Plenty of 2010s movies were massive hits with audiences and are remembered fondly today as potential classics, ranging from Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice In Wonderland to the hit Disney film Frozen. For every 2010s hit, however, there were more than a few duds scattered throughout the decade.
These movies missed the mark with audiences thanks to poor storytelling, whitewashing, horrible CGI effects, and being unfaithful to the source material. Despite being less than 15 years old, these movies have already aged poorly.
Updated on January 13, 2023, by Scoot Allan: As time passes and culture changes, movies that people used to love are analyzed in a new, often unflattering, light. The audience's perspective on films changes, turning once-beloved movies into uncomfortable reminders of the past.
18 Cloud Atlas Features Some Cringe-Worthy Moments (2012)
Tom Hanks and Halle Berry joined a star-studded cast in the adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which hit theaters in 2012. The celebrated novel took place across different eras and explored the premise of reincarnation over hundreds of years.
Some critics hailed Cloud Atlas as a successful release filled with amazing visuals and a moving score. Unfortunately, the film eventually became criticized for the decision to use non-Asian actors to play Asian characters in the film, which has aged poorly in today's climate.
17 Justice League Is Obsolete After Zack Snyder's Release (2017)
Zack Snyder charted the course for his take on the members of the Justice League, which put the film in a unique situation when he dropped out and Joss Whedon took over for reshoots. Whedon removed crucial scenes that drastically changed the overall tone and story of the movie when it hit theaters as Justice League in 2017.
However, HBO Max gave the original director a chance to bring his initial vision to fans with the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League. While it wasn't perfect either, anything Whedon had added to the film was removed, which highlighted even more issues with the problematic director's theatrical cut of Justice League.
16 Alice Through The Looking Glass Was A Failure (2016)
The sequel to Disney's live-action Alice In Wonderland, Alice Through The Looking Glass was panned by critics and audiences for its convoluted plot and lack of character development. It didn't help that the movie promised to delve into the Red Queen and White Queen's tumultuous history with each other and underdelivered on that front.
Alice Through The Looking Glass was what Tim Burton fans or Disney aficionados were looking for. It's likely no accident that none of the other live-action Disney adaptations have gotten sequels since. Disney knows it isn't a good idea.
15 Battleship Was A Complete Miss With Audiences (2012)
Battleship was released in 2012 and was based on the board game of the same name. The film focused on a group of small warships forced to take on extraterrestrial naval fleets to thwart their evil plans of world domination.
Despite featuring real-life missile destroyers and consulting the Science & Entertainment exchange for science-related matters during production, Battleship was criticized for its formulaic plot, poor writing, and lack of character development. The film itself was a box office bomb and lost $150 million for Universal Pictures.
14 The Dark Knight Rises Ending Lost Its Spectacle (2012)
Christopher Nolan ended his take on DC's most popular character in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises. The climactic end to the trilogy had a lot to overcome due to the huge success of the earlier entry, The Dark Knight. While Nolan's final entry brought a final end to his story, it hasn't fared as well with modern rewatches.
The Dark Knight Rises is an overlong and sometimes bloated entry in Nolan's trilogy that doesn't hold up with the faster-paced earlier entries. The ending of the film served as a final ending for the character of Batman as well, though it left fans with a lot of unanswered questions.
13 La La Land Whitewashed Jazz History (2016)
Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, La La Land featured the love story between a jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who want to make it in LA. The musical explores how the characters' dreams modify their romantic dynamic and all the what-ifs of their relationship.
Now more than ever, proper racial representation is a must in movies and television. Since Jazz history is highly connected to Black American history, it makes no sense that La La Land didn't explore this. Many viewers can't help but notice that Gosling's character acts like a "white savior" in La La Land.
12 The Last Airbender Was Heavily Panned For Many Issues (2010)
The Last Airbender shocked audiences in the worst way possible when it was released in theatres. The film was criticized by fans of the original cartoon and critics for whitewashing, plot holes, unfaithfulness to the source material, bad visual effects, and poor 3D conversion.
The Last Airbender was supposed to be the beginning of a trilogy, but further sequels were canceled due to universal backlash and low profits. Fingers are crossed that the upcoming Netflix live-action series will do better by the franchise.
11 The Goldfinch Failed To Impress Audiences (2019)
Despite the book The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt being so popular, the movie adaptation was a box-office bomb and lost an estimated $50 million. The cinematography and performances were praised, especially with Ansel Elgort playing the lead role.
However, The Goldfinch was criticized for its plot and overall narrative pacing. Fans of the book were also unimpressed with the changes made to the movie, including altering key aspects of Boris' character and the ending.
10 Ezra Miller's Scandals Ruined We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin tells the story of Eva Khatchadourian, a former travel writer working as a travel agent who has to deal with the aftermath of her son, Kevin, committing a massacre in their town. Based on the novel by Lionel Shriver, the film deals with Eva's journey to understand her son's behavior.
