As we discussed in our previous article, 2025 is shaping up to be a spectacular year for movies. The lineup is looking so dope that we can’t help but note that 2024 had its moments too – but was still filled with plenty of flops.
So that spurred us to look back at the cinematic lows of 2024, and compile a list of that year’s five most disappointing films that you should dodge in your next movie binge fest.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
You know what’s more disappointing than a sequel? A disappointing legacy sequel, that’s what. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” like most movies on this list, aimed to tickle the viewers’ sense of nostalgia by introducing new characters alongside the original cast, and enhance the experience with amazing graphics. The latter was indeed dazzling, but the cast, regardless of how likeable they are, couldn’t save a film that relied more on gimmicks and tropes than an actual, sound story.
This film can be likened to “The Force Awakens,” which tried to relive the franchise’s prime. And much like “The Force Awakens,” it wasn’t all that bad – but there were so many things that could have made this film so great, allowing it to break free from its predecessors’ shadow. An example of this would be Patton Oswalt and James Acaster, phenomenal actors who felt like they were held back for no reason.
Gladiator II
“Gladiator II” didn’t do so bad at the box office, nor in our review; quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. The original film was a massive success and an instant classic, and, honestly, it didn’t really need a sequel — it was perfect as is. Unfortunately, with corporate greed, we can’t have nice things, hence the sequel. With that said, it still had some massive sandals to fill.
The film was fun at best and decent at worst. It featured a great cast that absolutely carried the film on top of its amazing set pieces, but that was it. It largely repeated most of the first film’s plot points, and it felt as though there was no genuine attempt to break the mould of the original and create its own identity. It wasn’t bad, unlike the rest of the entries on this list, but it just couldn’t beat the original, nor did it try to.
Madam Web
This film, alongside “Morbius,” marked the beginning of the end for the Sony Spider-Man Universe. Easily one of the weakest Marvel films to date, this cinematic stillbirth easily took one of the most intriguing characters in the entire Spider-Verse and gave her one of the most uninspired movies to date.
To briefly summarise our review of it, “Madame Web” was absolutely flooded with horrible dialogue. “Inspiring” lines such as “He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders just before she died” and “Remember, you’re the Madame of this Web. You are Madame Web,” rattled the internet before the film even came out and was rightly clowned on as a result. And that’s not to mention the horrendous camera work coupled with messy pacing; we were rolling our eyes so far up our skulls we could have seen our brains, and even then it would have been more entertaining to watch than what was in front of us.
Borderlands
If you were a kid sometime in the 80s all the way up to the mid-2000s, you’d know how bad video game movie adaptations were. From 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” all the way to 2005’s “Doom”, we had the displeasure of watching these poor adaptations that failed to capture what made the games so loveable. Luckily, that seems to be all in the past now, as we are now experiencing what could be the golden age of video game movie adaptations. Unfortunately, “Borderlands” isn’t a part of that era.
For those who are unaware, the original mainline games were incredibly quirky with dazzling colours, hysterical humour, over-the-top violence, and a loveable cast that we inevitably root for. Unfortunately, this adaptation manages to lose all of that, making it a bland and generic “action” film (if you can even call it that) that doesn’t have a soul. Director Eli Roth is no stranger to violent and bloody films, but he decided to play it safe in this film, which is an utterly baffling choice that left gamers pissed off and the general audience lost in the dark.
Joker: Folie à Deux
What is there to say about this film that wasn’t said already? Much like in our review, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a hot mess that we won’t even touch with a 10-metre rod. For starters, it absolutely ruined the gripping fallen hero story of Arthur Fleck, this universe’s Joker, with music; the fact that they managed to do that with Lady Gaga was like pouring isopropyl alcohol on the open wound before tossing the poor soul into a salt bed.
It was an absolute disaster of a film, with many saying it had no reason to exist, and they’re right. This film was hastily slapped together, and it shows, as it was just designed to cash in on the sudden success of its 2019 predecessor. What made it such a huge slap to the face was the fact that it was the most hyped movie of 2024, largely as a result of its explosive marketing campaign. But many people even stated that the film had no substance, it had no direction, and it literally had no reason to exist, and we were subjected to this slop for more than two hours. If you have the sudden urge to watch this film, maybe just to give it a second chance or you’ve simply never watched it before, here’s a pro tip: don’t. Just don’t.
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