wet firecracker

wet firecracker (plural wet firecrackers)

1. (idiomatic) A person, event, or thing lacking liveliness or failing to generate excitement, especially when there was a prior expectation of liveliness or excitement.
   • 1973 June 16, "Movie Review: Super Fly TNT Continues With His Adventures in Rome and Africa," New York Times (retrieved 16 Oct 2017):

     Coming after a fast, colorful movie like Super Fly, a follow-up called Super Fly TNT is a wet firecracker.

   • 2006 June 18, Richard Yamarone, "Confusion From the Fed Head," Washington Post (retrieved 16 Oct 2017):

     After Bernanke's first semiannual testimony before Congress in February, I wrote to my clients that his appearance was essentially a wet firecracker—he did not jolt the markets.

   • 2009, Tom Santopietro, Sinatra in Hollywood: The Film Career of a Screen Icon, →ISBN, (Google preview):

     [A]udiences sensibly enough found Lollobrigida and Sinatra to be a wet firecracker of a team.

• dud
• damp squib

• false dawn
• wet noodle