By Jessica Wedemeyer
4:00pm PDT, Apr 23, 2024
No. 18: “Madame Web”
“Madame Web” just might be the worst superhero film ever made. It had all the hallmarks of a major flop: a weak premise, clunky dialogue and spectacularly bad acting from some of our favorite young actresses (Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney among them). The action flick — which is based on a supporting character from Marvel’s Spider-Man comics — banked $100M at the box office on a budget of $80M and scored a dismal 12% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Yikes.
No. 17: “Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver”
We can’t say we didn’t see this coming. Four months after Netflix dropped “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire” in December 2023, the second half of Zack Snyder’s Star Wars-inspired space opera (starring Michiel Huisman and Sofia Boutella) debuted on the streamer. As we could’ve predicted, “Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver,” was even louder and more nonsensical than its predecessor, scoring a 16% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. (“A Child of Fire” scored a 21% rotten rating, though it performed well on Netflix: It’s reportedly been viewed more than 70 million times.) An action-stuffed interplanetary rebellion just shouldn’t be this much of a slog to watch unfold on the small screen.
No. 16: “Irish Wish”
We love Lindsay Lohan and are thrilled to see her starring in movies again after several years away from the spotlight. We just wish she’d made her big return in more deserving material than “Irish Wish.” Netflix’s franken-rom-com – which borrows heavily from “27 Dresses,” “Leap Year” and other better films – centers around a book editor who’s secretly in love with the writer her best friend is set to wed. Things turn upside down when she wishes he were marrying her instead of her pal. (How’s that for women supporting women?!) The romantic comedy scored a 39% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes but still managed to woo its way to more than 100 million views in just 17 days.
No. 15: “Night Swim”
The first big horror film of 2024 – “Night Swim” – tanked with critics, though it performed moderately well at the box office, banking more than $50M on a $15M budget. The thriller – which centers around the unfortunate family (led by Wyatt Russell) living at a suburban home with a haunted swimming pool in the backyard — scored a 21% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who mostly complained that the film suffered from a weak premise and ultimately lacked bite.
No. 14: “Asphalt City”
We thought it was going to be “Training Day” for paramedics, but “Asphalt City” – in which Tye Sheridan stars as a rookie New York City paramedic who partners up with a jaded veteran played by Sean Penn – couldn’t come close to the 2001 crime drama. Sure, the acting was top-notch, but ultimately, “Asphalt City” was too grim and violent to win many fans. It scored a 41% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes and made less than $500K at the box office. (The film received a limited release, only showing in a handful of theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.)
No. 13: “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” — the fifth Ghostbusters movie and third sequel to the original 1984 supernatural comedy – is the worst installment in the long-running film franchise yet… including the much-maligned 2016 all-female reboot (which we actually loved). The 2024 flick — which centers around the young heroes from 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace) as they reestablish the Ghostbusters in New York City with adults played by Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon — scored a 43% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes but banked more than $160M at the box office on a hefty budget of $100M.
No. 12: “Lisa Frankenstein”
“Lisa Frankenstein” – an ’80s-set horror rom-com starring Kathryn Newton as an unpopular high school kid who forms a bond with a Victorian-era bachelor (Cole Sprouse) after he’s suddenly reanimated when lightning strikes his grave – may have generated a lot of buzz on TikTok, but was any of that talk justified? Sadly, no. The film — which was written by Oscar-winning “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody and directed by Robin Williams’ daughter, filmmaker Zelda Williams – suffered from tonal inconsistencies, veering from charming to disturbing in its final act without delivering any legitimate scares. It ultimately scored a 51% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences were more generous, doling out an 81% fresh rating. “Lisa Frankenstein” also disappointed at the box office, banking just $9.9M on a budget of $13M.
No. 11: “Damsel”
We may have enjoyed the experience of watching Millie Bobby Brown face off against a man-eating dragon in the Netflix original film “Damsel.” But we can also acknowledge that it wasn’t technically a good film. Repetitive and somewhat nonsensical, the dark fantasy film scored a 56% rotten rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It still performed well for Netflix, though, locking in more than 35 million views in just three days.
