Scooby-Doo (2002)
The Adaptation: Kids' cartoon goes big screen with the help of Buffy and that guy from the first Scream movie.
What They Got Most Wrong: Zoinks! The CGI Scooby is a travesty for starters, while Freddie Prinze Jr. is about as charismatic as a plank of wood.
Resident Evil (2002)
The Adaptation: Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation of the popular video game birthed a popular film franchise (that’s still refusing to die), but that doesn’t stop it from being dreadful.
What They Got Most Wrong: It’s loud, dumb and soul-crushingly perfunctory.
The Saint (1997)
The Adaptation: Val Kilmer attempts to capture the same arrogant charm that Roger Moore bolstered in the original TV series – and entirely fails.
What They Got Most Wrong: The special effects are ropey, especially Templar’s string of ridiculous disguises.
Dreamcatcher (2003)
The Adaptation: Based on Stephen King’s novel, Lawrence Kasdan’s film follows four telepathic friends who get caught up in an alien invasion.
What They Got Most Wrong: Not even trying to make any sort of sense. A confusing mess.
The Avengers (1998)
The Adaptation: Not Joss Whedon’s upcoming Marvel mash-up, but the Uma Thurman/Ralph Fiennes adaptation of the ‘60s TV series.
What They Got Most Wrong: Uh, Sean Connery’s trying to steal the weather? Yeah, we’re not scared either.
Ghost Rider (2007)
The Adaptation: Marvel’s most hot-headed of anti-heroes gets the Nicolas Cage treatment in this underwhelming adap.
What They Got Most Wrong: Just about everything, though Eva Mendes’ lacklustre love interest is most pointless of all.
The Perfect Catch (2005)
The Adaptation: Drew Barrymore teams up with Jimmy Fallon to completely Americanise Nick Hornby’s novel Fever Pitch .
What They Got Most Wrong: Swapping football for baseball is a horrendous misstep, rendering this unrecognisable from Hornby’s original tome.
Max Payne (2008)
The Adaptation: Another duff from Mark Wahlberg in the same year that he brought us The Happening . Here, he’s the titular pain, seeking revenge for his family’s murder.
What They Got Most Wrong: It’s predictable, boring and slow-moving – three of the things that we hate most in this world.
Bewitched (2005)
The Adaptation: The beautiful simplicity of the original TV show – normal guy marries a witch, deals with wacky consequences – gets an unnecessary post-modern spin as Will Ferrell plays an actor in the Bewitched remake who casts a real witch as his wife.
What They Got Most Wrong: Overcooking the pudding – in other words, sometimes simple is best.
The Punisher (1989)
The Adaptation: Dolph Lundgren dyes his hair black and brings the requisite muscle mass (but little else besides) to this adaptation of the Marvel comic, as The Punisher’s origins are given a big screen rejig.
What They Got Most Wrong: Further proving that Lundgren really just can’t act. (But we still love you, Dolph.)
