The 8 Biggest Movies of 2009, and Whether They Were Any Good

2009 was robots, vampires and the end of the world. The box office loved all of it. The scores did not.

Number one is the movie everyone loves to mock. The numbers say you're wrong.

1. 8
   The Hangover (2009)8.1

   The smartest blockbuster of 2009 was about forgetting everything.

   A reported $35M budget, $469M worldwide and a CinemaScore A. A missing groom and a tiger outclassed most of the year's $200M robots. 8.1 on movie.guru.
2. 7
   Angels & Demons (2009)4.3

   Tom Hanks speed-walking through Rome is not a plot.

   $486M worldwide on a reported $150M, and only 4.3 on movie.guru with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. The world paid for a symbology lecture with a stopwatch.
3. 6
   Sherlock Holmes (2009)6.0

   Downey and Law carried a mystery nobody remembers.

   $524M worldwide and a 6.0 on movie.guru. The banter is the movie, the case is wallpaper. 712,881 IMDb voters gave it 7.5 for the bromance.
4. 5
   The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)3.0

   The worst movie on this list. Not close.

   3.0 on movie.guru, the lowest of the eight, and a 4.8 on IMDb. Still $713M worldwide on a reported $50M. Brooding is cheap and it pays.
5. 4
   2012 (2009)3.4

   Watching California fall into the ocean is worth exactly one viewing.

   $791M worldwide on a reported $200M, 3.4 on movie.guru. John Cusack outdrives physics in a limo. Gone from your brain by the credits.
6. 3
   Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)3.2

   The worst blockbuster of 2009, and nobody at the register cared.

   19% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.3 Guru's Take, yet $402M domestic and $836M worldwide. Robots punching robots you legit cannot tell apart.
7. 2
   Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)7.7

   The Potter movie that's secretly a teen romance, and better for it.

   $1.01B worldwide, 7.7 on movie.guru, 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Slughorn party and Quidditch tryouts are the best hangout scenes in the whole series.
8. 1
   Avatar (2009)8.5

   Avatar is great. The story is borrowed, the filmmaking isn't.

   $2.92B worldwide, a CinemaScore A and the top movie.guru score here at 8.5. Yes, you've seen this plot. Pandora still looks better than most movies since.

$341.17 says someone in the comments defends Revenge of the Fallen with the words "but the effects."

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