The opinions expressed below are my own and if you don't agree, get your own blog (or comment below). What follows are what I believe are the 5 most overrated films of the past 5 years.
WHY IT GOT SO MUCH ATTENTION: It was controversial from the start. It was rumored that top secret information was given to the filmmakers in order to more accurately portray what happened in the hunt, and ultimate killing, of Osama Bin Laden. This controversy led to a lot of attention. It didn't help that it was director Katherine Bigelow's follow-up to her Oscar-winner movie The Hurt Locker (a FAR superior film).
WHY IT WAS OVERRATED: It was more boring than entertaining. It wasn't until the last 20 to 25 minutes or so that the movie actually got to the point and the raid on Bin Laden actually occurred, something that wasn't even originally going to be part of the movie in the first place. This part was added solely because Bin Laden was captured during pre-production. Without it, it would just be a boring talk-fest with the over-acting (and overly praised) Jessica Chastain whining her way from one false-lead to another.
WHY IT GOT SO MUCH ATTENTION: The mystery surrounding fanboy favorite Joss Whedon's horror flick gained a lot of attention in 2009, when it was originally supposed to be released. The plot was kept under wraps, but the odd casting choices and the promise of something "completely different" from other horror movies kept audiences clamoring for the movie. Then it was delayed (apparently to convert to 3D, which never happened), causing more build-up and, ultimately in my eyes, more of a letdown.
WHY IT WAS OVERRATED: It really wasn't that good and the movie was trying far too hard to be different while not making a whole lot of sense. It was a weird sci-fi/horror hybrid that just didn't work. It's almost as if they couldn't decide whether it should be actually supernatural or a human-made "game". It's unfortunate they went with the latter because I think it would have been more original the other way.
3. The Avengers
WHY IT GOT SO MUCH ATTENTION: It's obvious, isn't it? The Marvel universe has built a huge empire of movies and the teaming up of all of them was a no brainer.
WHY IT WAS OVERRATED: Marvel is playing the "phases" card perfectly. By building their characters with great stand alone movies, it allowed the audience to crave seeing them all on screen together. My problem is that I truly believe The Avengers would have been a failure if it were released prior to all the other movies, meaning that they were actually propping this one up. It wasn't original and it didn't have anything in it that stood out as incredible (except the Hulk, har har). The end battle was weak and showed our heroes simply battling a bunch machinations as opposed to the actual villain. It was drawn out and I actually found myself getting extremely bored, waiting for it to end. It was ok, but it wasn't $1.5 billion ok.
4. Toy Story 3
WHY IT GOT SO MUCH ATTENTION: There was a huge gap between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 and during that time, Pixar built themselves as an untouchable force of CGI, churning out hit after hit of quality and original stories. So when it was time to dip back into their first well, of course audiences got excited.
WHY IT WAS OVERRATED: This was one of those movies that people didn't really like all that much when it first came out. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't HATED, but now it seems like it's up on a pedestal as one of Pixar's best, which it is far from being. It didn't tug on the heartstrings as much as the first one did and it didn't have as much comedy as the second. The storyline was forgettable and there was no huge advancement in technology since the second. People wanted to love this movie so much that I think they convinced themselves that it was better than it was.
WHY IT GOT SO MUCH ATTENTION: Obviously, Batman Begins was an incredible reboot. Heath Ledger's untimely death also lent a lot of credence to the film as the superhero genre was struggling to gain traction.
WHY IT WAS OVERRATED: Because of Ledger's death. Hands down, the best thing about this movie was Heath Ledger's surreal portrayal of Joker. It was brilliant and deserved the posthumous Oscar received. Unfortunately, that was really the only GREAT thing about this movie. It was a much bigger film than Batman Begins, both in budget and story arc but it felt flat. All of the memorable scenes are attributed to Ledger and nothing else stood out. The biggest failure of the movie was the inclusion of Two Face. The majority of his screen time was lying in a hospital bed and then he took a couple people hostage and died. Is that really a worthy storyline of one of Batman's biggest villains? The Dark Knight almost felt like it served as a steep learning curve for director Christopher Nolan, bridging the gap from the low-profile first film to the all out blockbuster of the third.
Comments
Maria Jackson
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Cabin in The Woods?!?
Overrated? I hardly know anyone who's seen it. I thought it was fantastic and fell very in line with the tone of "Angel". My only complaint is that if you had seen Buffy & Angel, you'd see repeated themes which feel like a retread of old ground, but still massively enjoyable.
Peter Oberth
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yeah
It just seems like everyone was already praising it as the best and most original horror movie ever made before they even saw it and then it came out and they kept saying that. To me, it was just overblown, scattered and missed the mark.
Lee Roberts
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My Two Cents
Ok, I can't comment on whether or not Cabin in the Woods is or not since I have yet to watch it. But I can say that I've been told multiple times by multiple people that it is great and a must watch for me. I have it on my list to watch on Netflix.
But I can say something about the Avengers, it was only over rated by the normal masses, as in the non comic fans or at least the hardcore fans. To me I loved that they did it the way the did because by leading up in the individuel movies we wan't forced to watch an origin on 6 different characters which would have logged down the plot and forced the action scenes to be short and quick. And by now having them fight the main villian they left open all the upcoming films to bring in more until that final fight.
Though, to a casual viewer this movie had a lot of plot leading to a fight that was with an alien race that you didn't know anything about and didn't see the boss behind it all unless you stayed to the credits, whic more people do now but I'm sure there were some that left and then said I'm not paying $10+ to watch it again or to buy the DVD when it comes out. At least that's the way it seems by what I have been told by people that just watched the movie and have no interest or knowledge in the comic book.