00:00It's weird, those people look like they're clawing at themselves.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for films that have fantastic opening scenes
00:08that the rest of the movie just doesn't live up to.
00:10What?
00:11You nerd me!
00:13Number 10, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
00:17Filmmaker Luc Besson has several celebrated classics in his filmography,
00:21but this is not one of them.
00:23Check ignition and may God's love be with you.
00:30Based on a French science fiction comic series, the space opera, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,
00:35was a box office bomb, criticism focused on the plot and casting.
00:40However, you wouldn't have guessed it from the opening scene.
00:42And the stars look very different today.
00:48In an intriguing sequence, a montage showcases the evolution of the International Space Station
00:54as various nations, and eventually extraterrestrials, are welcomed aboard.
00:57The space station's gradual growth grounds the sci-fi themes, at least at first.
01:02Only for what follows to launch off into deep space, leaving the audience far behind.
01:07Its new course is set for the Magellan Current.
01:10Like the great explorer Magellan, the Alpha Station will journey into the unknown.
01:17A symbol of our values and knowledge.
01:19In the first scene of this comedy franchise's third installment, director Jay Roach playfully toyed with audience expectations.
01:29The movie opens with a James Bond parody, teasing us with a slew of celebrity cameos,
01:33including Tom Cruise as Austin himself.
01:35Yeah, baby.
01:37What a way to hook audiences.
01:38After that, however, the movie plunged into the usual Austin Powers silliness,
01:42but without the originality or cleverness of the first two movies.
01:45Yeah.
01:46Yeah.
01:46Yeah.
01:46Yeah.
01:47Yeah.
01:48Yeah.
01:48Yeah.
01:49Yeah.
01:50Yeah.
01:50Mike Myers reprises his role as the groovy spy, teaming up with Foxy Cleopatra to thwart Dr. Evil's latest scheme.
01:57While it's packed with humor, the film leans on recycled jokes, delivering an ultimately forgettable end to the franchise.
02:03I'm a crazy...
02:04You all knew that.
02:05Austin caught me in the first act.
02:07It's all backwards.
02:08What's with that?
02:08Number 8, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
02:12The original Indiana Jones movies formed a perfect trilogy, ending with Indy and company riding off into the sunset.
02:24So, a fourth really needed to justify its existence.
02:28And the first scene wasn't a bad start.
02:30Unfolding during the Cold War, the movie opens with a kidnapped Indiana brought to Area 51,
02:34where the Soviets want him to retrieve a mummified alien.
02:37Don't toy with me, Dr. Jones.
02:40What is the point of all this?
02:42If it's still magnetic, metal in this gunpowder should point the way.
02:46It was a clever way to connect to the previous movies,
02:48since the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the same warehouse at the end of Raiders.
02:52But, it wasn't long before audiences were let down,
02:55when Steven Spielberg infamously had Indiana survive a nuclear test in a refrigerator.
03:00And it was all downhill from there.
03:08Number 7, Zoom.
03:10When this film kicked off with an electrifying comic book intro,
03:13a killer soundtrack, and a dramatic backstory,
03:16we expected a top-notch story.
03:17But, we got a bland and predictable one instead.
03:29Based on Jason Lethko's children's book,
03:31it follows an ex-superhero, played by Tim Allen,
03:33shaping an unlikely group of teens into superheroes.
03:35No matter what people told you around here, you're not superheroes.
03:40We're superheroes?
03:42Yes.
03:45Yes!
03:46You're definitely white kids, I'll tell you that.
03:47Sounds promising, right?
03:49But after the thrilling start, the film quickly loses its steam.
03:52It lacks heart, and the humor and performances fall completely flat.
03:56Zoom is a cheesy, charmless affair with nothing to offer beyond the intro.
04:00Well, I didn't believe you then.
04:02But congratulations, because you have convinced me.
04:04Number 6, Aliens vs. Requiem.
04:08Picking up from where the 2004 film ended,
04:10Aliens vs. Requiem burst onto the scene with an explosive introduction.
04:18After a chestburster emerges from the dead Predator scar,
04:21the xenomorph-Predator hybrid goes on a wild rampage.
04:24The Predator spaceship soon crashes outside a small Colorado town.
04:32You show this to the sheriff.
04:33So far, so good, right?
04:35Well, the Pred-Alien is a fun idea.
04:38But Requiem ends up feeling more like a teen slasher than either an alien or Predator movie.
04:43The characters are flat stereotypes, and the dialogue cliche and cringeworthy.
