Each Monday, we are pleased to present someone’s favorite things! We’re madly in love with so many things and we love sharing those things with the whole world. However, once per year, we convene to discuss the things that disappointed us. Perhaps it was something that we had been anticipating and we felt let down by its reality. Maybe it was something that we came across unexpectedly and it left a bad taste in our mouths. Whatever the case, let’s chat with some of our contributors and find out what disappointed them the most from this year.
J.L. Gribble: As Speculative Chic’s resident fangirl-in-chic for all Marvel adaptations, you’d assume I’m one of those people who think Marvel can do nothing wrong. Alas, this is not the case. I adored every Marvel Cinematic Universe film that came out in 2018 (yes, even though Infinity War ripped my heart out along with everyone else’s). I also enjoyed the newest installments of the television shows on ABC and Netflix (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything featuring the Defenders). However, there were two glaring exceptions to my love of all things Marvel in 2018.
Unfortunately, 2018 is also the year that I finally accepted that I do not have time to read and watch ALL of the speculative fiction things available. My two biggest disappointments of the year were the impetus for this decision. While I watched seasons one of both The Gifted and Legion, when I started watching the beginning of the second seasons, I had a revelation. Not only did I only have a vague idea of what was going on, I also couldn’t bring myself to care.
And it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t have to care. There was enough out there for me to keep track of. You’ll notice there’s no mention Marvel’s Runaways listed above, because one streaming service is enough for me, and again, there’s too much out there. Keeping up with everything could easily be a full-time job. But I already have one of those, and it doesn’t pay me to watch everything stacked up on my DVR.
How does this make The Gifted and Legion my biggest disappointments for 2018? It boils down to the fact that I am such a Marvel fangirl. I want to love and enjoy everything created in that universe. So, it was a huge bummer when I realized that I didn’t care enough about what was going on (the plots, the characters, etc.) that keeping up with these two shows felt like a chore instead of a privilege.
Nancy O’Toole Meservier: For the last couple of rounds, my biggest disappointments have been related to the CW show, The Flash. This year, I am happy to report that I will be complaining about something different!
Unfortunately, it’s another show set in the same universe: Arrow.
Spoilers for season six ahead!
The tricky things about television shows that are so clearly on a five-year plan, is once you get beyond that, the following season is going to be shaky. And wow, was season six of Arrow shaky. They pretty much fumbled everything. The Civil War-esque infighting between old Team Arrow, and new Team Arrow was thoroughly unenjoyable to watch. And the big bad, Ricardo Diaz, was just boring. I’ll admit, this had less to do with Kirk Acevedo’s performance, as much as it had to do with how his reveal was handled. The writers kept the character in the shadows for the first half of the season, choosing to expose him as a saboteur at the last possible moment. Unfortunately, they had done such a great job keeping said villain in the shadows that by the time his true purpose was revealed the result was less, “what a terrible betrayal!” and more “who is that guy again?”
Arrow didn’t just fumble the big stuff, but the smaller, more personal plots as well. Olivier’s decision to reject the protection of a team for the lone vigilante lifestyle just seemed to be retreading old plot points. The reappearance of Roy, Thea’s return to the life of a superhero, and their decision to run off into the sunset together, which should have been quite romantic. Unfortunately, it felt neutered. The attempts to find the good in evil-Laurel came off as weirdly creepy, and I don’t think that was the intention. The death of Quentin Lance, a beloved character of the series, felt almost mechanical, as if they needed to throw in a final shocker at the end of the season. Either that or the actor just wanted to peace out.
Arrow has been one of my favorite shows for years now, but I am embarrassed at how bad season six was. Season seven, thankfully, has been more competent from what I’ve seen, but my confidence in the show has been shattered. I honestly don’t know if I should bother to stick with it, anymore.
Nicole Taft: This may seem like it shouldn’t make sense because my answer to this question is Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom – and I haven’t even seen the movie.
However, I stand by my choice because of numerous reasons. The main one being that Chris Pratt’s character died. Let me explain. [Editor’s note: this is not a spoiler, if you haven’t seen the film. Do let Nicole explain!]
The Jurassic Park before this one shouldn’t have happened. I saw the summaries and explanations for it. My sister saw it and told me how the whole family was disappointed with how stupid it was. And I’m not surprised. It sounded absurd. So I never bothered to see it. Yet Hollywood can’t help itself and if a movie does just well enough at the box office, they decide they can squeeze more money out of us and make another sub-par movie, and here we are.
I saw the trailer and was immediately incensed. Everything about that trailer is wrong. And because of that, it showed me that there was about to be yet another Jurassic Park movie that didn’t need to exist in any fashion. Did you spot all the things that would never happen in that trailer? Let’s look at some:
– No animal is going to try and chase a potential food source with waterfalls of lava falling around it.
– No animal is going to hunt down a potential food source while a volcano is blowing up behind it
– The T-rex isn’t going to save everyone deus ex machina style every single time. Which also makes for a third time a creature is hunting during a time it would not be hunting. Also, what the hell is a t-rex doing attacking an allosaur anyway?
– NO ANIMAL IS HUNTING DURING A VOLCANO EXLPOSION. EVER. This happens a fourth freaking time during a 2 minute trailer. What the actual hell, Hollywood?
– Why is Chris Pratt jogging to try and escape?
And of course the biggest one: Chris Pratt get overtaken by a pyroclastic flow. That means he’s dead.
