Buzzman’s Overrated Films of 2011
Every year there are a slew of films that generate a lot of pre-release buzz or strong word of mouth openings that help raise expectations you have for a movie. These expectations can sometimes have no real effect on you, but in a lot of cases, it seems to hurt the film a bit because these expectations became too lofty. It seemed more than ever that 2011 was just dumped with a lot of films that never seemed to deliver for myself. Some of them were films were still good, some of them were almost great, in fact almost none of my overrated films are all that bad, but I expected so much more out of them, they simply cannot be left off the list. Whether it be because they were award darlings or the public just fell in love with them a little too much, but these are six films I feel get a little too much praise then they rightfully deserved. ( I would include Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for its nomination but that film is just way too easy and we all pretty much agree that it was a piece of trash.)
#6 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I actually really like this movie. After some thought I’d say it’s the best film on this list that probably shouldn’t be on this list but once again people get carried with certain aspects of the film and seem to disregard the things it does poorly. I love the first two thirds of this movie. I love the chimp Caesar bonding with James Franco’s character and then once again bonding with the chimps he is locked up with. It’s the “Rise” part of the film I cannot stand. The battle between the apes and the people is way too quick and poorly written, James Franco running around in his sleep spewing out his lines rather bored, and somehow San Francisco has 500 chimps in the waiting and that are smart without using the actual drug. It has a lot of plot holes in the worst of spots, and the alternate ending of a dead James Franco lying in the arms of Ceaser could’ve saved it but they chickened out and went with the much more tolerant franchise ending.
#5 | Bridesmaids
I think this movie was very funny. I laughed consistently throughout the first 90 minutes. The problem I have with it is just that, it was too long. After those 90 minutes the movie got boring and you were forced to watch an unfunny conclusion to what you never seemed to realize was a romantic comedy because it never put it in the spotlight until the end. It seemed to go away from the funny characters and focused way too heavily on the one trick pony Kristen Wiig who usually wears her welcome pretty damn fast. So while I think it’s a great comedy, I think it’s just a decent movie. You wouldn’t expect that when you hear from all the lovers of this film hat crown it one of the funniest movies of all time. And for the life of me the supporting actress category must have been crap for Melissa McCarthy to get a nomination.
#4 | Super 8
I love one half of Super 8. The halves were the kids run around the town making their own movie. It’s awesome and full of nostalgia. It was the child adventure movie of the 80s I thought Abrams nailed here. The backstory between Joe and Coach was a very touching story that hit close to home. For a moment we were kids again. The part I really hate is the mystery of the monster and the reveal it was given. It almost seemed like a guarantee that something this hyped would be a letdown but a freaking alien stuck on earth building his ship out of metal? Why was he even capturing people in the first place and why the hell did he look like a fucking giant monster from Gears of War? I think way too many people think this is a great movie when in fact it was a good movie closer to being average than great. The best part of this movie is the actual short film they made during the credits.
#3 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The final installment in the highest grossing franchise of all time came to a sad conclusion this year. It was a very good movie that was adored by just about everyone. It had a nice closure feel that seemed to satisfy everyone who stuck around and watched the series. The reason it falls onto this list is because a good number of those fans overrate the crap out of this movie. They were calling for a best picture nomination, best director’s nod, and even a best supporting actor. The movie was good, but didn’t deserve any of that in the slightest. The story and characters fates were good, but the entire last act was one giant standoff of spells being thrown at each other; it was a bit boring with repetition. I rather enjoyed the first part where we just followed the trio and watched them slowly losing hope with the ongoing wizardry war. Don’t even get me started with Alan Rickman as Snape. He was my favorite character but by no means was it a buzz worthy. A lot of people could have just talked with a restrained face the entire time. I remember before the Oscar nominees trolling the Potter fans on Twitter over this. Boy was that fun; I still get responses every now and then from people that won’t give up defending him. Overall, good movie, but very overrated due to it being the finale of a very popular franchise.
#2 | War Horse
This movie was nominated for a Best Picture; it might be the worst best picture nominee I will ever see. I might have been a little too harsh when I gave this film a score of 0, but I simply despise this film with an burning passion. I let my bias get the better of me. I apology to its cast and crew, but I cannot sit and watch a movie about a Horse running through various points of the first World War if you never established it as a character. Hell even then, you can only root so much for a damn horse. People don’t them horses. It’s a fact. Then the character of Joey is such a whiney little twat that only the kid from Extremely Cloud comes across as a bigger one. He is a dumbfuck who gets attached to a horse the minute he sees him and goes through any lengths to get him back, but all you as audience member want to do is shoot them both and call it a night. You should expect nothing more than that hack Speilberg. Everything he seems to have his hand on nowadays is downright awful. You’d be shocked to see the projects he was a part of on his IMDB page.
#1 | The Help
This movie shocked me come award season. It got a best picture nominee, and just a slew of performance awards from just about the entire cast. I kept putting it off because it never looked very good to me, but with all these awards and the buzz behind it, I finally forced myself to watch it and was confused as to what I was supposed to have seen. Was it a light hearted comedy about the trouble of black woman? Why was Emma Stone the lead and her problems throw on in there? Why was it serious one moment but the very next scene had Octavis Spencer cracking up one of her stereotypical jokes that you’d expect from a Tyler Perry movie. I have no idea and I merely tolerated the movie, finding the film stumbling upon great moments surrounded by messy ones. Ironically the parts I did enjoy were the more underappreciated moments such as Jessica Castain and a blink and you’ll miss it thievery attempt by Aunjanue Ellis. This felt more along the lines of Lifetime Movie Network, rather than a best picture nominee. For that, I label it as the most overrated movie of the year.
What are some of yours?
