Worst Movies of August 2017

After a solid start to the summer, the most popular movie season of the year screeched to a halt in August.  Not only has the box office declined significantly, but there were also some less than stellar films.  Like my discussion of the best movies of August, I must first acknowledge Birth of the Dragon, Death Note, Leap!, and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature.  Life got in the way this month, making it so that I couldn’t see these films that probably would have competed for spots on this list.  Regardless, let’s take a look at the worst movies of August 2017:

#3: Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation is the unfortunate casualty in a month of light movie watching.  Although it is pretty by the numbers, this prequel sequel to Annabelle has a lot of scares that will make any genre enthusiast happy.  There is a creepy setting with a lot of tension that is nicely setup throughout the film.

The obvious star of the film is director David F. Sandberg.  Coming off of Lights Out, it easy to see that Sandberg has serious talent in creating atmosphere.  About 85% of a successful horror film is great direction.  It requires the director to have a perfect feel of lighting, framing, and tone.  If any one of these elements is off, you’re going to have a pretty awful movie on your hands a la Wish Upon or The Bye Bye Man.  Luckily, Sandberg proved why he deserves to direct the upcoming Shazam movie from DC.

Although the title of the article reads “Worst Movies of August 2017,” that should not detract you from seeing this film.  It has everything that hardcore horror fans enjoy in a film.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score: 68%

Metacritic Score: 62

MovieBabble Score: B

image via Variety

*To read my full review of Annabelle: Creation, please click here.

#2: The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower may be another casualty in a month of light viewings as it isn’t an abysmal failure as some critics are making it out to be.  However, one can’t help but see all the wasted potential that this movie has.

Both Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba exude a powerful presence on screen as manifestations of good and evil.  The problem is that neither of these characters are given anything of substance from the writers on the film.  Everything about these characters (and every other character for that matter) stays on the surface.  There’s nothing that gets you attached to these characters.

In a time where most films overstay their welcome in terms of run time, The Dark Tower would have actually benefited from having an extra hour to deepen the lore in the film.  We are thrown into this amazing world full of far-out planets and odd tribes of beings without any information that would ingratiate us better into this story.

The Dark Tower fails to make anything very impactful, which may be the ultimate death sentence for a movie.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score: 16%

Metacritic Score: 34

MovieBabble Score: C

image via The Verge

*To read my full review of The Dark Tower, please click here.

#1: The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Although The Hitman’s Bodyguard has its fans, this critic believes that it is worthy of being among the worst movies of August 2017.

The best way to describe The Hitman’s Bodyguard would be “wasted potential.”  There are glimmers of a great comedy within this film, but there’s just ultimately too few laughs for the experience to be worth it.

Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are clearly having fun playing heightened versions of themselves, but there just isn’t a good enough base of humor from the script to aid the stars’ abilities to improvise.

Not to mention there’s a pretty cliched plot at this movie’s core.  You’ve seen everything in this film multiple times.  At best, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a matinee viewing that you’ll quickly forget about after you leave the theater.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score: 40%

Metacritic Score: 47

MovieBabble Score: D+

image via Den of Geek

*To read my full review of The Hitman’s Bodyguard, please click here.

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