The 20 worst films of 2016 inflicted on Hong Kong cinema-goers ... so far

And so 2016 is nearly half over. Here are 20 of the very worst movies released in Hong Kong in the past six months that we had the misfortune to sit through.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Annoying and unfunny, this fourth instalment in the Chipmunks film series highlights everything that’s bad in children’s films. Read the full review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

It was nice of Zack Snyder to keep our expectations in check with the bombastic nonsense of 2013’s Man of Steel. Read the full review

The Bodyguard

The early trailer for Sammo Hung’s first directorial effort in two decades highlighted only its star cameos. They did the right thing. Read the full review

The Captive

Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s child abduction drama revels in its own nastiness and makes for a highly unpleasant watch. Read the full review

Criminal

Nothing makes sense in this slapdash brain-swap thriller, which comes alive only when Kevin Costner punches someone on the nose. Read the full review

Dirty Grandpa

Robert De Niro and, heck, even Zac Efron deserved better than this gruesome attempt at a gross-out comedy. Read the full review

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

The young-adult dystopian adventure film genre has had its moment. This tiring latest might just have sounded its death knell. Read the full review

Fifty Shades of Black

Could Fifty Shades of Grey get any worse? Yes, seriously. Just check out Marlon Wayans’ latest crime against modern cinema. Read the full review

From Vegas to Macau III

It’s cringeworthy to see Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau Tak-wah, Jackie Cheung Hok-yau and Nick Cheung Ka-fai line up for this shambolic C-movie by Wong Jing. Read the full review

Galaxy Turnpike

How the maker of The Magic Hour and The Kiyosu Conference ended up churning out this sluggish garbage is beyond us. Read the full review

The Gigolo 2

Nobody was looking for a sequel to the 2015 Hong Kong erotic comedy, but one arrived, all limp and flaccid, anyway. Read the full review

How to Be Single

An insult to its own title, this dismal rom-com turns out to be just a dumbed-down Sex and the City tale about finding the right mate. Read the full review

iGirl

No movie casting Chrissie Chau as a sexually obliging robot should be allowed to be this mind-numbingly dull and unsexy. Read the full review

Kidnap Ding Ding Don

If you want a glimpse of the inadvertently racist and sexist frame of mind some Hong Kong Chinese, look no further than this hapless “comedy”. Read the full review

The Last Race

What was Joseph Fiennes thinking? This unofficial sequel to Chariots of Fire may well be recognised as the worst movie of the year. Read the full review

London Has Fallen

This xenophobic sequel to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen is dope for fans of American supremacy and excessive, racist brutality. Read the full review

Neko Samurai – A Tropical Adventure

Plenty went wrong in this cat-centric samurai tale. The tedious sequel is only for fans of felines ... and flatulence. Read the full review

Regression

Alejandro Amenabar was great at conjuring supernatural chills for 2001’s The Others. Now he’s apparently lost his magic. Read the full review

Survivor

Pierce Brosnan hams it up alongside Milla Jovovich in this ridiculously implausible action thriller. Read the full review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Not even the kinetic violence and bizarre aliens could liven up this very daft, Michael-Bay produced sequel. Read the full review

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