I'll be blunt about this: the Razzie awards suck. Now in its 38th year, the Razzies give out honors to the worst films, performers, screenplays, and even screen combos of the year, and that's all well and good. If the people behind the awards weren't so lazy and safe, this would be a rousing opportunity for ample humor and possibly an open discussion about what makes a movie "bad" to the public. Unfortunately, the main goal of the Razzies over the years has been little more than to poke very gentle fun at movies that audiences have largely soundly rejected or have been publicly skewered to no end over the past calendar year. There are exceptions, such as Darren Aronofsky's furious and vibrant mother! this year, but even in these cases, the Razzies nominate movies that will either ensure no major debate over quality or only echo the same debates that were rehashed when these movies were released. And what's worse, there's no sense that the people behind the Razzies have any interest in highlighting how their awards - like most major awards - are only useful in terms of marketing, whether for the movie itself or the people behind it.
So, seeing that The Emoji Movie walked off with the most awards at last night's Razzie awards is neither that surprising nor that consequential, despite the movie essentially working as low-key propaganda to keep kids obsessed with smartphones and a brazen advertisement for numerous apps. The Emoji Movie was named Worst Film, while also walking off with worst director and worst screen combo, while Fifty Shades Darker took home trophies for Kim Basinger's admittedly thin performance and Worst Sequel. (Dis)honors for acting also went to Tom Cruise for The Mummy, Mel Gibson for Daddy's Home 2, and Tyler Perry for Boo! 2, while Baywatch and Transformers: The Last Knight also scored numerous nominations. For whatever you might think of these movies, they're all easy marks, chosen specifically to avoid controversy and fly under the radar of the big studios, most of whom have already given up on these titles. Like so much of modern pop filmmaking, the end result is something that will displease very few while also offering nothing genuinely satisfying or insightful. You can find a full list of "winners" below.
Here's the full list of Razzie winners:
WORST PICTURE
Baywatch
The Emoji Movie - WINNER
Fifty Shades Darker
The Mummy
Transformers: The Last Knight
WORST ACTRESS
Katherine Heigl / Unforgettable
Dakota Johnson / Fifty Shades Darker
Jennifer Lawrence / mother!
Tyler Perry / Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween - WINNER
Emma Watson / The Circle
WORST ACTOR
Tom Cruise / The Mummy - WINNER
Johnny Depp / Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Jamie Dornan / Fifty Shades Darker
Zac Efron / Baywatch
Mark Wahlberg / Daddy’s Home 2 & Transformers: The Last Knight
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem / mother! & Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Russell Crowe / The Mummy
Josh Duhamel / Transformers: The Last Knight
Mel Gibson / Daddy’s Home 2 - WINNER
Anthony Hopkins / Collide & Transformers: The Last Knight
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kim Basinger / Fifty Shades Darker - WINNER
Sofia Boutella / The Mummy
Laura Haddock / Transformers: The Last Knight
Goldie Hawn / Snatched
Susan Sarandon / A Bad Moms Christmas
WORST SCREEN COMBO
Any Combination of Two Characters, Two Sex Toys or Two Sexual Positions / Fifty Shades Darker
Any Combination of Two Humans, Two Robots or Two Explosions / Transformers: The Last Knight
Any Two Obnoxious Emojis / The Emoji Movie - WINNER
Johnny Depp & His Worn Out Drunk Routine / Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Tyler Perry & Either The Ratty Old Dress or Worn Out Wig / Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween
WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
Baywatch
Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween
Fifty Shades Darker - WINNER
The Mummy
Transformers: The Last Knight
WORST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky / mother!
Michael Bay / Transformers: The Last Knight
James Foley / Fifty Shades Darker
Alex Kurtzman / The Mummy
Anthony (Tony) Leonidis / The Emoji Movie - WINNER
WORST SCREENPLAY
Baywatch
The Emoji Movie - WINNER
Fifty Shades Darker
The Mummy
Transformers: The Last Knight
Barry L. Bumstead Award Winner
“Chips”
Rotten Tomatoes Poll Winner For So Rotten You Loved It
“Baywatch”
