From Marvel favorites to Netflix thrillers, there's a lot of movies that audiences and
critics can't seem to agree on.
Video game movies don't have a reputation for being particularly good.
In fact, most of them are downright terrible, even if they do tend to make a profit.
That's why it wasn't much of a surprise when "Uncharted" got a poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes
from critics, even though it wasn't as critically reviled as the likes of "Street Fighter" or
"Hitman: Agent 47."
Based on the video game series of the same name, "Uncharted" follows the adventures of
globe-trotting treasure hunter Nathan Drake and his rival and mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan.
Unlike the video game, in which Drake is a veteran treasure hunter, the movie introduces
Drake as a newcomer on his first quest.
Capitalizing on Tom Holland's post-"Spider-Man" star power, "Uncharted" made $147 million
domestically and $401 million worldwide — not too shabby.
Still, there was a big gap between critic and audience scores for "Uncharted," with
only 41% of professional reviews being positive.
Many critics lambasted the casting and compared the movie unfavorably to adventure films of
decades past.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Wow.
That's your expert analysis?"
On the other hand, about 90% of audiences found "Uncharted" satisfying thanks to its
solid effects, fun fights, and relative similarity to the source material.
Whichever side you land on, the vast discrepancy between critics and audiences' opinions on
this video game-based blockbuster is hardly uncharted.
A24 has risen to the top tier of film distributors by bringing filmgoers such flicks as "Moonlight,"
"Green Room," and "Ex Machina" — all films that have united both critics and audiences.
But not every A24 film can bridge that gap.
Released in 2016, "The Monster" is an indie horror that impressed quite a few critics,
but scared away general audiences.
The plot follows an alcoholic mom and her estranged daughter as they drive through the
woods on one dark and fateful night.
That's when they get into a wreck in the middle of nowhere and find themselves confronted
by a man-eating creature.
Mother and daughter are forced to spend some serious family bonding time together as they
try to survive the night.
Critics were impressed with the horror flick from director Bryan Bertino, giving the movie
an impressive approval rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Praise was heaped upon the film's moody atmosphere, stripped-down plot, and ability to balance
big emotions with big scares.
Moviegoers weren't so pleased, though, and the film wound up with an audience score about
half as positive.
A lot of horror fans found the movie boring, simplistic, and predictable, and some were
critical of the film's heavy use of flashbacks — so they saddled it with a 40% positive rating.
However, many assert that Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine were impressive as the bickering
mother and daughter.
It's likely their performances that kept the divide between the audience and critics from
growing any more monstrous.
From the snobbiest critic to the most casual moviegoer, everyone loves the Coen Brothers.
For many of their films — from the gut-churning "No Country for Old Men" to the uproariously
funny "Raising Arizona" — the gap between audience score and critic score is practically
non-existent.
Even on the super rare occasions when the Coens flop, like with "The Ladykillers," audiences
and critics share the hate.
Of course, there are a few exceptions here and there, like "Intolerable Cruelty" and
"The Hudsucker Proxy," but the most divisive movie of the Coens' career is almost definitely
"Hail, Caesar!"
Set in 1950s Hollywood, this quirky comedy follows studio fixer Eddie Mannix as he tries
to calm and corral a group of unhappy actors and a cadre of communist writers who've kidnapped
the studio's biggest star.
While critics thought the film was divine, it seems that audiences wanted to stab "Caesar"
in the back.
The audience reaction to this quippy period piece remains a middling 44% on Rotten Tomatoes,
while the critics' approval rating is much higher, at 86%.
Most critics adored the loving parody of the golden age studio system, complete with water
aerobics and tap dancing.
However, it seems the humor didn't work for most moviegoers, and many wished the plot
wasn't so convoluted.
"Would that it were so simple."
"W-would that it t'were so simple."
Featuring big names like George Clooney, Channing Tatum, and Scarlett Johansson, you'd think
everyone would be enamored with "Hail, Caesar!"
— but in Hollywood, few things are guaranteed.
