If the latest adaptation of HG Wells’s 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, a movie starring Ice Cube and Eva Longoria, was designed to make us pause and ask questions, it has certainly succeeded. Unfortunately, what a lot of viewers have been asking is why it was inflicted on the public in the first place. Is War of the Worlds “one of the worst movies ever made?”, asked the BBC. “Shockingly bad War of the Worlds is one of the worst movies of the decade,” said the New York Post. “Amazon’s War of the Worlds update should never have been released,” declared the Telegraph.
The 2005 adaptation, starring Tom Cruise, was a smash hit. Now people are flocking to the remake to see just how bad a film can be – it’s in the top 10 films watched in the UK and US on Amazon Prime. It seems that we have come to love “bad” films almost as much as those deemed good. The website Rotten Tomatoes practically celebrates films that garner a 0% approval rating: Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio, reborn in 2002 as an Italian fantasy comedy-drama, is one such offender; Look Who’s Talking Now in 1993, starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, replaced talking babies with talking dogs and was slated; while Travolta hit rock bottom in 2018 with Gotti, a movie about the New York mobster that was so gloriously awful it was nominated for six Razzies, the parody prize bestowed on Hollywood’s biggest cinematic failures, including worst actor and worst picture.
But Hollywood has no exclusive hold on the movie clunker machine. Bollywood has vast audiences both within India and outside. In 2023, it generated revenues of $1.3bn, securing its own chunk of the global movie market – and its own flops. In both cases, the biggest pitfalls seem to come with attempting to remake much-loved classics.
Bollywood tried its own movie version of the US favourite TV sitcom The Archie Show, and really shouldn’t have. The Archies, as the Indian version was called, featured wooden acting and misguided casting, not helped by controversy over the recruitment of nepo babies of already huge Bollywood actors such as Suhana Khan (daughter of Shah Rukh Khan) and Agastya Nanda. Some thought it engaging; most preferred not to think about it.
Jab Harry Met Sejal was a remake of the popular When Harry met Sally. Its director, Imtiaz Ali, is usually lauded for his captivating storytelling – but not this time. “A weak, meandering, near dishonest and awfully misrepresentative film,” was one critic’s verdict. In his review, he wrote a lot about the interval and his journey to the toilet.
But whether it is made in Hollywood or Bollywood, a bad film, no matter how boring, unrealistic or slow-paced, can still have value. The Archies led to discourse on nepo babies in Bollywood film, and for all its narratorial difficulties Jab Harry Met Sejal allowed Arijit Singh to perform his magic with hit song Hawayein. Animal, released in 2023, caused an outpouring of condemnation as Ranbir Kapoor’s character consistently and crassly played on the belief that male dominance and female submission in a relationship is normal and necessary. It was bad, really bad – but the national conversation that ensued also educated audiences to became more aware and more critical of other films that also lauded misogyny. When I returned to the movie Ghilli, a Kollywood classic (Kollywood being the informal name for Tamil cinema) that I loved as a kid, I couldn’t help but question why the story continues romantically, without question, after the heroine is slapped by the supposed love of her life.
Even notoriously bad movies have the capacity to sharpen our sense of critique. The outrage you feel at a film like Animal heightens your sensitivities, and perhaps your recognition of wrongdoing in real life.
When I watched 28 Years Later (the sequel to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later), all I could think was: 28 years later and these zombies are still getting the better of the horror industry? I didn’t leave it wondering what would happen 28 eons later, but neither do I regret the time spent watching the film, even if it didn’t seem realistic. The sight of Teletubbies being watched by children spliced with images of humans beings savaged by other, more infected humans was more diverting than entertaining, but from my disappointment came conversation. Had I not watched it, I would not have had the story to tell; or the opportunity to discuss this and rather better horror films with friends.
Bad films lead to dialogue, which almost inevitably opens a space for better ideas and new discourse. And failing that, at least a passionate rant about all the other better horror films, allowing people to enjoy a shared rage instead of turning against each other.
Is there anything to learn from Ice Cube’s War of the Worlds? Perhaps it’s that some films made during Covid are better left there. Or that “bad” comes in many forms, that “bad” is in the eye of the beholder. Or perhaps it’s just that bad art has merit in ways the creator may not have intended. Take the Razzie, Ice Cube, and be proud of all you have given us moviegoers.
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