It is not uncommon for there to be a disparity between regular cinema-goers and film critics, though given the assumption that film critics are more "harsh" and discerning than regular punters, it tends to be critics hating a movie that the general movie-going public enjoyed. Why else would Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen rake in so much money despite a risible Rotten Tomatoes score? Occasionally, however, it will go the other way, and critics, with their broader mission - which will be to determine whether a film functions for the target audience at large - will praise a film that the series' hardcore fans will nitpick into oblivion for betraying the source material. By their nature, film critics are not fanboys about many franchises - at least not in a conventional way - so they may give a free pass to something that the hardcore fans see as a real problem. Here are 10 movies critics loved that fanboys hated...
10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
RT Score: 78%. "Though the plot elements are certainly familiar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still delivers the thrills and Harrison Ford's return in the title role is more than welcome." Critics focused on the old-fashioned thrill of a Spielberg-Ford reunion for the first time in almost two decades, rather than the elements that fanboys (quite rightly) picked to pieces. Firstly, there's the CGI overkill (even the prairie dog at the start is a visual effect!), then there's Shia LaBoeuf swinging from vines like Tarzan, an alien-centric storyline that stretches credibility even for this series, and finally the words that make every Indiana Jones fan cringe - nuking the fridge. In one scene, Indy hides inside a fridge when a nuclear bomb detonates at a testing site. It's supposed to be a fun gag but it's so absurd that it distracts from everything else in the film. The term "nuking the fridge" has become the new "jumping the shark", to dictate when a series has gone past the point of no return and is now terrible.