Ten years ago, a $200 million "spy vs. spy" action movie starring two A-list stars would've
opened on thousands of screens.
These days, movies like that seem to go straight to streaming.
That was the case for "The Gray Man," starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.
Gosling plays the CIA's number one agent, called Six, who is being hunted down by a
sadistic, mustachioed Lloyd Hansen, played by Chris Evans.
This rollicking ride was directed by the Russo brothers, who oversaw "Captain America: The
Winter Soldier" and the third and fourth "Avengers" films.
While "The Gray Man" had a limited theatrical release, its primary venue was people's living
rooms — and critics weren't impressed, nailing the movie with a rotten rating of 46%.
But you know who did like it?
The audience, which gave the movie a score of 90%.
When it came to the critical response, there were no shades of gray when it came to "The
Gray Man" — critic and audience opinions were clearly black and white.
Did anyone really think that "Saw 3D" would actually be the final chapter of the "Saw" franchise?
In 2017, fans were tossed back into the world of deadly puzzles and terrible torture devices
with "Jigsaw," the eighth installment in the iconic series.
It seems that seven year break in between films was a pretty good move on the part of
Twisted Pictures, as the audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes skyrocketed all
the way to the series' highest at 89%.
"Saw" fans were glad to have John Kramer back, appreciated all the new traps, and raved about
all the film's twists and turns.
It goes without saying that critics weren't too keen on Jigsaw's return — in fact, they
haven't really been nuts about the franchise as a whole.
While audiences appreciated the plot twists, critics seemed to find them dull.
They also didn't really enjoy the killer's traps, which they didn't find to be terribly
unique or groundbreaking.
More than anything, though, most critics were just bored.
That's how the film ended up with a measly critic score of 32%.
"You've been weighing in on the wrong side of the scale."
"Harry Potter" is the highest-grossing book-to-movie adaptation of all time, with the film franchise
having grossed nearly $10 billion total in the worldwide box office.
Critics loved the cinematic adventures of Harry, Hermione , and Ron, with all eight
films in the original series being certified fresh.
The "Fantastic Beasts" prequels set decades before the Boy Wizard's birth, however?
They didn't fare as well.
The second film in the spinoff series – 2018's "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald"
– earned rotten reviews from both critics and fans.
It still earned money, though: approximately $654 million on a $200 million budget, to
be precise.
However, that much fan antipathy is never a good sign for a franchise moving forward,
and something was clearly rotten in the Wizarding World.
Warner Brothers still went full speed ahead with the third film, 2022's "Fantastic Beasts:
The Secrets of Dumbledore," which garnered lousy reviews and a critics' score of 46%
on Rotten Tomatoes.
It also made much less than its predecessor: just $405 million worldwide on a $200 million budget.
Still, the moviegoers who did see "Dumbledore" seemed to enjoy it, giving it a much higher
consensus score of 83%.
The film is hardly spellbinding, but still relatively solid, especially coming off the
universally reviled "The Crimes of Grindelwald."
Directed by Rian Johnson, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" follows the continued adventures
of Rey, Finn, and Poe as they try their best to outrun the First Order, defeat Kylo Ren,
and bring a grizzled Luke Skywalker out of retirement.
Needless to say, the film earned tons of cash, but despite all that money, this space opera
quickly became one of the most controversial blockbusters ever made.
The fan backlash to "The Last Jedi" was intense and vitriolic, providing the film with a shockingly
low audience score of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So what caused all the ill will toward Rian Johnson's sci-fi flick?
Some criticized it for supposedly being too politically correct, while others simply found
the tone uneven.
However, the biggest complaint was how the film turned Luke Skywalker into a bitter old
man who's given up on the Force.
While some audiences were appalled with Episode 8, critics went crazy for Johnson's addition
to the series, giving the movie an extremely fresh rating of 91%.
Fans may have been upset with Luke, but critics thought the Jedi's new character arc was a
breath of fresh air.
Of course, despite the divided reaction, the only thing Disney really cared about was the
$1.3 billion the film earned at the box office.
