Top 10 worst Hollywood action films
The action film is one of
the hardest genres to get right because the director and the cast have to focus
on making the action sequences very easy to follow and make the action look
impactful as well. There are many great examples of action films but for every
Terminator 2: Judgement Day, John Wick or Mad Max: Fury Road there are a lot of
action films which are great but while those examples were covered on a post
yesterday in a blog post, today this post will cover the action films which are
not the best but the worst examples in the genre. These are action films which
have terrible narratives, terrible action sequences alongside bad directing and
editing. This list will exclude superhero films because the worst superhero
films will be covered in a separate list because superhero films standalone and
this is a list which focus on pure action films and not films which have comic book
characters and storylines. Also like the list that was published yesterday
there can only be one entry per franchise.
10. Terminator Genisys (Alan Taylor,
2015).
The
first two entries in the terminator films are well directed and have great
action sequences and after the second film, James Cameron stepped away from the
franchise went downhill. The third entry while passable was nowhere need the
standard of the first two films. After this there was Terminator Salvation
which didn’t have many redeemable qualities. However, the studios decided to
make another entry into the franchise, the latest entry would be Terminator
Genisys. Terminator Genisys is directed by Alan Taylor and stars Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney and Jason Clarke. This film has a
very confusing narrative that makes it very hard to follow, Kyle Reese is sent
back to 1984 to find out that Sarah Connor is the character from the second
film because the timeline has changed. The film re-writes the narratives of the
original film and the sequel Judgement Day. Then for no reason the film jumps
to 2017 and the rest of the film takes place in this time zone instead. The script
is awfully written and the script hasn’t had enough attention to make sure that
there weren’t any plot holes with the narrative. The acting is bad and when
looking at the director and the cast because the director has done multiple Game
of thrones episodes and Emilia Clarke has been Game of Thrones. However, the
worst aspect by far would be that the action is terrible, the action is very
difficult to follow with the hand-to-hand combat sequences are very difficult
to follow because of the editing and cuts between the action and this might be
because neither Schwarzenegger and Jason Clarke can’t do stunts and this shows
during the action. This is poor entry into the Terminator Franchise and the
studios should give the rights back to Cameron so that we can finally get a
sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day and make a decent film that keeps the
audience entertained, and the reason for this would be because we deserve
better than Terminator Genisys.
9. Taken 3 (Olivier Megaton, 2015).
Like the previous entry
this is to cash in a box office successful franchise, Taken and Taken 2 were
very successful at the box office. The first Taken film is a mediocre action
film which has some interesting elements but the action at time is quite difficult
to follow at times. But Taken 2 has some really bad action sequences but due to
the box office success the film, 20th Century Fox decided that they
should make a sequel because of the low risk and high profit films. Taken 3 is
directed by Olivier Megaton who is not a competent action director, he has made
other films such as Transporter 3 and Colombiana, this is by far the worst
example of his directing style. The action sequences are some of the worst ever
to be put on film because Megaton likes to use this quick cut editing style to
make the action seem more impactful. An example would be when Neeson’s
character goes on the run, there is a sequence which sees the character jump a
fence, the sequence uses fourteen cuts in two seconds and this is simply too
fast for the human brain to focus on what is going on during the action
sequence. The other issue is that the action sequences are not very well
thought out when they are being filmed because Megaton has no idea about
establishing the characters and the geography of the characters and this is
what separates a bad action film from a good action film. Megaton is director
that didn’t put much effort when making Taken 3 and if you would like to watch
a film where the main character is framed for murder and must go on the run
then you would be better off watching The Fugitive because this is a watered
down version of that film. Taken
8. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (Steven Sommers, 2009)
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is
a film which tries to capitalise on the carton series which came out in 90’s.
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is directed by Steven Sommers and stars Dennis Quaid,
Christopher Eccleston, Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller. The film is about an
elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe,
operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms
dealer. The film is a very bad example of an action film, the first thing is
that the performances are very bad in this film because it seems like the
actors and director couldn’t care about this film. The acting is quite bad,
however one of the worst aspect of this film would be that the CGI is terrible,
there are two reasons for this, the first reason would be that the CGI has this
artificial look to it and this means that the CGI seems fake and you understand
that the special effects are just are bunch of computers programming images
onscreen. The second reason would be that the people who render these effects
haven’t blended them into the live-action elements very well. However, the
worst thing about this film by far would be the action sequences, the action
sequences are bad, they aren’t that had to follow but there is no geography
established between any of the characters and in one sequence in France there
are couple of security guards appear, they appear out of nowhere and then Storm
Shadow uses his Ninja Stars at them and he with them before they appear
onscreen. But besides this the action feels bland and dull, this is because
what is put onscreen doesn’t look very well shot or directed and the action
doesn’t break any new ground. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is not the worst
action film but there could have been more effort put into the film because the
film that we received wasn’t very good. The only good points in this film would
be Dennis Quaid and the over the top performance that is delivered by
Christopher Eccleston. These are the only two things to like about this
film.
