The Worst Films of 2021: From "Dear Evan Hansen" to another bloody "Purge" movie.

By: Adam Beam SUTV News

Similar to the Best of 2021 list, the following entries and their placement is simply my opinion and should not be treated as definitive.

Number 10: Last Night in Soho

In terms of quality, this movie is easily the most well made out of the other entries on this list. However, if I have to include a movie that disappointed me this year, none takes the crown quite like "Last Night in Soho". Despite having a fantastic cast, concept and director, this film is the textbook definition of a bad ending ruining the whole movie. I won't spoil anything, but the film's twist ending is the kind of ending that undermines everything the movie had set up at that point. On top of that, it's a horror film that simply isn't scary.

Number 9: Godzilla vs Kong

An all out brawl between two of the greatest movie monsters of all-time should not be this boring. However, that's exactly what this movie is, boring. When the monsters clash, the film can be entertaining, but everything else surrounding them is completely lifeless. The human characters, new and returning, are the most generic and uninteresting this series has ever given us (that is saying quite a lot). On top of that, the movie was too scared to even determine a real winnner.

Number 8: Red Notice/ Free Guy

It hurts quite a good deal when the rose tinted glasses come off and my love of Ryan Reynolds begins to fade. The common complaint of him playing the same part in every film is on full display in both films. "Free Guy" is a failure for being a cringey video game comedy that just isn't funny. "Red Notice" is just a generic action film with three talented actors phoning it in. Yet both films were major successes, so sequels that will most likely do more of the same are sure to follow.

Number 7: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

You know it's a bad sign when the best thing a film has going for it is that it's blissfully short. Clocking in at just over an hour and a half, it's at least a bad movie that knows not to waste your time. While technically being better than the first film, the standards were set low from the beginning. The comedy is juvenile and the action is terrible. Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson are trying to give it their all, but the rest of the cast just phones it in. Naomie Harris in particular gives one of the worst performances of the year.

Number 6: Old

I'll give M. Night Shyamalan this, he made easily the funniest film of the year, even if unintentionally. Very much in the vein of "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening", this director takes a concept that could be scary, and whether it's the script or performances, end up being anything but scary. All the classic Shyamalan tropes are full display here, even down to his completely unnecessary "cameo". While the film does take full advantage of the concept, it of course falls apart in final minutes as the twist once again derails the whole movie, but in the funniest way possible. Still a bad movie however.

Number 5: Mortal Kombat

While far from the worst video game to movie adaptation, this latest film lacks any of the personality the original 90s film had. Sure, it's great to see more accurate depictions of characters like Sub-Zero and Scorpion, and the fatalitites are spectacular, the film is mess. Their mountains of exposition and story beats that end up going nowhere, the tone is wildly inconsistent, the pacing is terrible, and it's a "Mortal Kombat" film without Mortal Kombat.

Number 4: The Conjuring 3

It didn't take long for "The Conjuring" franchise to lose it's luster, and this new entry might not be the worst entry, it's definetly the most generic. At this point the franchise really has no reason for slapping the "based on a true story" card, and this story in particular feels the most insulting. The story doesn't convincingly make us sympathetic for a murderer, and I feel that adding the ghost element to this story is one step too far for the franchise. It's another film that relies entirely on cheap jump scares that all blend together by the end of the movie.

Number 3: The Forever Purge

"The Purge" films have never been the most subtle in terms of their messaging, but never has it been this heavy handed and forced. "The Forever Purge" might satisfy some fans of the franchise, but the political overtones simply make this film not fun to watch. The film makes the most basic and obvious points one can make about the issues touched on in this film, and it comes out as the worst of the franchise thus far.

Number 2: Home Sweet Home Alone

It's "Home Alone 6" what were you expecting? I certainly wasn't expecting the "burglars" to be the most sympathetic characters in the movie. Do you hear how wrong that sounds? A "Home Alone" movie where the characters we feel bad for are the ones breaking in. This is just one of the many misguided decisions that make up another awful entry in a franchise six films too long. What makes this film especially painful is that it's filled with actors who know how to be funny and simply decide not to be.

Number 1: Dear Evan Hansen

There was no competition for which film was taking this top spot, as this is the worst kind of bad movie. The kind of bad movie that truly thinks it's making a difference, that it's saying so much more than it actually is. Simply put, this film is near unwatchable. The main culprit is Ben Platt being truly ghoulish as a "16 year old". The character of Evan Hansen is bad enough as is, and having this near thirty year old man playing him makes it even worse. The musical sequences are all directed the same, and they're all terrible. The cast is filled with actors who are all very talented, but are given nothing but table scraps to work with. It's the Ben Platt show and he is the top reason this movie fails on such a monumental level.