# 3 Movies i saw recently, thought i would like....and HATED them all **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508 "2012-06-18T13:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/1 "2012-06-18T13:30:38Z")
In no particular order: The Grey, with Liam Neeson Chronicle Immortals So, this isn’t a review of these films or anything, and HATE is a strong word. I just had expectations that i would like them based on the genre or previews, but the actual film was just not good. In my opinion. YMMV. Did anyone else have a problem with these movies? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/2 "2012-06-18T14:11:09Z")
_The Grey_ was just awful. And like you, I was led to expect something better. So many problems with this movie. Wolves that in no way act like wolves. Liam Neeson making stupid decision after stupid decision. (Hmm. This fuselage could be fortified against the wolves. Also, the plane’s black box will lead rescuers to us. Gosh! We’d better get away from all this safety and potential rescue RIGHT NOW! I know! Let’s head for the woods! 'Cause wolves wouldn’t go into the woods, right?) And then there’s Liam Neeson’s magical resistance to hypothermia after spending 20 minutes or so immersed in freezing water. Gaaah! Liam Neeson is too good an actor to keep making crappy movies like this. I enjoyed _Chronicle_. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/3 "2012-06-18T14:50:35Z")
Both “The Grey” and “Chronicle” have respectable ratings at Rotten Tomatoes. 79% and 85% respectively, from critics, though both have lower scores from audiences 65% and 73%. “Immortals”, on the other hand, is a certified turkey with a lowly 36% critics and 50% audience. Bottom line, check Rotten Tomatoes or MetaCritic before investing time and money in a movie. If you deliberately choose to see a low-rated movie, at least you’ll be going in with low expectations so you won’t be surprised when it turns out that you just wasted the time and money. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/4 "2012-06-18T14:56:18Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > _The Grey_ was just awful. And like you, I was led to expect something better. > > So many problems with this movie. Wolves that in no way act like wolves. Liam Neeson making stupid decision after stupid decision. (Hmm. This fuselage could be fortified against the wolves. Also, the plane’s black box will lead rescuers to us. Gosh! We’d better get away from all this safety and potential rescue RIGHT NOW! I know! Let’s head for the woods! 'Cause wolves wouldn’t go into the woods, right?) And then there’s Liam Neeson’s magical resistance to hypothermia after spending 20 minutes or so immersed in freezing water. > > Gaaah! Liam Neeson is too good an actor to keep making crappy movies like this. > > I enjoyed _Chronicle_. Between _The Grey_ and _Battleship_, I think Liam Neeson is turing into the next generation Michael “I never saw the movie, but I saw the house it bought” Caine. At least I had no doubts from the previews that_Battleship_ would blow. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/5 "2012-06-18T15:32:26Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Both “The Grey” and “Chronicle” have respectable ratings at Rotten Tomatoes. 79% and 85% respectively, from critics, though both have lower scores from audiences 65% and 73%. That’s what led me to watch both _The Grey_ and _Chronicle_. _Chronicle_, IMO, was worthwhile, but I am flummoxed by the good reviews of _The Grey_. It was like a dumbed-_waaaaay_-down remake of _The Edge_. I suspect maybe it got good reviews because it was released in late January, when the studios start releasing a lot of dreck. Maybe it just looked good by comparison to the other crap that was coming out then. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/6 "2012-06-18T16:15:52Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > That’s what led me to watch both _The Grey_ and _Chronicle_. _Chronicle_, IMO, was worthwhile, but I am flummoxed by the good reviews of _The Grey_. It was like a dumbed-_waaaaay_-down remake of _The Edge_. > . That’s what occurred to me, it was a bad version of The Edge. And i didn’t even get to see Liam punch a wolf. Stupid ass movie. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/7 "2012-06-18T16:19:03Z")
Ok, and as far as Chronicle is concerned, i would probably have liked the movie ok if they had just filmed it like a normal movie, and not tried to squeeze the found-footage aspect into every frame. There’s a scene near the end where the kids levitates cameras and phones out of a building JUST so the audience can have an inkling of what’s going on up in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/8 "2012-06-18T17:27:35Z")
Couldn’t even finish w _The Immortals_ it was so unwatchable. Didn’t hate _The Grey_ even though I knew there was a lot of stupidity in it, Kind of liked _Chronicle_ more than I thought I wold actually, but I had low expectations for that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/9 "2012-06-18T17:31:45Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > At least I had no doubts from the previews that_Battleship_ would blow. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/10 "2012-06-18T17:47:47Z")
_The Grey_ was pretty much a waste of good actors. although I have to say they gave it their best. There were a lot of problems with it, which I mentioned in a thread I started a couple of weeks ago or so. Wolves roaring like lions made me roll my eyes the hardest. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/11 "2012-06-18T17:48:17Z")
> [@JMH125](#): > > Ok, and as far as Chronicle is concerned, i would probably have liked the movie ok if they had just filmed it like a normal movie, and not tried to squeeze the found-footage aspect into every frame. I thought the premise sounded interesting enough if not exceptionally groundbreaking. But the “REAL LIFE EXTREME” shaky-cam nature of the commercials put me off from ever planning to see it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/12 "2012-06-18T17:56:01Z")
> [@JMH125](#): > > There’s a scene near the end where the kids levitates cameras and phones out of a building JUST so the audience can have an inkling of what’s going on up in the sky. I liked the movie but yeah, it was really stretching credibility towards the end. The sky football scene was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/13 "2012-06-18T18:07:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _The Grey_ was pretty much a waste of good actors. although I have to say they gave it their best. There were a lot of problems with it, which I mentioned in a thread I started a couple of weeks ago or so. Wolves roaring like lions made me roll my eyes the hardest. How about that alpha wolf that sends telepathic signals to the others, like the Queen alien in the egg room? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/14 "2012-06-18T18:23:24Z")
I liked Chornicle. Haven’t seen the others. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/15 "2012-06-18T20:13:37Z")
I had low expectations for Chronicle and only saw it because I got dragged to the theater to see it. I think my dad saw The Gray and hated it. Never heard of Immortals. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-movies-i-saw-recently-thought-i-would-like-and-hated-them-all/625508/16 "2012-06-19T15:45:44Z")
> [@JMH125](#): > > There’s a scene near the end where the kids levitates cameras and phones out of a building JUST so the audience can have an inkling of what’s going on up in the sky. While I agree that the reason for that in the movie is so the viewer can keep up with what’s happening, I also think that it works within the context of the movie. The kid has been filming himself and everything that’s been going on the entire time, and it’s become part of the experience for him. Towards the end as he starts to lose control, he loses control of that as well, and his mind subconsciously gathers any available cameras in the area. Total WAG, of course.