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Dirty Grandpa

The worst films of 2016

Shoddy superhero showdowns, titter-deficient comedies and outright diabolical remakes – these are the biggest movie flops of 2016

Tom Huddleston
Written by Tom Huddleston
Arts and culture journalist
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Hold your nose! Right here we bring you a list of the year’s whiffiest cinematic stinkers. From cranky Christians to killer phones, racist action flicks to laugh-free comedies, Bill Murray to Ben Affleck (twice), these are the films we loved to hate in 2016.

RECOMMENDED: The best films of 2016

The worst films of 2016

15. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

  • Film
  • Action and adventure
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Whack! Thud! Zap! Droop! Snooze! Yes, there are a few impressive action moments in Zack Snyder’s blockbusting behemoth. But how, we ask, is it possible for a movie about two such iconic and intriguing comic-book heroes to feel about as much fun as a wet weekend in Bognor?

14. Gods of Egypt

  • Film
  • Action and adventure
Gods of Egypt
Gods of Egypt
Controversial before it was released for the casting of Caucasian actors as Egyptian gods, this risible historical fantasy fails on every level. Director Alex Proyas called his critics ‘a pack of diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass’. Which makes his film what, exactly?
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13. London Has Fallen

  • Film
  • Action and adventure
London Has Fallen
London Has Fallen
‘Go back to Fuckheadistan!’ is the most memorable line of dialogue in this tale of Islamic terrorism on the streets of our fair capital. Clumsily racist, idiotic and noisy, it’s the Donald Trump of low-rent action movies.

12. Rock the Kasbah

  • Film
  • Comedy
Rock the Kasbah
Rock the Kasbah
078024000873
Bill Murray in Afghanistan? We’re sold! But this lifeless comedy about a slumming American music promoter who discovers a singing talent in a remote tribal village goes nowhere, slowly. Bill must’ve run up some serious long-distance charges phoning in his performance.
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11. Alice Through the Looking Glass

  • Film
  • Family and kids
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Disney
Just when you thought that Johnny Depp’s stock couldn’t get any lower, along comes this repulsively over-ornate sequel to Tim Burton’s eye-scorching, CG-slathered fantasy film. 

10. Mother's Day

  • Film
  • Comedy
Mother's Day
Mother's Day
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the cinema after ‘New Year’s Eve’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’, along came Garry Marshall with the most tasteless product yet from his drippy romcom sausage machine. How he managed to persuade actual talents like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston to get involved is anyone’s guess.
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9. Dirty Grandpa

  • Film
  • Comedy
Dirty Grandpa
Dirty Grandpa
You might not believe it now, kids, but once upon a time Robert De Niro was the world’s Greatest Living Actor. Now he’s playing the lead role in a movie called ‘Dirty Grandpa’. It almost doesn’t matter if the result is any good. It’s not, though, obviously.

8. Collateral Beauty

  • Film
  • Drama
Collateral Beauty
Collateral Beauty
If you’re the kind of person who reads Paulo Coelho books while meditating over a cup of chai tea, hurry along to this modern fairytale in which Will Smith meets the living embodiments of Love, Time and Death. If not, run screaming in the other direction.
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7. The Accountant

  • Film
  • Thrillers
The Accountant
The Accountant
Give ‘The Accountant’ its due: it’s bloody funny. That wasn’t the intention, of course. But the utter seriousness only makes this story of an autistic killer maths genius (Ben Affleck, of all people) even more hilarious. ‘Gigli’ fans should pay particular attention.

6. Cell

  • Film
  • Horror
Cell
Cell
It demands a special kind of talent to take one of Stephen King’s very worst books – about a killer cellphone virus that turns people into voracious zombies – and make it even worse. This spectacularly nonsensical and pointless horror movie feels like ‘The Walking Dead’ scripted by a drunk 12-year-old.
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5. Keeping Up With the Joneses

  • Film
  • Comedy
Keeping Up With the Joneses
Keeping Up With the Joneses
Has there ever been a decent comedy about a suburban couple who become embroiled in wacky spy-type hijinks? We can’t think of one, but somehow they just keep getting made. This particularly risible example totally wastes talents like Jon Hamm and Zach Galifianakis.

4. Ice Age: Collision Course

  • Film
  • Animation
Ice Age: Collision Course
Ice Age: Collision Course
It takes months of work to create a modern cartoon, but ‘Ice Age 4’ still somehow managed to look like it had been slapped together the night before by a pair of disinterested digital animators on a deadline.
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3. God's Not Dead 2

  • Film
God's Not Dead 2
God's Not Dead 2
Back in April, when this amateurish, wilfully ill-informed slice of Bible-bashing nonsense arrived in UK cinemas, the idea that American Christians might actually see themselves as a put-upon minority seemed completely laughable. We’re not laughing any more.

2. Top Cat Begins

  • Film
  • Animation
Top Cat Begins
Top Cat Begins
Foto: Cortesía de Anima Estudios
The movie equivalent of one of those knock-off Taiwanese toys called things like ‘Space Wars’ and ‘Robert Cop’, this formidably atrocious Mexican reboot of the beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoon is like watching your happy childhood memories being shredded by the claws of a giant wisecracking CGI cat.
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1. Point Break

  • Film
  • Thrillers
Point Break
Point Break
Foto: Cortesía Warner Bros. Pictures
The decision to remake Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece of male bonding was bad enough. But this disastrous reimagining added insult with its idiotic script, cruddy effects and punchable cast. Ray Winstone, what were you thinking?
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