7 Supposedly Bad Films That Deserve A Second Chance

Some films are so bad that they’re good; other films are just as bad as they appear to be. Then there are those that get panned by critics and fans alike, relegated to the junk heap of cinematic history even though they're maybe not quite as bad as they first appear to be. There have been quite a few such films over the years: films that came along at the wrong time, that botched their endings, or that just aspired to be more than they should have been. Maybe they were unfairly maligned, maybe they were ahead of their times, or maybe they were just a bit better than critics would have you believe. Regardless, let us take a look at a few films that deserve, if not an Oscar, at least a second chance. Speed Racer The Wachowski siblings do not have a particularly good track record, but sometimes I think it’s because we expect all of their films to be more like The Matrix. Speed Racer was their first post-Matrix release, and it’s certainly a different kind of movie. Emile Hirsch is the titular Speed Racer, an 18 year old lover of racing who works at Racer Motors with his two parents (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon). The film follows the adventures of Speed as he faces his desire to drive, and the temptation of beginning to race for a major corporation (headed by the delightfully smarmy Roger Allam), all the while haunted by the death of his elder brother Rex. The Wachowskis take the idea of anime adaptation very seriously, and that’s what we get in this film: a live action anime. With an almost terrifying color scheme and characters that look like they’ve jumped from the pages of a manga, Speed Racer is a strange and fascinating exercise in what movies (and CGI) can do. The cars race and rip around tracks impossible in the real world, the revving of engines punctuated by flashing lights and stylized dialogue. It’s hard for the Wachowskis to beat The Matrix, and I don’t really think they’re trying to. They made a very different type of film here. While it is not uniformly successful, it does deserve greater recognition than it has hitherto received. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion It’s easy to cut Woody Allen some slack when it comes to quality. This is a man who has made a film a year since the late-70s. When you have a filmography as long as his, it can’t all be Crimes and Misdemeanors. Still, there’s nothing to be said against some light, romantic comedy stylings with a hint of melancholy, which is exactly what we get with The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, a nod to the adventure-mysteries of the 1930s. Allen is the star of this one, playing C.W., an insurance investigator who ends up being hyponotised by a stage magician named Voltan (David Ogden Stiers) to believe that he’s in love with his arch-nemesis Betty-Ann (Helen Hunt). Voltan also happens to be a criminal of epic proportions, and leads the suggestible C.W. into all kinds of nefarious shenanigans while under hypnosis. Part crime comedy and part romance, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion offers up breezy comedy without much time for deep thought. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion was roundly panned on its release, often held up as an example of Allen’s creative difficulties in the early 2000s. But if you look at it as a breezy caper comedy rather than a serious Woody Allen film, and it suddenly becomes a lot better. It’s not Annie Hall, but then again, most films aren’t. Casino Royale (1967) Back in the late 1960s, James Bond spoofs had never really been done before. The bizarre, meandering Casino Royale made in 1967 is a case of too many writers, too many directors…too many everything, really. There are about three or four films wrapped up in this single, weird movie, packed full of major stars and bizarre vignettes, with only a basic nod to the plot of anything resembling a James Bond story. Trying to give a summary of this film is an impossible task. There’s David Niven, playing a retired James Bond horrified by his 007 heirs, who make the spy game look bad. He goes off to Scotland to chase after Deborah Kerr, who sleeps with him and then goes into a nunnery. Meanwhile, another James Bond (this one played by Peter Sellers) grapples with Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), during the film's only sequence that bears any resemblance to the titular novel. Then, he’s captured and subjected to hallucinogens and the whole thing falls spectacularly to pieces. Oh, and Woody Allen is Jimmy Bond, who kind of vanishes partway through. Casino Royale is a terrible, wild, confusing film, but it’s not as bad as it looks. In fact, if you just enter into the spirit of the thing and accept it as a slice of 1960s kitsch, it becomes a lot more fun. Just don’t think too deeply about things like plot or characterization. Gentlemen Broncos This film comes to you courtesy of the creators of Napoleon Dynamite, so much of your reaction must depend on whether or not you enjoyed the quirkiness of that film. It's definitely an acquired taste, and Gentlemen Broncos veers far closer to the