Worst2First: My Biggest Film Letdowns of 2022

Worst2First: 

My Biggest Film Letdowns of 2022

Every year there's films that I've been excited to see, only to have my expectations crushed and feeling let down by what I was hoping would be an exceptional experience. Even though some on this list still had its moments, overall I was disappointed by the outcome. Here are my top ten biggest film letdowns of 2022.

**THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS**

#10

The Gray Man

Netflix has planned on making a whole franchise out of "The Gray Man," but if the first film is any indication, it'll be filled with generic action sequences, lackluster stories, and "Bourne Identity"-like dizzying camera motions. When you get the acting and action talents of Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas - as well as the "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Engame" directing duo of Joe and Anthony Russo - you'd expect something extraordinary. What we got was a shrug and a "meh."

#9

Disenchanted

At least they got the title right. 2007's "Enchanted" was a wonderful take on the Disney princess motif, and felt perfect as it was - yet for some inexplicable reason they decided to go with a sequel fifteen years later that landed right on Disney+ where it should be. Losing all the magic of the original, "Disenchanted" was an obvious cash grab opportunity that wasn't needed, and wasted the talents of Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey and the like.

#8

Moonfall

Roland Emmerich is the master of the disaster movie, directing the likes of "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow," but he's also had his misfires including "2012," but none misfired more than "Moonfall." How can you make the idea of the moon literally losing its orbit and veer on a direct crash course for Earth something dull and boring? No idea, but that's what happened with "Moonfall" - it was a big snooze from start to finish, and the storyline was extremely convoluted and didn't make a lot of sense.

#7

They/Them

I've been a huge fan of the camp counselor slasher subgenre ever since "Friday the 13th," and I've even found something to enjoy about their cheap knockoffs like "Sleepaway Camp" and "Bloody Murder," but I found nothing enjoyable about "They/Them," which advertised itself as the first LGBTQ+ slasher movie. Not only was there hardly any slashing to be done, but the overall plot was lackluster and the choices in the film, while admirable for swinging for the fences, never hit a homerun. The elongated musical number to Pink's "Perfect" was the topping of this suck salad.

#6

Amsterdam

When you have David O. Russell behind the camera and a slew of A-list actors including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Zoe Saldana, Michael Shannon, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malik and Robert de Niro, you'd expect something of pure brilliance. Instead we get "Amsterdam," an overly-long, overly-convoluted film that you won't remember after the credits start rolling, apart from this feeling that you just wasted a few hours of your life.

#5

Don't Worry Darling

Olivia Wilde proved herself a fantastic director with the hilarious coming-of-age comedy "Booksmart," but "Don't Worry Darling" proved that lightning doesn't strike twice. Despite a fantastic performance by the always-amazing Florence Pugh, "Darling" falters in its confusing story and deflated conclusion that takes away from the performance as well as the dazzling cinematography that preceded it. Not to mention Harry Styles's wooden acting, along with the behind-the-scenes drama that bled into the thoughts of people before watching it.

#4

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The original Tobe Hooper "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was a masterpiece in horror cinema, with its purposefully poor quality making it feel like a real-life snuff film, and the second film totally turned the story of Leatherface on its head. Each subsequent sequel, however, failed to re-capture that same magic, so there was high hopes that the newest "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" could bring back that old magic - but instead it turned into the worst sequel since that Matthew McConaughey/Renee Zellweger abomination. Leatherface was a shell of what he once was, and not even the return of first final girl Sally could bring this film to the levels of its predecessors.

#3

Jurassic World: Dominion

There was a lot of hype around the final trilogy in the "Jurassic World" franchise: the idea that dinosaurs now freely roam the world and interacting with humanity, as well as the return of legacy characters Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum seemed to spell out this would be the best film in not just the "Jurassic World" franchise, but the "Jurassic Park" as well. Instead, we get a story about giant locusts and the dinosaurs are barely an afterthought, and while it was nice seeing the legacy characters interacting with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, the spark just wasn't there.

#2

Thor: Love and Thunder

It seems like eons ago when director Taika Waititi revealed that he would be directing the fourth "Thor" movie and also introduced the long-awaited return of Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, this time wielding Thor's hammer Mjonir as the Mighty Thor from the comics. Anticipation was high that the director of "Thor: Ragnarok" would be able to re-capture the same sense of humor to "Love and Thunder," but instead the comedy fell totally flat - but worse than that, it seemed that Waititi wanted to hit us over the head again and again with the lame comedy until we found it funny due to brain damage, but we never did. Portman was totally wasted in the role, and Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher was criminally underutilized - and I won't even mention the Disney Channel-like effects that absolutely detracted from the story.

#1

Halloween Ends

The 1978 "Halloween" was the small film that could, helping give birth to the modern day slasher genre and introducing the world to one of horror cinema's most iconic villains: Michael Myers. Forty years later and a slew of unimpressed sequels later, director David Gordon Green decided to reinvent the franchise with 2018's "Halloween," foregoing any sequel after the 78 original and returning Jamie Lee Curtis to her iconic role as Laurie Strode. The film was a massive success, but the following year its sequel - "Halloween Kills" - was a jumbled mess of unintentional humor. There was hope that "Halloween Ends" would straighten the ship and give Strode and Michael Myers the proper sendoff they deserve forty years later, but instead we got a film almost devoid of Michael Myers, making him an afterthought in favor of introducing a whole new character that no one cared about. Hopefully "Halloween Ends" will be the end of the franchise, even if it went out with a whimper instead of a bang.