With more than $27 billion in worldwide grosses and nearly across-the-board "fresh" critic
and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has enough clout
to take risks now and then.
Or so Marvel Studios thought.
One risk they took that didn't pay off was "Eternals," which boasts the worst critic
score in the MCU by a significant margin.
The Chloe Zhao film follows the millennia-long adventures of the Eternals, god-like beings
who protect the people of Earth from bizarre creatures called Deviants.
The MCU is pretty much critic-proof, but "Eternals" proved to be the exception when it earned
the MCU's one-and-only cinematic "Rotten" with a 47%.
From critics that is, as moviegoers kinda liked it, giving "Eternals" a 77% audience score.
That's higher than even "Iron Man 2," "Thor," and "Captain America: The First Avenger."
"When you love something, you protect it.
It is the most natural thing in the world."
However, the world voted with their wallets, and "Eternals" earned a meager $164 million
domestic and $402 million worldwide on a $200 million budget.
Surprising no one, when Marvel dropped its plans for Phases 5 and 6 at San Diego Comic
Con, "Eternals 2" wasn't on the lineup.
Hollywood loves making movies about the Holocaust, and as a result, audiences have become enraptured
by films like "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist."
However, with all that attention on Nazi war crimes, there are a lot of atrocities that
don't get the Hollywood spotlight.
For example, there aren't many movies about the Armenian genocide, in which the Ottoman
Empire murdered 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to the early 1920s.
Director Terry George, however, hoped to right that wrong by bringing some attention to the
much-neglected tragedy in "The Promise," a 2016 film starring Oscar Isaac, Christian
Bale, and Charlotte Le Bon.
While it seems the film's audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was initially hit by genocide-deniers
looking to sabotage the film, the approval rating eventually bounced all the way up to 92%.
It seems film fans were impressed by the film's epic scope, and many considered it an important
movie for shedding light on an oft-forgotten event.
But critics were far less kind, especially in regards to the love triangle between Isaac,
Bale, and Le Bon.
As a result, the critics' score sits far lower, at 51%.
After Topher Grace debuted a forgettable Venom in "Spider-Man 3," fans of the character had
to wait years for somebody to do their beloved antihero justice.
It took over a decade for Tom Hardy to come along in 2018 and finally give the iconic
symbiote his title role in "Venom."
Around 80% of audiences enjoyed Tom Hardy's performance, agreed the action sequences were
awesome, and seemed to appreciate the film's sense of humor.
That wasn't the case for the critics, though: without Spider-Man in sight, they decided
"Venom" wasn't worth their time.
Only 30% of professional reviewers seem to have enjoyed the adventures of Eddie Brock
and his goopy parasite.
"Parasite?!"
"Yeah, it's a term of endearment, that's all."
"Apologize!"
"No."
"Apologize!"
"Alright, fine!"
While fans thought the movie was full of laughs, critics were actually bothered by the movie's
tone — or lack thereof.
One of their biggest critiques was how the film jumped from comedy to horror to romance,
without ever really settling on one genre.
However, the critics and the fans did agree on one aspect: everybody wished the movie
could've been a little more R-rated.
Shot on a shoestring budget, "Mohawk" is an indie revenge thriller that follows two Native
Americans and a British soldier who are forced to fight for their lives after ticking off
a band of bloodthirsty settlers.
Even though the movie has some awesome kills and veers into horror territory, it didn't
exactly impress the average viewer.
The movie currently sits at a rather sad audience score of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So what didn't moviegoers like about this brutal revenge flick?
Well, some were turned off by the film's low budget, while others thought the acting was
shoddy and over-the-top.
That didn't stop critics from giving it plenty of praise, though.
In addition to sticking up for the actors, critics felt there was a lot going on beneath
the surface of "Mohawk," applauding it for its brutal look at America's bloody past.
As a result, "Mohawk" won a very positive approval rating from critics, ending up at 84% fresh.