We Need To Talk About Kevin is an emotional journey led by Tilda Swinton's amazing acting. Unfortunately, it also features Ezra Miller as Kevin. Given the actor's current scandals for attacking people and indulging in dangerous behavior, it's impossible to watch We Need To Talk About Kevin without feeling a bit disturbed. Not even Swinton's acting skills save the audience from that.
9 Green Lantern Suffered From Terrible CGI (2011)
Green Lantern received generally negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office, which put an end o any chances of a possible sequel. Despite a good performance from Ryan Reynolds, the movie suffered from bad CGI effects and writing, as well as troubled production behind the scenes including stalled development time and changing directors.
It didn't help that some actors, including Reynolds, were injured during filming. Green Lantern was such a failure that the character was not included in the following live-action iteration of the DCEU. Reynolds even poked fun at the role a couple of times in the Deadpool franchise.
8 Collateral Beauty Was Criticized For Its Writing (2016)
Collateral Beauty did well at the box office but was heavily panned by critics due to poor writing and dialogue. Despite featuring major star power in the likes of Will Smith, Helen Mirren, and Keira Knightley, their acting alone could not save the movie.
While Collateral Beauty meant well telling the story of a man working through grief over his lost daughter, the story was underdeveloped and poorly paced. The dialogue was especially criticized for being overly melodramatic and cheesy.
7 Tomorrowland Was Too Bland To Be Memorable (2015)
Despite Disney heavily advertising Tomorrowland before its release in 2015, the film was criticized for a lack of focus on the titular park and the screenplay's uneven storytelling. Many fans also felt that the special effects got in the way of telling an effective story.
Despite poor performance at the box office, Tomorrowland is still considered one of the better films based on a Disney theme park attraction. While Pirates of the Caribbean is the most successful theme park adaptation, Tomorrowland tried to explore the ride in a bold new way that didn't quite work for some fans.
6 The Avengers Doesn't Hold Up In A Post-Phase Three World (2012)
After introducing dozens of characters to the audience, the MCU ended Phase One with The Avengers. The film marked the first team-up between Earth's Mightiest Heroes against Loki and the Chitauri. As the first MCU crossover, The Avengers hyped the fans from beginning to end.
Unfortunately, The Avengers hasn’t stood the test of time. From a lack of diversity to terrible CGI sequences and Joss Whedon's own spotty role in the film's production, The Avengers is a Phase One MCU film that aged poorly.
5 Blue Is The Warmest Color Isn't As Progressive As Everyone Thought (2013)
Written and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue is the Warmest Color focuses on Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adèle, a teenager who discovers her own sexuality when she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), an openly lesbian woman. Given these topics, the film became an LGBTQ+ staple in its time.
Blue is the Warmest Color has been widely criticized for offering a lesbian romance completely filtered by the male gaze. The unnecessarily long sex scene between the actresses has been ridiculed. Now that both Seydoux and Exarchopoulos have accused Kechiche of exploitative shooting practices, it's hard not to see Blue is the Warmest Color as little more than Kechiche's fetish.
4 The Dark Tower Ruined A Beloved Book Series (2017)
The Dark Tower was a highly-anticipated science/fantasy film adaptation of the book series of the same name by Stephen King, but it was not successful with audiences or critics. This movie was criticized for compressing the multi-novel source material into a singular story, being unfaithful to the books, and for the story itself being boring.
Stephen King himself later admitted that the commercial and critical failure was due to compressing the source material, toning down the violence, and changing the protagonist to Jake instead of focusing on Roland. The Dark Tower is a great book series, so it's a shame the film adaptation bombed so hard.
3 The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones Failed To Start A Franchise (2013)
The Mortal Instruments was a film adaptation based on the book series of the same name by Cassandra Clare. Critics criticized the film for its cheesy romance, complicated plotlines, and nonsensical world-building.
Many critics compared the movie to Twilight at the time, likening Mortal Instruments to a knock-off. There were plans for a sequel, but they were dropped. Instead, the film's universe continued in a television series called Shadowhunters.
2 Cats Was A Train Wreck People Want To Forget (2019)
The film adaptation of Cats was heavily panned for its CGI, editing, performances, plot, and overall screenplay. The film was a box-office bomb and lost Universal Pictures an estimated $114 million while also failing to impress critics.
To make matters worse, the original release of Cats contained several CGI-related errors, including Judi Dench's regular human hand appearing instead of Old Deuteronomy's cat claws. Cats went on to "win" six Razzie awards, including Worst Screenplay and Worst Director.
1 Call Me By Your Name Glorified An Inappropriate Relationship (2017)
Based on the André Aciman novel, Call Me by Your Name revolves around the relationship between 17-year-old Elio Perlman and Oliver, a graduate student working with Elio's father. Although the film passed it off as a cute summer fling, it's difficult to watch Call Me by Your Name without acknowledging the age gap between the two main characters.
This plot was already questionable during the film's debut, but Armie Hammer was then accused of several cases of sexual and emotional abuse. It's now impossible not to see Oliver as a predator who completely took advantage of Elio's loneliness.