposed to telling an engaging story, Foodfight is much more interested and focused on its branding, constantly showing off its wide selection of cheap and pandering product placement.
7 ‘SPF-18’ (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.3/5
SPF-18 tells the story of a group of teens whose lives connect and mingle with one another as they decide to live it up while house-sitting at a beautiful one-of-a-kind beach house. Their relationships and friendships are tested as they spend their days in a real-life Hollywood lifestyle.
There’s very little actual plot or cohesion present throughout SPF-18, as the film feels more like an excuse to have popular and attractive young actors flirting and mingling with one another on a beach. It achieves the bare minimum of what would be considered a film and fails to accomplish anything that most other rom-coms of the era have done and much better.
6 ‘Cats’ (2019)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.3/5
Cats follows the story of a tribe of mysterious and musical humanoid cats known as the Jellices, who are in the middle of preparing for their annual choice to decide who among them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer. The film follows the perspective of newcomer Victoria as she sees the wide variety of talents and mesmerizing performances from the entire tribe of Jellicles.
Cats was already a musical that left many audiences divided, so the film was already facing an uphill battle from the start. Combined with the uncanny CGI and visual style of the film, and the strange plot progression that doesn’t translate nearly as well to film, the result was a film that left Letterboxd users confused and bewildered, for all the wrong reasons.
5 ‘Saving Christmas’ (2014)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.2/5
Saving Christmas is a faith-based Christmas comedy film that follows the story of Kirk Cameron, playing himself as his brother-in-law is dealing with some holiday blues. Cameron uses his knowledge of the history of the origins of Christmas in order to help shed some light on his brother-in-law, showing him that even in the modern day, Christmas is still a Christian holiday.
Faith-based movies are always facing an uphill battle with the younger userbase of Letterboxd, finding these types of movies to more often than not be incredibly tone-deaf and lacking in all aspects. Saving Christmas takes these common complaints up a notch, by almost completely abandoning its already sparse plot, primarily using it as a jumping-off point to allow Kirk Cameron to talk about Christmas, feeling more like a college lecture than an actual film.
4 ‘The Emoji Movie’ (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.2/5
The Emoji Movie follows the story of Gene, a meh emoji living in the bustling city of Textopolis, a city filled with a wide variety of emojis that can be found residing within one teenager’s phone. Gene has much greater ambitions than being simply a meh emoji, and after causing a ruckus on his first day at work, he sets out on a journey with other rejected emojis in order to find his purpose.
Studios are always looking to current trends and what is considered popular as inspiration for what would make for a good film, and while this can work out in some situations, in the case of The Emoji Movie, it can completely backfire. From the moment it was announced, users immediately lambasted and mocked the very existence of The Emoji Movie, with the film seeming to be the embodiment of corporate pandering and failing to understand younger generations. When the film was finally released, it managed to live up to the already embarrassing premise by being as generic and cookie-cutter as an animated movie could get.
3 ‘Slender Man’ (2018)
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Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.2/5
Slender Man follows the story of four high school girls who perform a demonic ritual in an attempt to debunk the mysterious lore and legend surrounding Slender Man. When one of the girls goes missing in the following days, it becomes increasingly apparent that the legends surrounding the Slender Man may be much more truthful than they were led to believe.
The internet creepypasta of Slender Man achieved its highest point in popularity in the early years of the 2010s, so by the time the film was released in 2018, interest in Slender Man in the public had completely disappeared. Even taking poor timing out of the equation, Slender Man does very little to distinguish itself from the other cheaply made, jump-scare-filled horror movie slop that dominated the 2010s. Especially when considering it was released in the same year as A Quiet Place and Hereditary, there was simply nothing going for Slender Man in the eyes of audiences.
2 ‘Swiped’ (2018)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.1/5
Swiped follows the story of James, a college freshman and computer genius, as he teams up with his roommate Lance, a notorious campus womanizer, in order to create the world’s best hook-up app. While things seem to be going well for the duo at first, the massive popularity of the app soon becomes an issue when James learns that his divorced mother has begun using the app, resulting in unexpected consequences.
While seeming like nothing more than a below-average rom-com at first, underneath the surface shows a number of disappointing and painful aspects of Swiped that have resulted in it being massively despised by the Letterboxd community. The film’s characters are blatantly misogynistic throughout the film, as they view their app as a method of almost treating women as if they are objects to be earned. Even with its sorry excuse of a resolution by the end, the film left an overall sour taste in a majority of Letterboxd users’ mouths.
1 ‘The Last Airbender’ (2010)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.1/5
Adapted from the beloved animated series, The Last Airbender follows the story of Aang, the latest in a long line of Avatars who have the ability to control all four elements. Despite only being a child, Aang must now find it within him to grow up fast, as he must put a stop to the terrifying reign of the Fire Nation in order to bring peace to all four nations.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most well-revered and most beloved animated series of the 21st century, which makes it all the more disappointing just how much the live-action film dropped the ball. The film attempts to cover an entire season’s worth of storylines into only 103 minutes, resulting in a final product that feels incredibly rushed and lacking. The film also simply doesn’t understand what makes the original series so great and comes across to fans as a complete downgrade from the original series in every conceivable way.
