Posted on Aug 18, 2021

18 Movies That Had Awesome Concepts But Were Poorly Executed

Y'all already know the Percy Jackson movies are on here.

Morgan Sloss

by Morgan Sloss

BuzzFeed Staff

We all know that feeling. You're SO excited for a movie to come out because it sounds super cool! Then, it doesn't live up to its potential and just leaves you disappointed.

Fox

Well, Reddit user u/NAJ2OO2 recently asked, "What movie had a great concept but was executed poorly?"

NBC

Here are some of the top-voted responses:

1. Wonder Woman 1984

"It was the first movie I ever walked out on, and I watched it at home."–u/KNoturUserName"What's infuriating is that Maxwell Lord is fantastic as a villain, but they made everything in the plot happen way too fast, thanks to his ability to get basically everything he wants right away. So there isn't any real buildup or context for it to make sense. One second he's making his oil business successful, and the next he's causing a war."–u/Puzzleheaded_Rate_73 — Warner Bros.

"It was the first movie I ever walked out on, and I watched it at home."
–u/KNoturUserName
"What's infuriating is that Maxwell Lord is fantastic as a villain, but they made everything in the plot happen way too fast, thanks to his ability to get basically everything he wants right away. So there isn't any real buildup or context for it to make sense. One second he's making his oil business successful, and the next he's causing a war."
–u/Puzzleheaded_Rate_73

Warner Bros.

"It was the first movie I ever walked out on, and I watched it at home."
–u/KNoturUserName
"What's infuriating is that Maxwell Lord is fantastic as a villain, but they made everything in the plot happen way too fast, thanks to his ability to get basically everything he wants right away. So there isn't any real buildup or context for it to make sense. One second he's making his oil business successful, and the next he's causing a war."
–u/Puzzleheaded_Rate_73

2. Downsizing

–u/420blzeht"Went in expecting a comedic romp about a marriage where one person got the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids treatment; somehow ended up with environmentalist refugees in a fjord?? I think they cobbled multiple scripts together on that one. There’s no other explanation."–u/poachels — Paramount

–u/420blzeht
"Went in expecting a comedic romp about a marriage where one person got the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids treatment; somehow ended up with environmentalist refugees in a fjord?? I think they cobbled multiple scripts together on that one. There’s no other explanation."
–u/poachels

Paramount

–u/420blzeht
"Went in expecting a comedic romp about a marriage where one person got the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids treatment; somehow ended up with environmentalist refugees in a fjord?? I think they cobbled multiple scripts together on that one. There’s no other explanation."
–u/poachels

3. The Percy Jackson movies

–u/TheseConversations"Those movies were executed about as well as Nearly Headless Nick."–u/Flaky_Tip — 20th Century Studios

–u/TheseConversations
"Those movies were executed about as well as Nearly Headless Nick."
–u/Flaky_Tip

20th Century Studios

–u/TheseConversations
"Those movies were executed about as well as Nearly Headless Nick."
–u/Flaky_Tip

4. Mortal Engines

–u/Outrider357"I am once again begging people to read the original novels — which were excellent and packed with world-building — over the film, which was studio-interfered let's-make-the-finale-Star-Wars-for-no-reason shit."–u/tainkirrahe — Universal

–u/Outrider357
"I am once again begging people to read the original novels — which were excellent and packed with world-building — over the film, which was studio-interfered let's-make-the-finale-Star-Wars-for-no-reason shit."
–u/tainkirrahe

Universal

–u/Outrider357
"I am once again begging people to read the original novels — which were excellent and packed with world-building — over the film, which was studio-interfered let's-make-the-finale-Star-Wars-for-no-reason shit."
–u/tainkirrahe

5. Eragon

"Books are great. Movie was a disgrace."–u/GoombaStompah — 20th Century Fox

"Books are great. Movie was a disgrace."
–u/GoombaStompah

20th Century Fox

"Books are great. Movie was a disgrace."
–u/GoombaStompah

6. In Time

–u/gogojack"The concept seemed amazing and I really wanted to like it, but then it got to the arm wrestling scene, and I just couldn't stay on board."–u/McWave — 20th Century Fox

–u/gogojack
"The concept seemed amazing and I really wanted to like it, but then it got to the arm wrestling scene, and I just couldn't stay on board."
–u/McWave

20th Century Fox

–u/gogojack
"The concept seemed amazing and I really wanted to like it, but then it got to the arm wrestling scene, and I just couldn't stay on board."
–u/McWave

7. The Last Airbender

"M. Night Shyamalan can actually go fuck himself with this one."–u/Makas18 — Paramount

"M. Night Shyamalan can actually go fuck himself with this one."
–u/Makas18

Paramount

"M. Night Shyamalan can actually go fuck himself with this one."
–u/Makas18

8. Splice

"It seemed promising and was interesting for the first 30 minutes or so, until it all went so horribly wrong."–u/dreameRevolution — Les Films Séville

"It seemed promising and was interesting for the first 30 minutes or so, until it all went so horribly wrong."
–u/dreameRevolution

Les Films Séville

"It seemed promising and was interesting for the first 30 minutes or so, until it all went so horribly wrong."
–u/dreameRevolution

