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Some songs are too good for the movies that use them. Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest songs that were wasted on truly terrible movie moments! Has your favorite song ever been featured in one of your least favorite movies? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:07Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the poorly
00:12made and unintentionally bad movie scenes that got away with using some
00:15pretty great songs. We'll be discussing these movies in detail so a spoiler
00:20warning is now in effect. 10. Everybody Wants To Rule The World By Tears For Fears
00:42Do you know what a black-tie event celebrating the salvation of the world really needs? Josh
00:48Gad performing a Tears For Fears classic. Whether or not that's true it's exactly what we got in
00:53Pixels. The painfully dull action comedy about aliens attacking earth in the form of classic
01:06arcade characters is packed to the brim with forced humor but Gad's Ludlow Lamantsoff might be the
01:12biggest culprit. The actor may be beloved for his hilarious brand of awkward buffoonery and
01:17he's definitely a talented singer but this is less of a showcase and more of a desperate attempt
01:31for Pixels to generate a laugh it hasn't earned. We can't blame Admiral Porter for his horrified
01:36reaction to this cringeworthy performance.
01:39Everybody Wants To Rule The World
01:44Number 9. All Star by Smash Mouth, Rat Race
01:47That is one hell of an instance. Whoa! It's Smash Mouth! What's going on over here? What's this?
01:57Coming along a few months after Shrek it's easy to forget All Star was also featured in this ensemble
02:02comedy and that's because Rat Race makes less than stellar use of the song and even Smash Mouth
02:08themselves. So what's the story man? You got something in the organization? What's going on?
02:12No! No! We just met this morning! They just met this morning everybody!
02:18With a group of people on the hunt for a large sum of money their dash for the prize unexpectedly
02:23culminates in a concert and of course because it's Smash Mouth they insist on performing All Star
02:29after the greedy antagonist is beaten. Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
02:35I ain't the sharpest pool in the shed Something about it just begs the question of
02:42how and why the story was leading up to this. The fact that this is supposed to be a charity
02:47concert
02:47only draws more attention to how cynically Rat Race cashes in on the song's popularity.
02:53Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play! Hey now, you're an all-star, get the
02:59show on, go play!
03:01Number 8. Just a Girl by No Doubt, Captain Marvel
03:12A late arrival in Phase 3, Captain Marvel is overwhelmed simultaneously by its
03:17irreverence to the Infinity Saga and its adherence to the MCU formula. That lack of originality
03:22extends to its 90s-themed soundtrack, particularly this climactic fight scene set to No Doubt's Just a Girl.
03:36While it should be fun to see Carol Danvers kick a little ass, the needle drop makes this brawl a
03:42shallow recreation of something you'd find in Guardians of the Galaxy. But whereas Star-Lord's
03:47mixtape music has emotional significance, this particular song at this particular moment is too
03:52on the nose to leave the same kind of impression.
04:02A little nostalgia never hurt anyone, but there's so much of it here that it kills the movie's momentum.
04:09Number 7. London Calling by The Clash, Die Another Day
04:19London Calling has become such an obvious go-to for establishing a storage British
04:23locale that it's almost infuriating. Surely a character as significant to British culture
04:28as James Bond should know better, right?
04:41Well, Die Another Day proves that theory wrong and then some. Played as 007 returns to his homeland,
04:47the song also plays as the villainous Gustav Graves parachutes into the city to meet with reporters.
05:04One could say The Clash's use of irony to satirize the establishment works in creating a villain who
05:09conceals his grief behind a selfless, philanthropic image. But the needle drop can't help but feel like
05:15it was made simply because it could be, and does little to make Graves a character worth investing in.
05:21Come a night. Will you be using your title, Mr. Graves?
05:24Ah, you know me. I'm proud of my adopted nation, but I'd never stand on ceremony.
05:28Number 6. Gone, Gone, Gone by Philip Phillips, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
05:33That's right. We're standing here with two eyewitnesses who are going to tell us what they just saw.
05:37So tell us, how do you think Spider-Man did it? How do you think he beat this creature?
05:41This is another case of a superhero blockbuster milking everything it can out of a popular song,
05:47and the results are even stranger. Gone, Gone, Gone arrives about halfway through The
05:51Amazing Spider-Man 2, serving as the backdrop for Peter Parker's search for his late father's secret
05:56lab. This is a driving force for Peter throughout the movie, and given the highly personal stakes,
06:09you think the producers could do a lot better than injecting a serious moment with upbeat folk rock.
06:14Aside from the difference in tone, the lyrics come awfully close to spelling out Peter's motivation,
06:19rather than letting us witness it first-hand.
06:22And I will do it for you, baby I'm not moving on, I'll love you long after you're gone.