7. The Transporter Refueled (Camille Delamarre, 2015).
The first trilogy of the
Transporter series are films which are passable, the first-two films in the
series are mindless action films which are well done, and while the third film
is not the greatest the film has Jason Statham. However, 20th
Century Fox decided to reboot the franchise in 2015 and therefore they released
The Transporter Refueled was directed by Camille Delamarre, and the film stars
Ed Skrein and Ray Stevenson. The film takes place in the south of France,
former special-ops mercenary Frank Martin enters into a game of chess with a
femme-fatale and her three sidekicks who are looking for revenge against a
sinister Russian kingpin. The director Camille Delamarre is mainly an editor
who has edited films such as Transporter 3, Taken 2 and Colombiana and has only
one another directing credit and that would be Brick Mansion that came out a
couple of years ago. Transporter Refueled is a poor example of the genre, the
main issue would be that the script has not been written with much care and
attention with the film having characters which are very one dimensional and
the characters make poor decisions that would get killed in the real world. The
second issue would be that Ed Skrein is not Jason Statham and this shows
because the director and editor have to edit around the actors that are
involved in the action sequences. The editing is something which is poorly done
in this film because the director doesn’t show us what the characters are doing
at any one time during the action sequences. This is can be seen in the final
fight sequence, there is this quick cuts which cuts away from the action and
the actors are not hitting each other or the filmmakers are making the impacts
of the hits much firmer than what happened on set. The Transporter Refueled is a
film which is terrible, if you thought that Transporter 3 was a bad film this
is film which is much worse than that film. The only good aspect to this film
would be that Ray Stevenson is the only good thing about this film, but even
considering that he is wasted in this film because the rest of the film is
terrible.
6. Hitman: Agent 47 (Aleksander Bach, 2015).
Hitman: Agent 47 is the
second attempt to trying to make another film about the Hitman character on the
big screen. Hitman: Agent 47 is directed by Aleksander Bach and the film stars
Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware and Zachary Quinto. The film is about the assassin
agent 47 who teams up with a woman named Katia to help her find her father and
uncover the mysteries of her ancestry, while agent 47 tries to take down an
evil organisation known as the Syndicate. The first film was critically panned
for having a confusing narrative which was hard to follow and the film had too
many villains in the narrative. This is the second attempt to make a good film
and the creative team behind this film have failed to make a good Hitman film. There
are many reason that this film fails because of several different factors, the
first would be the script, 20th century fox decided to get
screenwriter Skip Woods, the man responsible for the script in the original in
the first film. This new version of the Hitman film has a poor script because
none of the characters get much development, an example would be the subway
fight between agent 47 and John Smith. The script doesn’t give the audience
strong character development and therefore the audience doesn’t care if the
characters survive during the action sequences. The action sequences are also
quite poorly filmed, an example would be the first action sequence that takes
place in the film, the filmmakers just decide that the character should aim a
weapon at any angle and this is so the shots look good and this is not what
makes a great action film.
5. 2 Fast 2 Furious (John Singleton, 2003).
2 Fast 2 Furious is a
sequel to The Fast and The Furious and is yet another sequel to a very
successful film just like Taken 3. 2 Fast 2 Furious is directed by John
Singleton and stars Paul Walker and also Tyrese Gibson. The film sees Paul
Walker’s character return to the franchise in Miami after the events of the
first film. The former cop Brian O'Conner is called upon to bust a dangerous
criminal and he recruits the help of a former childhood friend and street racer
who has a chance to redeem himself, and take down a drug dealer. This is a film
which has terrible cinematography, the cinematography and the camera that the
production crew decided to use a camera which is of low quality and this is
something which makes the film look terrible from the start to the end of the
film. This is film which is very uncomfortable to watch because the film crew
didn’t care about the aesthetic of the film and this shows in the overall film
itself. The film is just unpleasant to watch from start to finish and this is
not only due to the aesthetic of the film, but because the CGI is very poor and
the artists who render the films special effects have done a very poor job or
the special effects have been rushed to make sure that the film was completed
on time so that the studio could make money. The film is not the worst film on
the list, the action is very easy to follow and Paul Walker is quite good in
this film. But the reason why the film ranks in the middle is because of the
aesthetics of the film and the visuals. This is an uncomfortable film to watch
because of the visual elements and while the other films listed before a worse,
they have been well shot and don’t have poor technical aspects, and because of
this the film would ranks here because of the visuals.
4. A Good Day to Die hard (John Moore, 2013).
Every aspect of this film
is poor, this is a film which should have never have been made because they
shouldn’t have made this sequel and stuck with four films, but it seems like
that 20th Century Fox don’t care about putting out quality action
films because this is there fourth entry on this list. Die Hard 4.0 or Live
Free or Die Hard was a passable and entertaining action film but where that
film had some good sequences and an entertaining plot. This film is not
entertaining at all; this film is horrible from start to finish because there
are many things to pick holes with about this film. The first thing is that all
the characters are terrible, and this includes McLane as a character, he is not
the same character as the one in the original film and he is a complete asshole
who doesn’t care for human life, and this is not the same character as the
first film because he cared about the people. But he is no better than the
antagonists in the film and that means you don’t care about the survival of the
main protagonist and this is basic screenwriting you must make the character
someone who sympathetic and that you can support even when they make
questionable decisions. This film gives us characters which make stupid choices
that effect other people and put people endanger and this just includes the
main character. The action sequences have been edited by an ape because the
action is bad, hard to follow and very badly filmed and shot choices show that
the director is an incompetent person and he shouldn’t be allowed to direct any
more films. The script is also terrible, it was written by Skip Woods who makes
his second mention on this post, the script writer doesn’t understand the
concept of how to write characters and how to develop them and Die Hard 5
suffers greatly from this for that reason.
