Welcome guys to an all new list I have for us today and this one I’m doing purely just for fun! Now have you ever watched a movie and you felt wasn’t exactly all that good or had so many problems yet you still had a blast watching it anyway? Well those are the types of movie I will be naming today as over the years I’ve seen so many movies that are extremely flawed yet so fun to watch, essentially the cinematic equivalent of junk food. Now there won’t be too much of an exact order, but I decided to rank it mainly by the quality of the movies themselves so I will start with the ones I’d consider the best as a movie, and then as we go lower so does the actual quality as well (though not the fun). So now that we have that introduction out of the way it is time to look at some insanity as we dive into my favorite guilty pleasure type movies! If you want you could go grab some junk food and stuff it in your mouth while reading this as that’s really appropriate given the stuff we will be looking at down below!
10. Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Now I already did a review on this one back in August so I’ll be quick. While I’d also consider 2 Fast 2 Furious something of a guilty pleasure I didn’t want to put multiple entries of the same franchise so I went with the spin off of the series starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, and Jason Staham and boy was it a blast to watch! Yes it’s ridiculous, has a bunch of cheesy dialogue, and may run a bit too long, but it is absolutely entertaining from start to finish thanks to the wonderful chemistry between the Rock, and Statham as they have some hilarious interactions with one another. Their not the only ones who get a chance to shine though as Vannessa Kirby’s Hattie Shaw makes for a nice straight woman to their larger than life personalities while Idris Elba is having a ton of fun playing the baddie, a genetically enhanced super soldier on the hunt for a virus that can wipe out half of the population on Earth. Add in David Leitch’s stylish direction, and some big, fun action set pieces and you have a movie that absolutely knows what it is and invites the audience along for the ride (if you want to read my full review here’s the link https://reviewtime.video.blog/2019/08/31/review-fast-and-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw/).
9. The Expendables 2
The second entry of Stallone’s “Action all stars team up to save the say” franchise pretty much delivers what you’d want from that concept. Now I actually do legitimately like the first installment as I find it pretty underrated (it’s the one with the most amount of substance and it’s a pretty solid action movie even if it doesn’t quite go all in terms of it’s concept). But while I would consider the initial installment the best “movie” of the three, 2 is the one I had the most fun watching and if I had to choose which of the three I’d watch when I’m the mood for that kind of movie, it’ll more likely than not be this one. This is just the action B-movie throwback extravaganza that many were expecting the first one to be with even more big action set pieces, Jean Claude Van-Damme having the time of his life as the villains, extended roles for Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a cameo appearance by the one and only Chuck Norris out of all people! The action itself is really well crafted, and there was at least one surprise plot beat near the beginning that I was not expecting. The story itself is very thin for the most part though thanks to the pacing, the movie never overstays it’s welcome, and the there ain’t any Oscar worthy performances here but I still find this to be a really good time and I would say Hobbs & Shaw are easily the best “movies” here and I do hope to one day review the trilogy for fun as I think it would be cool to talk about them.
8. Con Air
Yet another star studded action movie directed by Simon West that is a ton of fun to watch. The basic premise of this 90’s flick is a former solider whose about to return home after spending time in prison for murder, get in on plane full of the worst of the worst and chaos then ensues from there. The movie takes full advantage of it’s premise, and it’s cast which includes the likes of Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, and even Dave Chappelle among many others. It’s very self aware of itself and knows exactly what it is just like the other two entries thus far is very well paced, and has some pretty exciting action sequences to boot (really fun plane sequences). Cage sports a really bad southern yet amusing accent, Cusack is good as the proverbial detective trying to figure out what’s going on, and Malkovich once again completely chews the scenery whenever he’s on screen as the big bad, Cyrus the Virus. Though the dialogue can be very cheesy, and stupid plus the whole reason why Cage goes to prison in the first place is pretty ridiculous, then again that’s exactly what all of the movies on this list are. My real biggest issue though is that the film does have a final chase sequence that is pretty rushed and poorly edited and does nothing but drag on, derailing the otherwise brisk pacing. Other than that though I enjoyed this one from beginning to end and if this sounds like the type of action movie you’d be interested in, I’d highly recommend checking it out for yourself.
