Random Worst Live-Action Movies Based on Cartoons (22 items)

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  (#3) Inspector Gadget 2

  • D. L. Hughley, Jeff Bennett, French Stewart, Bruce Spence, Elaine Hendrix, Caitlin Wachs, Sigrid Thornton, Tony Martin, John Batchelor, Mark Mitchell, Remi Broadway, Brian McDermott, Mungo McKay, Alethea McGrath, Evert McQueen, Todd Levi, Nick Lawson, Tim Boyle, Chris Cruickshanks, Louise Boothby, Jacy Lewis, Mary Hendrix, James Wardlaw, Monette Lee, Nick Backstrom, Mick Roughlan, Jan Nary, Siros Niaros, Kate Peters

  In the first live-action Inspector Gadget, Matthew Broderick makes for an okay substitute for the Don Adams-voiced incompetent detective.

  French Stewart is NOT an okay substitute for Matthew Broderick in the straight to DVD sequel.
  
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  (#4) Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins

  • Frank Welker, Robbie Amell, Hayley Kiyoko, Garry Chalk, Lorena Gale, C. Ernst Harth, Cassandra Sawtell, Benita Ha, Dee Jay Jackson, Kurt Evans, Kira Clavell, Christopher Attadia, Kate Melton, Al Rodrigo, Shawn MacDonald, Josh Goring, Daniel Riordan, Mark Gash, Wendy Morrow Donaldson, Nick Palatas, Dave Hurtubise, Leah James, Devon Thomas, Tony Der Jr., Kristina Barr, Brian J. Sutton, Courtney Schott, Jordana Largy

  The Scooby-Doo movies written by James Gunn are surprisingly not terrible. So of course some studio executive somewhere had to say, "We're not screwing it up enough! Fire everybody and start again with a prequel!"

  At least, you can assume that's what was said. It's the only explanation for the clip above.
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  (#11) Dudley Do-Right

  • Sarah Jessica Parker, Brendan Fraser, Alfred Molina, Kathie Lee Gifford, Eric Idle, Alex Rocco, Robert Prosky, Corey Burton, Jack Kehler, Louis Mustillo, Jed Rees, Don Yesso, Dyllan Christopher, Brant von Hoffman

  Brendan Fraser is perfect casting for Jay Ward's George of the Jungle, a Tarzan riff in which a moronic white savior kept swinging on vines into trees. Lightning doesn't strike twice, however, as Fraser's portrayal of Mountie Dudley Do-Right falls completely flat.

  Worst of all, though, is how terrible Alfred Molina comes across as arch-villain Snidely Whiplash. A great actor and a great character, both Molina and Whiplash deserve better.
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  (#21) Casper

  • Christina Ricci, Dan Aykroyd, Rodney Dangerfield, Amy Brenneman, Ben Stein, Eric Idle, Brad Garrett, Bill Pullman, Devon Sawa, Cathy Moriarty, Fred Rogers, John Kassir, Joe Alaskey, Terry Murphy, Joe Nipote, Malachi Pearson

  It used to be a playground joke among kids who had grown old enough to be cynical: Casper was obviously a dead kid. Nobody ever thought, however, that a major motion picture would emphasize that fact.

  Yet when director Brad Silberling came aboard the movie version, it was probably inevitable. Following the 1989 murder of his girlfriend Rebecca Schaeffer at the hands of a deranged fan, many of his films fixated on the possibility of an afterlife for the virtuous. For the Wings of Desire remake City of Angels, that's appropriate. For Casper, not so much.
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  (#9) Mr. Magoo

  • Jennifer Garner, Malcolm McDowell, Leslie Nielsen, Kelly Lynch, Ernie Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Miguel Ferrer, Matt Keeslar, Nick Chinlund

  Leslie Nielsen was, at one time, a master of deadpan humor, gleefully sending up all the straight-arrow hero roles he used to have. Then he became self-aware, and started mugging excessively, and by the time somebody gave him a paycheck to talk like Jim Backus, it was just too late.
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  (#1) Dragonball Evolution

  • Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung, James Marsters, Chow Yun-Fat, Ernie Hudson, Justin Chatwin, Joon Park, Texas Battle, Randall Duk Kim, Julian Sedgwick, Eriko Tamura, Shavon Kirksey, Jon Valera, Megumi Seki, Mike Wilson, Luis Arrieta, Freddy Bouciegues, Rafael Valdez, Richard Blake

  Dragonball is a cartoon so stylized that making it in live-action is a fool's errand to begin with, and the moment anybody even attempted to style Justin Chatwin's hair into a Goku 'do, it should have been a red flag.

  By the time he turns into a giant were-ape at the movie's climax (yes, seriously), the accumulated red flags ought to have summoned a herd of angry bulls. The video above sums it up best.

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