3. Hot Pursuit (Anne Fletcher, 2015).
From a bad sequel to a
very bad film in general, Hot Pursuit is an insult of a film, Hot Pursuit is
about an uptight and by-the-book cop tries to protect the outgoing widow of a
drug boss as they race through Texas pursued by crooked cops and murderous
gunmen. This is quite a good premise but the final product is terrible for many
different reasons, the first reason would be that the lead characters are both
terrible. Reese Witherspoon has been in some excellent films such as Walk the
Line and Sofia Vergara is actresses has had some interesting roles like in
Machete Kills and Wild Card. However, in this film they are both uncomfortable
to watch throughout the run time in the film because they make jokes which are
unfunny. The jokes are either about shoes, clothes or personal issues and this
film makes jokes about these areas and jokes about these topics are not funny because
they just decide to make these random jokes. This film is also terrible with
the pacing and can’t decide whether it wants to be an action film like the
buddy cop action film of the 1980’s or whether it wants to be a spoof film
about that genre. The action is completely terrible with no structure and no
build the action just occurs from nowhere and this is what makes a terrible
action film. Hot Pursuit is a film which is waste of time and this is film that
nobody should watch, the film is uncomfortable to watch from beginning to end.
There is nothing redeemable about this film because there is nothing to like
about this film from this film, this is a film that has already been forgotten
and this is good thing because this is a film which deserves to be forgotten
and not remembered.
2. Getaway (Courtney Solomon, 2013).
Not to be confused with
the Sam Peckinpah classic which is an excellent film, this film Getaway is
directed by Courtney Solomon and stars Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon
Voight. The film has a very confusing plot to follow and this but one issue
with the film, but the film follows the character of Brent Magna who must save
his kidnapped wife from an antagonist which is known as the voice. This is a
film which is like watching a police pursuit as a film and this film is 90
minutes, so the film is basically a 90-minute car chase and that is all this
film is. The film follows the main character and another character known as the
kid played by Selena Gomez, they are both sent on a quest to help the
antagonist achieve his goals. The narrative is very limited and this makes it
weak and this can’t carry the run time of one hour and thirty minutes. The only
thing which is a positive about this film would be that Ethan Hawke tries to
make the most of this film and Jon Voight is quite interesting as the
antagonist but the filmmakers don’t capitalise on these talented individuals.
This film could have been a mindless action film which you could watch and
switch your brain off to watch but this film is basically two characters in a
car playing a series games at the antagonists demands and this is terrible
film, and people should stay away from watching this film because the film is
not really a film but more a series of clips taken from other films car chase
sequence and then edited together to make it look like a film and this is all
this film will be. Like the previous entry this film came out in 2013 and
nobody ever talks about this film at all and this is something which is good,
this film is better to be forgotten because there are better examples of films
like this and while it is not great Need for Speed is a much better film
compared to this film.
1. Transformers: Age of Extinction (Michael Bay,
2014).
Constructing this list
was hard because of which Transformers film to put on here, apart from the
first film in the franchise is not great but the film is a passable, but the
other films are all terrible. Possibly the worst out film out of the series
would be Transformers: Age of Extinction. Transformers: Age of Extinction is
directed by Michael Bay and stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Peltz and Stanley
Tucci. The film takes place five years after the events of Dark of the Moon,
and the Transformers are being hunted by the government agency because they
agencies think they did the damage to Chicago, even though they are hunting the
wrong Transformers because the Deception and not the Autobots. This film is bad
for many different reasons; the first reason would be that all the action that
doesn’t evolve any CGI is very poorly filmed and you can’t understand what is
happening onscreen and this is because of Bay’s directing style because he
likes motion in all kinds of shots the camera is constantly shaking. The second
aspect is that the film has a terrible plot and storyline which has many plot
holes and inconsistencies with the other films in the franchise. The third
reason would be that this film is a bad action film would be that the acting is
behind believable and there is not one strong performance in this film,
although Mark Wahlberg is fine in this film and probably gives the best
performance in this film but that is not saying much compared to the other performances
in this film. The final reason that this film is bad is that this film is too
long and it is not an entertaining to watch, the film is near three hour run
time and the action is above all boring to watch and doesn’t look good
onscreen. This film is at the number one spot because of the box office success
this film had, with the film making over $1 billion and this is because people
just go and see the film because of the trailers and because of this film’s
success we are going to get another three sequels to this awful film, and
hopefully Bay doesn’t direct anymore after The last Knight because we should
get better films than the ones we are getting from Bay.
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