Yesterday's discussion topic focused on the best summer movies of 2012, so naturally we're going the other direction today to talk about the worst. Actually, "worst" isn't that interesting, because most of us don't even bother with the "worst" movies. The truly worst are very easily expected to be the worst. "Disappointing," however, is an interesting word with the blockbuster movie season. These tentpoles are, after all, the big-deal films that are made to be highly anticipated, to ride into theaters on broad appeal and heavily marketed buzz. They are sequels, prequels, remakes and adaptations of beloved properties and tend to involve bankable filmmakers and actors or at least bankable action spectacle. When they're no good, they seem even worse than the worst.

From the responses that I received yesterday on Twitter and in comments, it seems to me that most of the chosen favorites of the summer are littler films, most notably Magic Mike, Moonrise Kingdom and Killer Joe, while Ted has been recognized as a surprise success. Of course, many of you understandably love the better comic book movies, yet it does appear that we were all generally underwhelmed by most of the other Hollywood blockbusters. Also, as will happen, overhyped indie flicks, such as Beasts of the Southern Wild, have had a hard time impressing everyone in the end.

I acknowledged yesterday that some of the awaited tentpoles, like The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave, The Bourne Legacy and Prometheus were met with disappointment by some moviegoers and critics, though not all (I loved all but Spidey, for instance). Not even The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were enjoyed by everyone, even among those expecting to. Didn't many fans think the Batman sequel was great yet still didn't live up to The Dark Knight?

Does all of this disappontment, however great or minor, reflect on our own faults with unrealistic levels of hype and expectations? Or is it actually the fault of the people making the movies? Are we too demanding or is Hollywood not producing good enough movies? Is it a mix of both? That's a discussion to have in addition to the poll topic at hand, and I invite thoughts below.







What was the most disappointing summer movie of 2012? Here are ten responses received so far via Twitter:

@ thefilmcynic Magic Mike. Conflicted about Prometheus because parts of it were outstanding. — Teri (@tmvogel) August 22, 2012

@ thefilmcynic Brave. Too predictable and kiddy for a Pixar film. And this comming from someone who enjoys and loves Cars 2. — Agustin Macias (@August_Macias) August 22, 2012

@ thefilmcynic I guess THE WATCH. It's pretty funny but had the talent to be stone-cold classic. Too bad no one had ANY interest in story. — Brendan Foley (@TheTrueBrendanF) August 22, 2012

@ thefilmcynic Amazing Spider-Man. Good actors, but ultimately didn't feel necessary. Like its villain, great looking but dissapointing. — Dominic (@Count3D) August 22, 2012

Follow Christopher Campbell on Twitter (@thefilmcynic) to join the next discussion.