9. The Lovely Bones

"Great book, wonderful thriller. But the movie spent 90% of its time bullshitting around in purgatory, jerking themselves off as much as possible at how much CGI they could afford."–u/milkteapuppyy — Paramount

"Great book, wonderful thriller. But the movie spent 90% of its time bullshitting around in purgatory, jerking themselves off as much as possible at how much CGI they could afford."
–u/milkteapuppyy

Paramount

"Great book, wonderful thriller. But the movie spent 90% of its time bullshitting around in purgatory, jerking themselves off as much as possible at how much CGI they could afford."
–u/milkteapuppyy

10. Death Note

"How they managed to fuck that brilliant story up still confounds me."–u/Newtracks1 — Netflix

"How they managed to fuck that brilliant story up still confounds me."
–u/Newtracks1

Netflix

"How they managed to fuck that brilliant story up still confounds me."
–u/Newtracks1

11. Old

"Two-hour movie. And the only interesting part is the last 15 minutes. By then, I didn't give a shit anymore."–u/FloopyDoopus"The concept of what the beach does to people is great and could have been super scary, but the execution and the acting….oof."–u/Emilija80 — Universal

"Two-hour movie. And the only interesting part is the last 15 minutes. By then, I didn't give a shit anymore."
–u/FloopyDoopus
"The concept of what the beach does to people is great and could have been super scary, but the execution and the acting….oof."
–u/Emilija80

Universal

"Two-hour movie. And the only interesting part is the last 15 minutes. By then, I didn't give a shit anymore."
–u/FloopyDoopus
"The concept of what the beach does to people is great and could have been super scary, but the execution and the acting….oof."
–u/Emilija80

12. Bright

"I loved the concept, but it didn’t show all the types of creatures it claimed coexisted and just went about things in a relatively boring way."–u/ImAPixiePrincess"It was a generic cop action movie that happened to have an orc in it."–u/jittery_raccoon — Netflix

"I loved the concept, but it didn’t show all the types of creatures it claimed coexisted and just went about things in a relatively boring way."
–u/ImAPixiePrincess
"It was a generic cop action movie that happened to have an orc in it."
–u/jittery_raccoon

Netflix

"I loved the concept, but it didn’t show all the types of creatures it claimed coexisted and just went about things in a relatively boring way."
–u/ImAPixiePrincess
"It was a generic cop action movie that happened to have an orc in it."
–u/jittery_raccoon

13. Tomorrowland

"Loved the setup and characters, but it lost its way."–u/oblio3 — Disney

"Loved the setup and characters, but it lost its way."
–u/oblio3

Disney

"Loved the setup and characters, but it lost its way."
–u/oblio3

14. Jupiter Ascending

"It had so much potential."–u/trippedwire — Warner Bros.

"It had so much potential."
–u/trippedwire

Warner Bros.

"It had so much potential."
–u/trippedwire

15. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

"If they could have just decided what kind of movie they wanted it to be, it would have been a fun movie."–u/Hereatrandom — Sony

"If they could have just decided what kind of movie they wanted it to be, it would have been a fun movie."
–u/Hereatrandom

Sony

"If they could have just decided what kind of movie they wanted it to be, it would have been a fun movie."
–u/Hereatrandom

16. Hancock

–u/BloodNinja2012"The idea of a homeless superhero had so much potential. They didn't even have to explain his powers. It could've been like an underdog version of Deadpool."–u/YodasChick-O-Stick"It's two movies sewn together extremely poorly."–u/robophile-ta — Sony

–u/BloodNinja2012
"The idea of a homeless superhero had so much potential. They didn't even have to explain his powers. It could've been like an underdog version of Deadpool."
–u/YodasChick-O-Stick
"It's two movies sewn together extremely poorly."
–u/robophile-ta

Sony

–u/BloodNinja2012
"The idea of a homeless superhero had so much potential. They didn't even have to explain his powers. It could've been like an underdog version of Deadpool."
–u/YodasChick-O-Stick
"It's two movies sewn together extremely poorly."
–u/robophile-ta

17. Waterworld

"The idea of a flooded Earth with a new, aquatic post-apoc society and a mythical hunt for land should be way more interesting than that shipwreck of a film."–u/FeelingYesterday — Universal

"The idea of a flooded Earth with a new, aquatic post-apoc society and a mythical hunt for land should be way more interesting than that shipwreck of a film."
–u/FeelingYesterday

Universal

"The idea of a flooded Earth with a new, aquatic post-apoc society and a mythical hunt for land should be way more interesting than that shipwreck of a film."
–u/FeelingYesterday

18. And finally, Passengers

"The movie had me hooked for a decent while but never reached its potential."–u/FranzAllspring"Would have been a lot more interesting if told from Jennifer Lawrence's perspective."–u/bguzewicz — Sony

"The movie had me hooked for a decent while but never reached its potential."
–u/FranzAllspring
"Would have been a lot more interesting if told from Jennifer Lawrence's perspective."
–u/bguzewicz

Sony

"The movie had me hooked for a decent while but never reached its potential."
–u/FranzAllspring
"Would have been a lot more interesting if told from Jennifer Lawrence's perspective."
–u/bguzewicz

Which movie do you think had great concepts but was executed poorly? Sound off in the comments below!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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