I didn’t bother seeing John Carter in theater, since it had bad buzz and bad reviews. When I saw it on Blu-Ray (my brother bought it), I was actually quite surprised how much I liked it. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but I thought it was a solid movie. I didn’t have any complaints about the casting, script or acting - they weren’t the best I’ve ever seen but I wouldn’t say they were actually bad in any way. For me I thought they were pretty comparable to many movies that have been more successful - like Captain America (which I thought was alright, not bad or great). John Carter also had some really good CGI that was pretty seamless and didn’t seem like it was used gratuitously.
If I hadn’t heard anything about it, after watching I would have guess it’s score on Rotten Tomatoes as about 75-80%. Not the 51% it’s currently at.
It’s a Wonderful Life had mixed reviews when it first came out; it wasn’t, as mythology holds, considered a complete flop, but one would have been justified in missing it based on the critical reception at the time.
Pauline Kael, the one who felt the Nixon supporters closing in around her, didn’t like 2001: A Space Odyssey very well and she certainly wasn’t alone. Neither Bradbury nor Lester del Ray liked it very well, either. Again, though, there was a broad range of popular opinion at the same time.
But let’s not embarrass reviewers (and that’s what these people are: reviewers, not critics) with past missteps. I think the most recent Speed Racer film is very enjoyable in its natural setting (a very large screen in a dark room) simply because it is purely a visual experience, with the ‘human story’ (close-up on face, deliver line, close-up on face, someone else delivers line, close-up on face, voice-over, repeat) engaging while the film is in progress and somewhat interesting to talk about later but not something that distracts from the visual beauty.
I also liked this movie, as did several of my pals
I also liked the Star Wars prequels, I can remember clapping enthusiastically at the end of TPM, only to discover everyone around me glaring balefully at me. :eek: there was a bee… ?