Well with more releases nowadays, the point that there is a slight disconnect between critics and audiences is getting more relevant. We are constantly seeing films that receive a bad critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and will have a high audience score. This kind of thing nowadays is very prevalent in blockbusters and superhero films. Sometimes a film will premiere and receive an extremely bad score, but the moment the film premieres, it resonates more with the audience. Eternals Movie Review: Chloe Zhao's Marvel Film Offers A Different MCU Experience, Until It Isn't! (LatestLY Exclusive).
There can be a lot of arguments made over here as to why exactly this happens. The job of a critic is to look at a film from a more technical point. It’s the job of a critic to see what makes a story good, how does everything fit together, how is the plot following etc and then note it down into points and give their opinion on it. The general audience who is just there to watch and enjoy the film, doesn’t really care about these details and base their opinion on the enjoyment factor a film provides. So let's look at seven films that have a higher audience score than critics score on rotten tomatoes.
The Lion King (2019)
‘2019s remake of The Lion King had a lot of hype behind it. From James Earl Jones and Hans Zimmer returning to a star studded voice cast, The Lion King had success written all over it. On the release the film was heavily criticized by critics for its lifeless look on animals and how it was basically a retread of the original film. It scored a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, but on the audience side, it has an 88%. This could be easily attributed to how many people just wanted to see the original story in high quality and that is what exactly they got.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a Kaiju bash that was going to make fans extremely happy, and that exactly was the case. Having some of the most iconic monsters go at it on screen made fans of these monsters smile with a grin on the big screen and earned it an 83% audience score. The critics were less impressed with it though as they took criticism with its human plotline. It has a 42% critics score.
Aladdin (2019)
Another Disney remake that had a very mixed response on its release. Aladdin was criticised for how it retold the classic story and how it lacked the original’s flair. All this earned it a 57% from the critics. The audiences loved it though. It currently sits at 94% audience score which just talks a lot about its entertainment factor.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Chris Pratt’s The Tomorrow War was subjected to heavy criticism by the critics when they took issue with just how generic it was. It lacked any originality and felt like two disjointed films stitched together. It received a 52% critics score. The audiences again enjoyed the film. Many found it to be entertaining and the film itself received great word of mouth online. It has a 77% audience score. The Tomorrow War Movie Review: Chris Pratt’s Sci-Fi Actioner Has a Solid Concept but Is Let Down by an Inconsistent Script (LatestLY Exclusive).
Venom (2018)
Venom is a really weird film in the sense that you know why it got the kind of reception it got, but it’s still a very entertaining film. It was all kinds of a mess and I think it definitely deserves its 30% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I also think that it deserves its 81% audience score. Whatever it may be, Venom is still a heavily flawed and enjoyable film that you will definitely not regret watching once.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Well after the huge controversy that happened during the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi where the critics score was higher than the audience, Lucasfilm went back and tried course correcting this film. What resulted was basically an incoherent plot that brought up things out of thin air and doesn’t really explain stuff. It's filled with fan service that feels cheap and not earned. It definitely deserves its 52% score but I completely disagree with the 86% audience score. I think it just doesn’t feel earned.
Eternals (2021)
The latest victim of this phenomenon, Eternals was bombarded on Rotten Tomatoes with mediocre reviews after its release. Many took issue with how different it was and how it doesn’t feel like a superhero film which earned it a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences on the other hand are still very much positive about the film as it has an 80%. Honestly, here is to hoping the reception for Eternals gets better, because it really doesn’t deserve the hate, it’s a perfectly fine film that has a few flaws.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2021 12:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).