20 Movies Critics HATE But Audiences LOVE
The divide between critics and audiences for these movies is HUGE.
One of the most fascinating aspects of modern film discourse is the chasm between critical and audience taste - how the opinions of professional critics are so often at odds with those of paying moviegoers.
Often reviewers will gleefully dunk on a film that's nevertheless a mind-bogglingly massive hit with audiences, scoring wide viewer acclaim and hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.
But before we go any further, because this is the Internet and nuance died a long time ago, it's always worth reiterating that opinions are nothing more than opinions - nobody is right, everything is subjective, and that's that.
Having said that, sometimes the gulf between critical and audience opinion is just so absurdly huge that it begs to be studied, to consider quite how such a schism between the two groups was forged.
And so, these 20 films were all widely panned by critics, and yet they nevertheless scored enthusiastic raves from most general moviegoers, demonstrating once again that critics and punters are often watching movies for very different reasons with a totally different set of expectations...
20. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie was completely immune to the indifferent response from critics, scoring a not-bad, not-great 59% on the Tomatometer, but landing a stonking 95% from audiences, in addition to a box office of $1.36 billion.
And the chasm between critical and audience response only widened with the release of recent sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Even with so many opportunities to deliver a more visually dynamic and satisfying sequel, it actually received markedly worse reviews than its predecessor, scoring just 43%.
And while the general viewer response wasn't quite as glowing this time, it still racked up an impressive 88%, suggesting that, for as utterly disinterested in this sequel as critics were, fans of the video games enjoyed it almost as much as the first.
Ultimately for many, some spritely visuals, some silly gags, and a healthy sprinkling of fan service were enough to satisfy, even if these movies are flagrantly unambitious adaptations of one of gaming's most beloved franchises.