Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/234240
31 THIS in review 2013WEEK maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2013 worst films of 2013 THE WORST 5. World War Z Beset by production troubles and last minute reshoots, this troubled zombie apocalypse thriller starring and produced by Brad Pitt (and partly filmed in Malta) managed to register a box office success against all odds. But the strain is very much apparent: the action set pieces feel clumsy and dated, the story limps awkwardly from one location to another, and the promise of its source material – Max Brooks's satirical novel – is entirely betrayed, as the film is reduced to being just a basic action hero tale. Sequels have been promised. May the gods help us. 4. Man of Steel Letting Zack Snyder (300, Sucker Punch) direct anything is bound to be a bad idea, because he's clearly a man-child who experiences the world as an MTV music video, so it's hardly surprising that his take on America's most enduring superhero is something of a flop. But Man of Steel – an 'origin' story for Superman, here played by Henry Cavil – doesn't even have the decency to be dumb and simple. It has to be dumb, dark and confusing, cramming in moral quandaries it doesn't even bother to resolve. 3. Silhouette It's sad that Malta's cinematic produce has the dubious honour of being in pole position on this list, but Mark Doneo's clumsy, info-dump laden, shoddily written and dismally directed Fast and Furious rip-off deserves nothing but the most white-hot opprobrium. But its awfulness still fails to plummet to the depths of its fellow local 'blockbuster'... 2. Adormidera Calling 'Malta's First Epic Movie' 'so bad it's good' would just about fall short of describing the experience of watching this cod-medieval piece of swords-and-sorcery. That its production values overstretch its budget is bad enough, but that director Ray Mizzi went ahead and shot the film with such a shoddy script in hand is inexcusable. 1. The Great Gatsby At a (very generous) stretch, you could excuse Adormidera and Silhouette's pitfalls as being the result of a nonexistent film industry that doesn't equip its would-be practitioners with the necessary instruction and funds to execute their projects properly. No excuse could be made for the Baz Luhrmann-directed, Leonardo di Capriostarring adaptation of the beloved F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name. As kitsch as a Carnival float and as subtle as a sledgehammer, this feels like a film made by an emotionally unstable 14-year-old with too much money and time on their hands.