Potentially an entry for the “so bad it’s good” pile…
In the last few days, Netflix made some headlines by adding a new movie that is currently a massive hit with its subscribers, despite the fact that it has arguably the worst reviews of any movie this year.
Not to be outdone, it has only gone and added a movie that has arguably the worst reviews of any movie ever made.
Released in 1999, featuring a somewhat impressive cast including Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner, Kim Cattrall and Peter MacNicol, Baby Geniuses is one of those perfect storms of bad ideas that result in a truly one-of-a-kind cinematic dud.
People think that the 2004 sequel, Supergeniuses, is worse, but you just have to look at the facts and figures: Baby Geniuses on Metacritic – 6%, Supergeniuses – 9%.
The plot involves scientists using test subject geniuses brought up in an underground lab, attempting to decipher “babytalk” so they can – and we swear we’re not making this up – “access the vast, universal knowledge that all babies are born with”.
As famed film critic Roger Ebert said of the movie at the time: “Bad films are easy to make, but a film as unpleasant as Baby Geniuses’ achieves a kind of grandeur.”
Of course, he wasn’t alone:
Variety – “A thoroughly misguided, unfunny film that proves you shouldn’t beat a dead horse.”
A.V. Club – “A horrible, horrible film that wears out its welcome before its opening credits.”
Entertainment Weekly – “The worst movie of 1999.”
Considering 1999 also gave us Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, End Of Days, The Haunting and The Phantom Menace, that is quite the statement.
But the question is, is Baby Geniuses so bad that it can flip over to the “so bad it’s good” category? Is there something good to be found here, even if only be accident? If any of you out there want to test it out and let us know, by all means, be our guest.
For better or for worst (probably the latter), Baby Geniuses is available to watch on Netflix right now.
Clip via Umbrella Entertainment
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