grotesque than Napoleon Dynamite ever did. But it's still another story about strange people who joyfully embrace their lack of talent. This story involves Ben, a teenager who spends his time writing bad science fiction stories based on his deceased father (played, in a series of epic fantasy sequences, by Sam Rockwell). He decides to attend a science-fiction/fantasy writing camp run by his idol, the prolific and very obnoxious Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement), who promptly steals his work. Meeting up with another camper, Ben winds up selling the film rights to his work to low-budget filmmaker, who promptly makes the worst film until The Room. Gentlemen Broncos is a bizarre, otherworldly combination of fantasy (Ben’s story is called Yeast Lords, which might give you some idea of the quality) and a feel-good encouragement to do the things you love no matter what…even if those things are writing truly dreadful fantasy novels. It’s a strangely uplifting story, though, and in some ways even better than Napoleon Dynamite, simply because Ben and his friends are far more likable human beings than Napoleon ever was. Why Gentlemen Broncos was so quickly dismissed I do not know – at the very least, it’s worth an hour and a half of your time. The Tourist The Tourist is now a byword for the nadir of Johnny Depp’s career, but how bad is it really? It has a good cast (Depp, Angelina Jolie, and Paul Bettany, to name a few), lovely locations, and a plot which, while it does not hold up to close scrutiny, is as enjoyable as most espionage stories. Depp is the tourist of the title, an American mathematics professor chosen to be the mark of Jolie’s con artist. She’s the lover of a dangerous con man named Alexander Pearce, traveling through Italy on Pearce’s instructions. She picks up Depp’s character Frank in an effort to make the police inspector (Bettany) believe that he’s Pearce. Things gets more complicated from there, as Frank proves to be more competent than he initially appears. The Tourist was panned on its release and subsequently became the butt of several jokes when it wound up nominated for a few Golden Globes. But it’s not a bad film: it’s predictable, but then again, so are most James Bond features. On a second viewing, both Depp and Jolie appear to be having a good time, giving convincing performances of an unconvincing script. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, really. The Wolfman (2010) Joe Johnston’s remake of the 1941 Universal classic The Wolfman marks another step in Universal’s abortive attempt to revivify its old monster movies for a new generation. The film received generally negative reviews, many citing the obvious plot holes and the evident difficulties that faced Johnston in keeping to budget. If you look past some of that background knowledge though and accept The Wolfman as a remake of a somewhat schlocky (but now classic) monster movie, it becomes a lot more interesting. Benicio Del Toro is Lawrence Talbot, a well-known actor who returns home to Blackmoor following the apparent murder of his brother. While there, meets his father (a scene-chewing Anthony Hopkins), who has more than a few bones to pick with his recalcitrant boy, and his brother’s fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt), with whom he shares an immediate rapport. Of course, werewolves are suspected in the death of the other Talbot, and before long Larry is subject to the curse. The Wolfman is simply a better film than it’s made out to be. There are some excellent set pieces – including one scene where an apparently insane Larry begs to be freed before he transforms into a werewolf – and some of the best ham acting on display since Francis Ford Coppola’s version of Dracula. It’s a wild, schlocky adventure, entirely worthy of a Universal B-picture. Popeye When Robert Altman decides to do a live action adaptation of Popeye, one might expect what we usually get in live action versions of cartoons: a nod to the concepts, the look of the characters, the plots of the cartoons, but still solidly founded in the real world. Nope. If Altman was going to do a live action Popeye, he was really going to do Popeye. Popeye is a shockingly grotesque experience, with Robin Williams’s version of the character sporting massive forearms and a studied squint, babbling and dancing around like…well, like a cartoon. It says something when Williams is one of the calmer, more realistic performers in a film. Everyone is a real-life cartoon, down to Shelley Duvall’s all-too-realistic Olive Oyl, Paul Dooley’s constantly hungry Wimpy, and Paul L. Smith’s hulking Bluto. This is the cartoon and then some, as Popeye dances, sings, and boxes his way around the coastal town of Sweethaven. Popeye is a weird film without ever being an entirely good one, but somehow it begins to grow on you as you get used to the odd look and odder characters. Remember that this is a cartoon, a real world version of a very weird concept. Williams and Duvall in particular are excellent, dedicated to their characters and quickly likable. No one but Altman could have made a film like this - it's certainly unlike any other.