It might be hard to believe that a $200 million blockbuster starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan
Reynolds, and Gal Gadot would be a made-for-TV movie — but in the streaming era, things
are changing rapidly.
Released in November 2021, "Red Notice" is a Netflix original in which Johnson plays
an Interpol agent forced to partner up with his old adversary, Reynolds' wise-cracking
art thief, to track down Gadot's notorious criminal.
"We're not partners.
This is a marriage of convenience."
"I want a divorce and I'm keeping the kids."
Hilarity and explosions ensue in a movie that would have likely topped the box office charts
had it been released theatrically.
Instead, it topped the streaming charts, becoming one of Netflix's most-watched movies of all
time... much to critical dismay.
"Red Notice" earned a downright rotten score and 36% positive ratings from critics, with
many being disappointed by the sum of its parts.
You know who wasn't disappointed, though?
The millions upon millions of people who streamed it.
Audiences gave "Red Notice" incredible reviews and a 92% score, applauding its comedy and
narrative twists.
It's hard to say how much cash "Red Notice" would've earned if it had been released theatrically,
but based on its strong audience reviews and stacked star power, it wouldn't have been
wise to bet against it.
Based on the mega-popular video game franchise, "Warcraft" was a major failure at the domestic
box office, earning $47 million against its $160 million budget.
Luckily for executives, the movie fared much better overseas, pulling in a worldwide total
of $439 million.
Evidently, video game fans around the planet banded together to give "Warcraft" a reasonably
impressive audience score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fans of the film have admitted that the acting is subpar, but they were blown away by the
movie's visual effects — especially when it came to the CGI orcs.
Despite all the computer generated magic, critics weren't buying what director Duncan
Jones was selling, and gave the movie a staggeringly awful Rotten Tomatoes score of 29% as a result.
As it turns out, critics weren't as willing to forgive the bad acting as audiences were,
and they were especially critical of the lack of well-developed characters.
Another roadblock was the extensive mythology of the world of "Warcraft": it might have
been appealing to people who'd been playing the games for years, but according to critics,
all that emphasis on lore just wasn't going to work for anyone who hadn't already put
their hours in.
When "Bright" hit Netflix in 2017, the streaming service had a major hit on its hands.
Over 11 million people watched the fantasy-buddy cop thriller over its debut weekend, and the
film quickly became one of the most-watched originals in Netflix history.
Starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, the movie follows two police officers — one
a human and one an orc — as they're drawn into a mystical plot involving elves, gangs,
and a powerful magic wand.
Netflix viewers seemed to adore this weird mishmash of genres, giving "Bright" a commendable
audience score of 83%.
According to the audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, people thought the urban fantasy
world created by director David Ayers and screenwriter Max Landis was pretty phenomenal.
Critics couldn't have disagreed more, though, as they called the screenplay weak and the
allegory hamfisted.
By the time the critical dust had settled, "Bright" found itself reeling from both scathing
reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes critic's score of 27% to match.
It seems that while audiences were enamored with this world of fairies and firefights,
critics found the film empty, lazy, and lacking any sort of magic.
Despite how well-received Tom Cruise's movies often are, there's one popular film from early
on in his career that critics weren't exactly convinced by.
"Top Gun?!"
"Yes, sir."
"Top Gun" topped the worldwide charts in 1986 and earned $357 million at the box office.
Thanks to its stellar performance, and decades of playing on Saturday afternoons on TNT,
Tony Scott's high-flying action flick has become a generation-defining classic for millions
of viewers...
just not for a good number of critics.
"Top Gun" has a mediocre critics' score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, while its audience
score rests at a much more respectable 83%.
The critical consensus review on the website says —
"'Top Gun' offers too little for non-adolescent viewers to chew on when its characters aren't
in the air."
Well, perhaps it was an adolescent audience who bestowed "Top Gun" with strong reviews,
quite a bit higher than the critics.
To show that there were no hard feelings — and prove that time does indeed heal all wounds
— the 36-years-later legacy sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" earned near-perfect Rotten
Tomatoes reviews from both fans and critics.