I don’t care what Hollywood garbage you’re trying to feed me. That cloud of dust, debris, and smoke is well over 1,000 °F. A human being is not surviving that. Ever. Nothing you do will convince me otherwise. Owen is dead, end of story. He did not jump off into the ocean. He did not dive into the water to save the other two in the bubble thing – which means in turn that they too, should have died.
And then I heard about what else happened in this movie and what the big bad company wanted to do with the dinosaurs (Dr. Evil, anyone?) and I’m just done. This movie is bad and Hollywood should feel bad.
Merrin: To truly explain my biggest disappointment, you have to understand how much I love Pacific Rim. I saw it in theaters multiple times, I’ve watched it roughly a frillion times since then. I have the “we are canceling the Apocalypse!” speech memorized. Mako Mori’s storyline is beautiful, Raleigh’s belief in her is so pure. Idris Elba is perfect as Stacker Pentecost.
(Although, the less remembered of Rob Kazinsky’s “Australian” accent, the better.)
Sequels in general are so hit or miss. The Empire Strikes Back? It’s the best of the original trilogy, in my humble opinion. The Lost World: Jurassic Park? Loved the bit with the raptors in the tall grass and was completely with it until the dinosaur started running around in San Diego. The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions? Y’all I still go back and forth on these, but mostly I wish I didn’t have to think about them. Independence Day: Resurgence? Like honestly why did they bother if they couldn’t get Will Smith back. Honestly.
Here be spoilers! Keep scrolling if you haven’t seen the film!
I went into Pacific Rim: Uprising with every good intention of giving it a chance. Maybe I wanted to like it too much? The anticipation and the hope probably made it worse. I outlined exactly what my problems were in the Sound Off! for that movie, but the one that continues to annoy me the most is the death of Mako Mori for the sole purpose of convincing her brother to commit himself to the Jaeger program. A program, it must be noted, that does not make sense in the context of the universe created in the first movie.
It was a movie that took everything good about the first movie and just crapped all over it. It reinvented the storyline of the first movie, which was far superior, without any reason at all except that it couldn’t be bothered to be more original. I’m just mad I spent money on the ticket.
Erin S. Bales: I know Now You See Me came out in 2013, but I only just got around to watching it this year. It is not good. Not good at all.
To be fair, I was expecting a heist or caper movie. I love a good heist movie. The Sting, Ocean’s 11, Mad Money, A Fish Called Wanda, Three Kings, Out of Sight, The Italian Job, Matchstick Men, Bandits, Inception… I’ve seen those all several time, and I’m always on the lookout for more of their ilk.
For years, I’ve seen and heard many people describe Now You See Me as a heist movie. I even think the director, writers, and actors all thought they were making a heist movie. Except, they weren’t. They were making a speculative fiction movie. A science fantasy movie, to be more specific, and a subpar one at that.
If you’re wondering why it isn’t a heist movie, that’s because most of the “heists” the characters perpetrate are illogical without the presence of actual magic, rendering them inexplicable. The magic is often fobbed off as “science,” hence the science fantasy categorization.
One of the keys points in a heist movie is “The Reveal,” the part where the con artist(s) spill the beans to another character/the audience, taking them/us every step of the way through their brilliant plan. (For example, picture George Clooney monologuing to Andy Garcia at the end of Ocean’s 11, walking him through every twist and turn, explaining in excruciating detail how Clooney and his buds a) stole a bunch of Garcia’s money, and b) got Julia Roberts back in the process.)
However, Now You See Me isn’t quite a science fantasy movie, either. Why? Because it’s pretending too hard to be a heist film. Instead of embracing its literal magic, it aspires toward heist/caper and falls in the Nether Zone, neither here nor there.
Casey Price: You may have noticed that we’re in the midst of some kind of Stephen King revival in the television and film world. I was on board and open-minded, at least at first. I enjoyed IT, despite it being the source of my biggest disappointment last year. The trailer for next year’s new Pet Semetary adaptation looks appropriately terrifying and interesting. I have not yet watched the Hulu miniseries version of 11/22/63, but I’ve heard good things about it.
So, when the trailers for Castle Rock started to appear, I was intrigued. When I started watching the series, I was enthralled by the show, and delighted with the various Easter eggs and homages to King’s multiverse. I agree with Shara that “The Queen” was one of the best episodes of television that I saw this year. I was completely on the edge of my seat (and almost ready to cry) after watching the penultimate episode, “Henry Deaver.” I was eagerly awaiting the finale along with everyone else, but I couldn’t watch it immediately after it was released. You’re probably guessing where I’m going with this…
Here’s a life lesson, in case you’ve been living obliviously with me here in the social media age: stay away from the internet if you don’t want to get spoiled on anything, ever.
Long story short, I saw enough commentary on the final episode that my curiosity got the best of me. I’ve admitted to my own weakness when it comes to spoilers, and I should know better by now. As a result of what I’ve read, I still haven’t made the time to actually sit down and watch “Romans” (episode 10). What disappointed me about this?
Implied spoilers to follow.
It’s been a long, hard year for me. To cope, I’ve been allowing myself to become lost in as much fiction as possible. I desperately wanted a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one. I became so invested in all of these characters that I wanted to believe in the alternate timeline, and see the Kid returned to his life as the other Henry Deaver. I should have known better than to hope for some kind of brightness in this series. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. It’s not even a criticism. It’s just more bleakness than I am personally able to handle right now. I’ll sit down and watch the episode eventually, probably after revisiting the first nine parts of the season.
What do you think of our choices? Agree? Disagree? Was there something that disappointed you this year in the world of speculative fiction? Sound off in the comments!
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