8) Max Steel
You would be forgiven for never having heard of this movie before. Given the success of the superhero genre and the likes of Transformers, this adaptation of the Mattel toy range must have seemed like a surefire hit. Unfortunately, at some point the studio realized they had a turkey on their hands and quietly released the film in a blockbuster graveyard slot in October. Naturally, it subsequently sunk without a trace – hardly making back a quarter of its $20 million dollar budget.
There’s really no defending Max Steel. Despite a script from reliable Marvel screenwriter Christopher Yost (most known for his work on the Thor movies), it’s a lifeless, joyless, studio-mandated attempt to kickstart a money-making superhero franchise. The plot is dumb and half-baked – something about a boy who meets a sentient alien suit of armour – and the designs and look of the film is ripped off from several other movies – chiefly Iron Man.
Furthermore, the characters are thin, the actors are either bland or left to squander with the awful material and the direction from Stewart Hendler aims for stylish but is just plain distracting. You most likely would have done anyway, but we would urge you to avoid this paint-by-numbers superhero origin movie.