06:31It's merely one indication of how much this divisive sequel struggles to balance its overabundance of
06:37storylines with genuine weight. Number 5. Angel of the Morning by Juice Newton,
06:42It Chapter 2. This meeting of the losers club has officially begun.
06:45Look at these guys. It Chapter 2 is not nearly as scary as its predecessor,
06:50and it's moments like this that exemplify how. A grown-up Eddie is still afraid of his own shadow,
06:55and his fears come back to test him when he meets the leper once more. But what should be a
07:00defiant
07:00moment for Eddie is ruined when the movie makes this bizarre choice to throw in Angel of the Morning.
07:10The decision is abrupt at best and distracting at worst, and the song is suddenly gone from the
07:15movie before you even have time to process the interaction. In a movie that's already overstuffed
07:20with too many things, this song makes a decent case for being the most superfluous addition.
07:25What? Hush, I'm pulling, moron. Oh, thanks.
07:30Number 4. Supermassive Black Hole by Mews, Twilight
07:34Baby, don't you know I'm so full of you, baby, I'm afraid of you.
07:41With respect to these English rockers, they knew full well that having their music feature in the
07:46Twilight movies might be seen as selling out. Indeed, it's fair to say that Supermassive Black Hole gained
07:52unexpected and likely unwarranted new life after being featured in Twilight's infamous baseball scene.
07:58Okay, now I see why you need the thunder.
08:05That's gotta be a home run, right? From the strangely rendered visuals to the excessive use
08:10of slow motion, this is probably not the reputation Mews had in mind for their hit song.
08:14Bassist Chris Wilsonholm even went on record saying the franchise wasn't his cup of tea.
08:20The Twilight movies have their fair share of unusual moments, but this ridiculous ball game
08:24goes the extra mile for altering our perception of a space rock masterpiece.
08:34Number 3. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, Pan
08:42Peter Pan
08:44This Peter Pan origin story is about as miscalculated as it gets. While Neverland is a fantastical place,
08:51Pan's re-envisioning of the landscape takes his anachronisms a little too far.
08:55Is it dangerous? Here we are now! Entertain us!
09:01I can still be! I can still be! Case in point, the utterly confusing choice to set Peter's arrival in
09:09Neverland to a chanted version of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Nirvana's signature song is perhaps the
09:14ultimate anthem for resisting societal expectations. While the lyrics may speak to a boy who will never
09:27grow up, the movie undercuts his message by serving it up as a meaningless introduction
09:31to Hugh Jackman's over-the-top black beard. At this point, Pan has only just begun depleting his
09:37mythology's sense of magic and wonder, and the idiosyncratic way it does so is spelled out right here.
09:43Love us now! This is dangerous! Here we are now! Hesitate us!
09:50Number 2. Super Freak by Rick James, Suicide Squad
09:54Harley Quinn
10:01Introducing a large ensemble of criminals, Suicide Squad takes the easy way out with a
10:06handful of needle drops, and each one is more superficial than the last. We don't need to
10:11hear sympathy for the devil to understand Amanda Waller's evil, and Captain Boomerang certainly
10:16deserved better than dirty deeds done dirt cheap. But the most jarring decision has to be setting Harley
10:30Quinn's backstory to Super Freak. While the supervillain is undeniably a freak, the movie's use of the
10:36funk song deprives it of any opportunity to explore her toxic relationship with the Joker.
10:40She was assigned to the clown himself.
10:43Dr. Quinzel, you know, I live for these moments with you.
10:49What do you got?
10:50The shameless nature of Super Freak is entirely out of place as Harley is reduced to an object of
10:55fascination rather than the complex character she really is.
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11:231. Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen Watchmen
11:27Everything all right?
11:31I'm tired of being afraid.
11:35Afraid of war.
11:36While his movies usually have great soundtracks, Zack Snyder's Watchmen made one of the biggest
11:42musical eras in movie history thanks to this universally hated scene. The original graphic
11:47novel paints the love scene between Night Owl and Silk Spectre as a sincere and passionate
11:51reclamation of their identities.
11:52I've heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord.
12:00By comparison, the movie's version is an awkwardly staged and gratuitous spectacle
12:05that crosses several lines by setting the whole ordeal to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
12:10You could argue the song's complex lyrics about reckoning with a world gone wrong
12:14is perfect for Watchmen.
12:23But that potential subtext is completely lost as these two go at it in cheesy and borderline
12:28disturbing fashion. The only time Hallelujah is worth proclaiming is when the scene is finally over.
12:34Has your favorite song ever been featured in one of your least favorite movies?
12:38Tell us all about it in the comments down below. And don't forget to like and subscribe for more Watch
12:42Mojo videos.
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