04:47There's some interesting action in there, but it's too damn dark to see!
04:51Number 5, Sucker Punch.
05:03The first six minutes of Zack Snyder's 2011 action fantasy are a visual feast,
05:07with a killer soundtrack that pulls you right in.
05:10It's every one of us who holds the power over the worlds we create.
05:14After Babydoll accidentally shoots her sister,
05:17her abusive stepfather has her committed to a mental asylum.
05:20Fun fact!
05:21Emily Browning, who plays Babydoll, also sung several of the songs in the movie,
05:25including the cover of Sweet Dreams in the opening sequence.
05:28Sweet Dreams are made of this.
05:33Who am I to disagree?
05:38Seems like a solid beginning that hints at deeper themes.
05:41But then, the film takes a nosedive into a jumbled mess that's all style and little substance.
05:46Not even stunning heroines and fancy CGI can save it.
05:49Still, that opening scene...
06:03LOVED IT!
06:05Number 4, The Happening.
06:07It was hoped that this would be a turning point for the director who won universal acclaim with The Sixth Sense,
06:12then had a series of flops.
06:13Oh, that's right. That's right.
06:19Did you hear that?
06:24But The Happening turned out to be another letdown in M. Night Shyamalan's filmography.
06:28It starts off intriguingly enough, though.
06:30In and around Central Park in New York City,
06:33people start freezing and then taking their own lives.
06:36Claire, are you saying this?
06:38Claire.
06:39It's certainly an eerie premise, but it's all downhill from there.
06:42What follows is an incoherent shamble of a movie,
06:46with a very on-the-nose message.
06:48Spoiler alert, it's The Plants.
06:50Transmitting an airborne toxin in defense of the natural world.
06:53Maybe this movie would have worked as a comedy?
06:56What? No!
06:58Number 3, X-Men Origins Wolverine.
07:01We all love a good origin story, and we love Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
07:05That just isn't you, though.
07:07And you would know, huh?
07:08Put them together, and what could go wrong?
07:11Well, this.
07:12A strong opening scene sees the young James Howlett witness the murder of his father,
07:17which triggers his mutations and leads to his first kill.
07:20It's an emotional introduction to the character,
07:22and the subsequent montage of James and his half-brother fighting through historical events
07:26is pretty compelling, too.
07:27But that's as interesting as the movie gets.
07:35The rest is bland and filled with cliches,
07:38and we will never forgive what this movie did to Deadpool.
07:42Wait, is that you?
07:47Your striker finally figured out how to shut you up.
07:50Silencing the merc with a mouth?
07:52What were you thinking?
07:54Number 2, Hancock.
07:56This Will Smith blockbuster offers what should have been an interesting spin on the superhero genre.
08:01Hancock!
08:12What, boy?
08:15Bad guys?
08:16We're introduced to the grumpy superhuman as he wakes up very hungover.
08:20He dives into action with a bottle of whiskey in hand,
08:22leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
08:24We gotta admit, our interest was peaked.
08:26Hancock's latest act of so-called heroics took a hefty financial toll.
08:32Initial damage estimates are set to top $9 million,
08:36which, if accurate, represents a personal record for the notoriously publicity-shy Hancock.
08:43This introduction sets up what could have been an unconventional but fun superhero saga.
08:48However, the second half is a narrative muddle.
08:50Suddenly, Hancock's immortal,
08:52and Charlize Theron's character is his soulmate?
08:54Whatever we are, we were built in twos, okay?
08:57We're drawn to each other.
08:59No matter how far I run, he's always there.
09:01He finds me.
09:02It's physics.
09:03It's all a mess.
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09:19Number 1. Ghost Ship
09:22If there is one aspect of this atmospheric horror that deserves your attention,
09:26it's the jaw-dropping opening sequence.
09:28Aboard an ocean liner, passengers are happily dancing when someone pulls a lever,
09:46and it triggers what's still hailed as one of the greatest murder sequences in horror.
09:50A cable titans, bisecting the dancers.
09:52The scene grabs you by the throat and demands your attention.
10:01However, the rest of the film is a gore-fest with a weak plot.
10:05It all feels very derivative, especially compared to the innovative opening.
10:09Watch the intro, and then throw yourself overboard away from this incoherent disaster.
10:14It looks like we missed one hell of a party.
10:17What's a movie you hated, but thought had a lot of potential?
10:19Tell us in the comments.
10:20Did you enjoy this video?
10:28Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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