7. Space Jam
Here we are still in the 90s and this is one that’s very much a product of it’s time. Space Jam has always been an interesting movie due to how so much of it is related to Michael Jordan’s career (like how he did baseball for a bit) and I’ve always found it pretty amusing looking at it in that context. Other than that though the movie is essentially a 90 minute commercial that was clearly made to capitalize on both Jordan’s career, and those popular ads where he would cross over with Bugs Bunny. It’s ridiculous, and stupid as all heck with cheesy dialogue, and a bunch of storytelling issues (if the Monstars had been more intelligent on who to use their powers on, then the conflict would’ve ended very quickly) but it has this charm that a lot of these comedies from that era have that just make it a lot of fun to watch, and revel in the absurdity of it all. Michael Jordan actually isn’t too bad here as he works well as a straight man to the Looney Toons and never tries to upstage them and everything that happens in the Looney toons world is appropriately well, looney, and actullay really well animated as well. The climactic show down is easily the highlight of the entire feature with plenty of hilarious Looney Toons slapstick and is a ton of fun to watch unfold while it was also amusing seeing some famous basketball players make some hilarious cameos here and there. I actually do plan on reviewing this (along with the superior, and underrated Looney Toons Back in Action) in time for Space Jam: A New Legacy next year which from what I’ve been hearing sounds like it’s going to be one heck of a feature!
6. Meet the Fockers
This is one of those sequels that made a lot of more than it’s predecessor and actually proved to be more popular yet I find it inferior to the original. In this case Meet the Fockers may have made more of an impact than Meet the Parents yet it is a messier product and isn’t as narratively as the surprisingly winning original which I actually do really like. None of the characters have really changed all that much (especially Robert De Niro’s Jack Byrnes) and there it follows a lot of the same beats as the original. With that being said it is indeed very funny with a lot of ridiculously fun stuff going on and I just can’t help but laugh. It really does get by on the strength of the chemistry of the cast with Barbara Streisand, and Dustin Hoffman being welcome new additions as Greg’s parents who indeed the stand outs of the movie and really everyone here just looks like their having a blast (also really enjoyed the little nephew, Little Jack). Again it’s got many problems but it is a good time with good company for sure, and both this, and the original made for a fun double viewing (and both are better than the underwhelming Little Fockers).
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows, and G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra
Here we have a tie between two adaptations of fan favorite properties from the 80’s that are essentially big budget Saturday morning cartoons and I actually do mean that as a compliment. What I really like about both of them is that they absolutely know what they are and like I’ve been saying constantly just go with it. With Out of the Shadows I found it to be a more entertaining feature than the original 2014 revamp (which I actually didn’t hate) and it mostly works mainly because it nails the camaraderie between the Turtles and they were easily the highlight here plus having some appropriately big, bombastic action set-pieces, and Bebop, and Rocksteady were a ton of fun. As G.I. Joe well the team itself is full of some colorful character that help liven the proceedings and it too does provide some really well done action (the Paris chase in particular is a great sequence), and an incredibly over the top performance by Joseph Gordon Levitt as Cobra Commander of all characters! Both are far from perfect with some thin supporting characters, an over stuffed plot, an underutlized Shredder, and a one note Kraang (yet somewhat entertaining) Kraang in Out of the Shadows, and a pretty dull lead, some noticeable CGI, and a bunch of elements that would make fans upset (the third act twist in particular) for Rise of Cobra. Still though I think both are enjoyable watches and I never fully understood the critical lambasting they received (Cobra espicially as it pretty much what one would expect from a G.I. Joe movie through and through).
4. Bad Boys II
Again another movie I reviewed relatively recently so I’ll make this one brief. This is similar to Meet the Fockers in that it’s a sequel that made more money, and is more popular than it’s predecessor but is a noticeably inferior movie yet one that’s fun to watch. It’s a very much one of the most Michael Bay movies out there with all of his usual trademarks from the bombastic action, to the bawdy humor, to the constant vulgarity, to the over-saturated color palette, a whole bunch of offensive stereotypes, and much much more. It’s just pure insanity from start to finish and it helps somewhat compensate for the incredibly thin story, and how Mike, and Marcus are kind of jerks at times for no apparent reason. That latter aspect is salvaged a bit by Will Smith, and Martin Lawrence’s chemistry I still found it to be something that really brought the film down on a quality level. Though again with just how bonkers everything else is here it weirdly enough wasn’t as frustrating than if they played things with a straight face. So yeah if you like Michael Bay and want to see 2 and a half hours of big scale action, and Will Smith, and Martin Lawrence arguing than this is the one for you (though if you want to see a legitimately good follow up to Bad Boys, than Bad Boys For Life more than does the trick). Here’s the link to the review: https://reviewtime.video.blog/2020/04/10/throwback-review-bad-boys-ii/
3. Step Brothers
Here’s one I watched pretty recently and when watching it I knew it was going to be a shoo in for this list. For those who don’t know, it’s Will Ferrel, and John C. Reilly comedy that concerns them as two 40 year old men who still live with their respective parent and then become well step brothers and from there a bunch of crazy shenanigans ensue! From a structural standpoint the movie is a mess as it just goes from crazy situation to crazy situation and changes narratives at times. That and you can’t help but sympathize with the dad (played wonderfully by Richard Jenkins) who is actually very much in the right and was actually making sense, and Brennan, and Dale don’t really change all that much as characters. But it’s just so darn funny with all of the scenarios that occur like their music video, them getting along, the schoolyard scene, them sleep walking, the climax, and much much more. I was laughing like crazy through all of this and the two leads just have so much great chemistry that it’s easy to want to see what they’ll do next. It may not be the best movie either lead has starred in but it was certainly not dull, and it’s one that I feel is great to watch with other people especially if they haven’t seen the movie.
