By Jeremy Urquhart
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2024. What a year, huh? Like most, things got off to a little bit of a slow start, as far as wide releases were concerned, but it didn’t take long before the year got its first slam-dunk blockbuster (Dune: Part Two) and its first true Academy Awards contender (Challengers). Then, fans of animation got things like Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot, there was a deserving Palme d’Or winner with Anora, and then Wicked ended up pleasing most fans of the immensely popular musical it was based on.
So, a good year, right? Yes. But also no. Because for pleasure to exist, so too must pain, and the following movies – all released in 2024 – are not able to stand side-by-side with the likes of Dune: Part Two, Challengers, Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot, Anora, and Wicked. Instead, these movies – some of them admittedly interesting, and others quite boring – are among the worst of 2024, and are ranked below, starting with the somewhat noble misfires and ending with the all-out stinkers.
10 'Megalopolis'
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Even with Megalopolis contained within it, the filmography of Francis Ford Coppola remains a mighty one. The legendary director’s greatest works are timeless, and his willingness – even in old age – to push boundaries and try new things should be admired. If Megalopolis is any indication, the execution leaves a lot to be desired, but the spirit/heart/core of this thing is pure, at least.
A jumbled mess of ideas that somehow builds toward a message about constructing a utopia, Megalopolis was a noble attempt to find commonality among one’s fellow humans, all at a point in time when division seems to reign supreme. It might well be one of Coppola’s most technically inept movies, and one of his most scattershot, but even if you find Megalopolis to contain more bad than good, it is wild and interesting enough to nevertheless be worthy of a (very) cautious recommendation.

Megalopolis
Drama
Sci-Fi
- Release Date
- September 27, 2024
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Cast
- Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, D. B. Sweeney, Giancarlo Esposito
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
9 'Madame Web'
Directed by S.J. Clarkson

With a questionable premise, a trailer that was largely criticized, and an opening scene that unfortunately set the stage for what was to come, Madame Web always seemed damned to fail. It was one of several Spider-Man-adjacent movies that lacked the well-known web-slinger himself, with Madame Web instead serving as something of a superhero origin story for a paramedic named Cassandra Webb.
It's one of those films that gives the superhero genre a sometimes-undesirable reputation, because if you're here for action, that side of things doesn’t deliver, if you want a good story or acting, they're not here, and if you're hoping Madame Web will set up interesting things down the line… well, potential bad news there, too. It was a movie that was kind of good for a laugh, but probably best to leave it in 2024, once the new year rolls around.

Madame Web
8 'Back to Black'
Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

Back to Black really needed to achieve a lot, as a film, if it were to be received well. Its central figure is Amy Winehouse, whose life and music career ended tragically soon, with this biopic purporting to cast an honest look at Winehouse’s tumultuous life, including the way it ended. Perhaps its intentions were good, but it truly fell short in so many ways.
Simply put, Amy Winehouse’s story had already been told in a way that was pretty much perfect, not to mention more honest: 2015’s Amy, a documentary that feels like more than just another music documentary. Back to Black, in contrast, is honestly just another music biopic at best, floundering in a sea that’s sadly filled with underwhelming and/or kind of offensively bad ones.

Back to Black
7 'Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate'
Directed by Eric Fogel

If you go by Letterboxd ratings, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is currently considered the worst overall film of 2024. A good part of that is probably due to the fact that the original Megamind is fairly well-liked, and anyone who did like it is naturally going to feel exceedingly offended that this cash-grab, B-grade, hastily-thrown together “sequel” doesn’t live up to the original 2010 film in any way.
And, sure, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate was a direct-to-streaming film, but many would just ask why even bother if it’s going to be reduced in scale, budget, and willing to replace numerous voice actors from the first (likely due to that aforementioned budget being lowered). Maybe the youngest of viewers will find it to be acceptable background noise, but anyone else might be better off pretending that this one simply doesn’t exist.

Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate
TV-G
Animation
Action
Adventure
- Release Date
- March 1, 2024
- Director
- Eric Fogel
- Cast
- Scott Adsit, Josh Brener, Keith Ferguson, Tony Hale, Adam Lambert, Jeanine Mason, Laura Post, Chris Sullivan
- Runtime
- 83 Minutes
6 'Miller's Girl'
Directed by Jade Halley Bartlett

Some might feel willing to call Miller’s Girl a new kind of spin on the erotic thriller genre, but the whole film isn't very erotic, thrilling, dramatic, or funny, for that matter. It does feel like it’s trying to be all these different things at once, though, with a premise that involves a female student and her male teacher getting entangled in ways they probably shouldn’t.
It’s the kind of premise that needs a certain level of care or style to pull off, and those behind Miller’s Girl ultimately didn’t have what it took to make it entirely work. It largely squanders its two usually compelling stars, Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman, and even though it doesn’t run for much more than an hour and a half, it still feels like a waste of time.

Miller's Girl
- Release Date
- January 26, 2024
- Director
- Jade Bartlett
- Cast
- Martin Freeman, Jenna Ortega, Gideon Adlon, Bashir Salahuddin, Dagmara Dominczyk, Christine Adams
- Runtime
- 93 Minutes
5 'Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver'
Directed by Zack Snyder

There are tons of great duologies out there, but Rebel Moon is not one of them. The first entry in Zack Snyder’s space opera “saga” was released at the end of 2023, with the lengthy title of Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. It wasn’t great, but it was better than its 2024 follow-up, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, which ends things with more of a whimper than anything else.
There is a level of visual spectacle to be found occasionally throughout both A Child of Fire and The Scargiver, but not enough that dazzles to make either part entirely worth sitting through. Both films – and Rebel Moon as a whole – also suffered from a confusing release on Netflix’s part, with 2024 also seeing the release of two “director’s cuts” for both movies that just should’ve been the original releases, really, because no one seemed to care all that much when the longer (and slightly better) versions eventually came out.