No. 10: “Mean Girls”
The 2024 big-screen adaptation of the “Mean Girls” musical banked more than $100M at the box office and performed decently with critics, scoring a 70% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Fantastic casting (Reneee Rapp and Angourie Rice headlined) couldn’t save this flick from negative comparisons, though: It’s just not as good as the Broadway show that inspired it — which scored 12 Tony Award nominations back in 2018 — or the 2004 teen comedy on which they’re both based.
No. 9: “Argylle”
“Argylle” underperformed at the box office, recouping less than half of its $200M budget. It also failed to make an impression with critics, who gave it a dismal 33% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But we absolutely loved the uber-fun action-comedy, which centers around a writer (Bryce Dallas Howard) who discovers that the plot of her popular series of spy novels is playing out IRL. We weren’t the only ones who disagreed with the critics: “Argylle” scored a 72% fresh rating with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
No. 8: “Immaculate“
Sydney Sweeney made up for “Madame Web” with her 2024 religious horror film “Immaculate,” in which she stars as a pregnant nun unraveling the dark secrets at an Italian convent. Scary, gross and controversial, “Immaculate” — which banked $21M at the box office on a modest budget of just $9M — had plenty to offer horror fans, helping it score a decent but not great 71% fresh rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
No. 7: “Bob Marley: One Love”
It was the sleeper hit that no one saw coming: “Bob Marley: One Love” banked $177M on a $70M budget after it opened in theaters on Valentine’s Day. “Barbie” actor Kingsley Ben-Adir stars as the titular reggae pioneer in the biopic, which may have tanked with critics, scoring a 43% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but made a major impression with audiences, who gave it a 92% fresh rating.
No. 6: “Kung Fu Panda 4“
Po is back for the first time in nearly a decade! “Kung Fu Panda 4” may not have performed as well with critics as its predecessors, scoring a decent but not great 72% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn’t stop fans of the long-running animated film franchise from turning out in droves to catch the latest installment in theaters. It banked more than $450M at the box office after it opened in March, making it the second highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year so far after just “Dune: Part 2.”
No. 5: “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire“
Critics may have loathed “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which scored a 54% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but fans of the long-running MonsterVerse franchise couldn’t stop raving about the fifth installment in the series, which sees the titular kaiju teaming up to face off against a villainous Titan. It banked more than $440M at the box office, making it the third highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year so far after “Dune: Part Two” and “Kung Fu Panda 4.” It also scored a 91% fresh rating with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, proving that sometimes critics are just wrong.
No. 4: “Monkey Man”
Well, color us impressed! We absolutely adored Dev Patel’s feature film directorial debut, “Monkey Man,” in which he stars as an orphan on a quest for vengeance against the corrupt spiritual guru and police chief who killed his mother and destroyed his village when he was just a boy. We weren’t the only ones: The action flick — which reminded us how we felt the first time we watched “John Wick” — scored an 88% fresh rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes and banked $23.2M at the box office on a modest budget of just $10M.
No. 3: “Love Lies Bleeding”
Kristen Stewart knocked it out of the park with “Love Lies Bleeding,” which scored a 94% fresh rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. She stars in the queer romantic crime-thriller as the reclusive manager of a gym whose burgeoning relationship with a rising bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) creates complications with her family and their criminal enterprises. Don’t be surprised if K.Stew’s name is in the mix come awards season 2025!
No. 2: “Perfect Days”
“Perfect Days,” which was nominated for best international feature at the 2024 Oscars, finally debuted in the United States in February — nearly a year after star Kōji Yakusho won the award for best actor at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The Japanese-German drama — which centers around a man who cleans public toilets in Tokyo and the joy he finds in the simple things life has to offer — also competed for the Palme d’Or and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes last year. It has a 96% fresh rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
No. 1: “Dune: Part Two“
No surprise here! “Dune: Part Two” isn’t just one of the best films of the year, the rare case of a sequel that’s better than its predecessor or one of the best sci-fi films to grace the silver screen. It’s one of the best films ever, period. It banked more than $685M at the box office and scored a 93% fresh rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. A third installment in the Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya-led sci-fi series is currently in the works. And we can’t wait!