2. Good Burger
I actually have some vague memories of watching this one TV when I was really young and there were only a few things I really remembered from it like that ice cream truck chase, and the gag involving a mail box that kept getting destroyed. So then I saw it was playing on TV one night at last year and decided to give it a re watch and my first thought when it finished playing was “how the heck did I not remember this piece of insanity?!”. This is such a stupid yet weirdly crazy movie that just throws all of these random jokes at you and I can’t help but just laugh at how absurd it is. Very much a product of it’s era (there are many jokes that don’t hold up that well) and everyone in the movie seems to be going along with things as well. The main character, Ed, is both an idiot yet also really smart when it’s convenient and Kel Mitchell does go all out in terms of his energetic performance and he does play well off of Kenan Thompson’s Dexter. Meanwhile you also have such people like Sinbad himself, and Abe Vigoda from the Godfather of all movie joining in on the fun! Add in a bunch of quotable scenes, a low budget charm, and some absolutely insane scenes that just come out of nowhere and had me laughing like crazy (the opening, when the duo meets Shaq, the asylum dance number, and so much more), and you have a recipe for one of the most stupidest yet fun as all heck to watch movie there are. It may not be a “good” burger but it works very well as junk food!
and finally my biggest guilty pleasure is…
Gods of Egypt
Ah where do I start with this big mess of a movie? This is a rather infamous flop from 2016 as it was embroiled in controversy due to the fact that it took place in Egypt and yet had no Egyptian actors in the cast (or heck with the exception of Chadwick Boseman, very little in the way of minority actors). But to be honest that could’ve easily been avoided because they really could’ve just changed some of the architecture, and the names of Gods and just been tilted Gods of Jupiter or would have you because I don’t really think this is what I call a highly accurate presentation of Egyptian mythology. But on to the movie itself it is a really stupid, bad movie with some really fake looking CGI, and green screen effects, every actor chewing so hard on the scenery, and the story itself is as cliched as one can be. But the execution of everything is exactly like one of those go for broke, bonkers fantasy movie that I can’t help but enjoy watching. I mean what other movie can you say has Gerard Butler (having a blast hamming it up as the villain) riding a big scarab beetle into battle, multiple annoyed Chadwick Bosemans (who at the time of this writing sadly passed away recently, may he rest in peace, and my thoughts go out to his friends, and family) in one scene, and Geoffrey Rush fighting against a giant, killer worm with a space laser on a ship?! More so than the others on this list this is a bad movie that’s really fun to watch mainly due to the fact with how insanely bonkers it is and everything that’s present in it. It ain’t high art at all but there’s something I admire about a filmmaker and his team just going all out to make a movie like this that absolutely knows what it is and never look back. It’s easily the worst movie on this list, yet never made me bored while watching it so it comes in easily as my biggest guilty pleasure!
So those are just some of more noteworthy guilty pleasures of mine! There are a couple of others that did not make this list but these are the ones I would be in the mood for re watching every now and then when I just want to have a fun time, and turn the brain off for a bit. Some of these I actually may plan on doing full reviews for in the future so that should be fun, and if you want to see me do any of these in particular than please let me know in the comments. In fact if you want, please let me know which movies you consider to be “guilty pleasures” and the merit you find in them as it’s always fun to see how my list compares with other. Anyway hopefully you enjoyed this fun little post of mine as I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, and if you ever feel like your in the mood for some junk food well then you could do worse than watching one of these flicks!
Please leave your thoughts in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 