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver
PG-13
Action
Adventure
Drama
- Release Date
- April 19, 2024
- Director
- Zack Snyder
- Cast
- Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Jena Malone, Anthony Hopkins, Cary Elwes
- Runtime
- 122 Minutes
4 'Venom: The Last Dance'
Directed by Kelly Marcel

For more than two decades now, Sony has pumped out/produced a bunch of superhero movies, some ranking as all-time great ones and others being considered bottom of the barrel. Regrettably, Venom: The Last Dance falls into the latter camp, rather than the former, being an absolute mess of a film that lacks a proper villain, anything by way of interesting conflict, contains non-stop eye-rolling humor, and disappoints when it comes to the action scenes, too.
It's just a sad movie that feels dead inside, as even Tom Hardy – who injected some energy into the other two Venom movies – seems entirely tired here. It’s a movie that trudges along, never really finding anything to do before forcing some sentimentality at the end and promising that a barely-seen villain will have a bigger role going forward. No. Shut up, Venom. Go away, Sony Marvel.

Venom: The Last Dance
PG-13
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Action
Superhero
- Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Director
- Kelly Marcel
- Cast
- Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, Alanna Ubach, Cristo Fernández, Jared Abrahamson, Hala Finley, Dash McCloud, Andy Serkis, Reid Scott, Jack Brady, Ivo Nandi, Jake Allyn, Otis Winston, Jacob Tomuri, Brooke Carter, Fflyn Edwards, Elijah Cook, Norma Butikofer, Elizabeth Cook, Angie Hsu, Martin McDougall
- Runtime
- 110 Minutes
3 'The Crow'
Directed by Rupert Sanders

Don’t call it a remake, sure, but neither can you call it a comeback. Can’t really call it good, either. 2024’s The Crow raised a few eyebrows when announced, and not in a good way, and then it kind of came and went. It put a spin on a story viewers are probably familiar with thanks to a certain classic from 1994, but this The Crow did little to honor that film’s legacy, and neither was it successful in doing its own thing.
1994’s The Crow is a sublime supernatural thriller/action/comic book movie, while 2024’s The Crow is a sloppy blend of fantasy, horror, and action elements, telling a scattershot story about death, loss, revenge, and the afterlife. It’s a movie very few people seemed keen to see, and it says something that even before the year’s over, many seem to have forgotten it even came out.

The Crow
2 'Argylle'
Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Of all the films that have come out of the gate swinging and insisting that they're the beginning of a franchise, none have fallen quite as flat as Argylle. It’s the sheer confidence it has without being very appealing at all that makes an otherwise mediocre (at best) action movie feel all the more rotten. A ton of money was thrown at this thing, and Matthew Vaughn might've had big plans for follow-ups, but watching the film, it’s entirely uncertain why.
This is a spy movie with largely underwhelming action, a talented cast that’s mostly wasted (besides Bryce Dallas Howard who is just, sorry, entirely miscast), and humor that pretty much always misses the mark. It feels wasteful, eye-rolling, and overlong, not to mention kind of arrogant in its assertions that it’s the start of something bigger. One Argylle is more than enough, thank you.

Argylle
PG-13
Action
Thriller
Comedy
- Release Date
- February 2, 2024
- Director
- Matthew Vaughn
- Cast
- Henry Cavill, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella, Catherine O'Hara, Bryce Dallas Howard, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Rob Delaney
- Runtime
- 139 Minutes
1 'Joker: Folie à Deux'
Directed by Todd Phillips

While there might be some movies from 2024 that are more tedious or visually less appealing than Joker: Folie à Deux, it deserves to be crowned the worst of its year because it was such a disappointment, proved achingly lazy, and seemed to waste a ton of money and talent. A film that’s mostly confined to two locations, with a script this repetitive, padded with mind-numbing musical numbers, and starring actors who look this checked-out should not have cost $190,000,000 to make.
Yes, yes, this subverts the first movie in some ways, and can be read as a takedown of certain fans of that first movie, but it’s the way it functions as a subversion that disappoints. It’s not that it’s critical of certain people, it’s that it’s critical in a muddied and boring way. It’s not bad because it’s suddenly a musical; it’s bad because it’s a bad musical. Lady Gaga is capable of more than this. Joaquin Phoenix is capable of more than this. Even Todd Phillips is capable of more than this. Joker: Folie à Deux somehow cost $190,000,000 and did nothing with all that money, and in these trying times (for so many), it’s hard to support such wastefulness. Good riddance to this one; a casualty of 2024, and hopefully nothing more.

Joker: Folie a Deux
R
Drama
Crime
Musical
- Release Date
- October 4, 2024
- Director
- Todd Phillips
- Cast
- Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Leigh Gill, Jacob Lofland, Sharon Washington, Troy Fromin, Bill Smitrovich, John Lacy, Ken Leung
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
NEXT: The Worst Movies of the Last 25 Years, Ranked
- Joker: Folie à Deux
- Argylle
- Venom: The Last Dance
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