Jennifer's Body (2009)
Why People Were Excited: On the face of it, the idea of Diablo Cody (fresh from her success with Juno ) penning an Evil Dead influenced horror starring Megan Fox as a demonically possessed, man-eating cheerleader sounded like a great idea! On the face of it…
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: Not especially sexy, and not remotely scary, this one worked much better as a scribble-it-on-the-back-of-a-napkin concept than it did as a finished film. Sure Fox looks the part, but we were hoping for a little more than that.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Why People Were Excited: A weird and wonderful comic-book from the pen of the great Alan Moore, The League looked ripe for a big-screen adaptation, what with its recognisable, Brit-lit characters taking on superhero status. A massive budget was also freed up for Stephen Norrington and his team to do the subject matter full justice.
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: The finished article was littered with unnecessary plot changes, while Sean Connery is beyond hammy in the leading role, converting Quatermain from a jittery opium addict into a quip-spitting action hero. Dire.
Sex And The City 2 (2010)
Why People Were Excited: The first film might not have won any prizes for innovation, but it was vastly popular with fans of the show for successfully translating its frothy sense of fun to the big screen. With such a template already in place, surely the sequel would have no trouble serving up more of the same?
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: Sex And The City is never going to be everyone's cup of tea, but even fans of the show were left cold by this hackneyed collection of gender stereotypes, played out against the sterile gloss of Dubai. Enough is enough now, surely?
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2004)
Why People Were Excited: It might have been a long time since Robert Rodriguez last visited his favourite Mariachi, but any misgivings on that score were soon eased by the announcement of several stellar new additions to the cast. Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe and Mickey Rourke? Sign us up!
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: The Mariachi's return turned out to be a meandering, half-baked retread of his previous two films, with the impact of the various new additions softened by the relatively slight running time. Johnny Depp makes an impression, but the rest of the cast appear to be stuck firmly in autopilot.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Why People Were Excited: The first instalment in the Pirates series was a rollickingly enjoyable adventure. The second was a little overlong, although it did have the monstrous attraction of the Kraken to count in its favour. Hopefully, the third part of the original trilogy would trim the fat and return to the original's winning formula.
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: The third film was even longer again, with even less narrative impetus to drive things forward. Comparing this with the first film is like comparing night and day. All the vim and vigour of that original outing has been replaced with a very fishy-smelling sense of torpor. Dull, dull, dull.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Why People Were Excited: Despite having been burned by underwhelming disaster movies several times before ( Volcano , Dante's Peak , Godzilla et al), The Day After Tomorrow 's canny marketing campaign featuring various world landmarks in various states of catastrophe, still managed to capture the imagination. Will we never learn?
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: While the disaster scenes were indeed impressive, they accounted for only a fraction of the film's mammoth running time. The rest of it was filled with Dennis Quaid's frankly tedious trudge to reunite with son Jake Gyllenhaal. Yawn.
Alice In Wonderland (2010)
Why People Were Excited: In theory, Tim Burton was the perfect fit for a new take on Alice In Wonderland , with Lewis Carroll's madcap imagination on a similar wavelength to the oddball director.
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: The visuals were suitably lush (save for some decidedly lacklustre 3D), but sadly, the storyline was as ho-hum as they come, with all Carroll's weird and wonderful creations serving as mere set-dressing for an inexorable trudge towards a bland final battle. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter is basically Jack Sparrow in different headgear.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Why People Were Excited: Cameron Crowe was to team up with a red-hot cast including Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Kurt Russell, to adapt the well-reviewed Spanish film, Open Your Eyes . On paper, a promising set-up...
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: Crowe's glossy take lacked the haunting mystery of the original, while Cruise's smarmy performance made his character nigh-on impossible to care about. The scene set in a deserted Times Square was memorable, but the rest was very much a case of style over substance.
Catwoman (2004)
Why People Were Excited: Batman's favourite feline hadn't been seen on the big screen since Batman Returns back in 1992. Finally, Selina Kyle was to be given her chance to shine, with a movie all of her own. Sadly, we'd have to wait until Ann Hathaway got her claws into the character to really see her done justice.
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: Filled with puns, two-dimensional characters and some rather suspect costumes, Catwoman is every bit as trashy as Batman And Robin , and only marginally less annoying. Although Sharon Stone does her level best to remedy that…
The Spirit (2008)
Why People Were Excited: In the wake of Sin City 's success, hopes were high for the big-screen adaptation of another Frank Miller property in the form of The Spirit . And with Miller on directorial duties, surely he'd be able to do his own work justice?
Why They Ended Up Disappointed: Despite an excitingly starry cast, The Spirit turned out to be a load of old cobblers, with Miller attempting to mask the inadequacies of his screenplay with a bevy of scantily clad babes. Even Sam Jackson's scenery-chewing scientist can't save the day.
