Movies that you feel truly *unfairly* get dissed

Cafe Society
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OK, I’m talking about movies where you find it truly difficult to understand the level of hate for and/or dismissal of them. IMHO, the following four movies are examples of a certain pop culture phenomenon, wherein a movie has come to be simply known by the masses as bad even when it’s not. And to me, they are just good movies whose flaws are exaggerated and they get dumped on at a truly excessive level. Here we go:

Daredevil (2003)
The hate for this movie has always mystified me. It’s just well-acted, well-made, and nicely paced. It has abundant good and fun action. Colin Ferrell is hilarious as Bullseye. Ben Affleck is great as Daredevil, and he has great chemistry with Jennifer Garner (sorry about that divorce, guys). It doesn’t even take itself too seriously. What’s frustrating is people don’t even come up with specifics when criticizing this flick, other than maybe its imperfect CGI (which is of its time and certainly not terrible). I will say I am also an outlier in that I prefer the original cut to the director’s cut (the extra material was wisely cut IMO). Yes, it’s from a different era of superhero films before things got all dark and serious, but so are the widely praised Tobey McGuire Spider-Man movies. Speaking of which…

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
This one has a few more concrete flaws that people raise: too many villains (I don’t really agree) and emo Peter Parker (I totally don’t agree!). See, the corn of this film is what makes it fun; but that was true of the first two as well–it’s not really any different! I really like the relationship conflicts with Peter and Harry and Peter vis-a-vis Gwen and Mary Jane. The emo scene is hilarious and fun. I understand that Topher Grace doesn’t look like Eddie Brock in the comics, but he is great! All the acting in this movie is great. The action is plentiful and excellent. Visually, it looks great. It’s just a fun, good movie. (I like all three movies, but my order of preference would be 1, 3, 2).

Divergent (2014) and Insurgent (2015)
No one likes these movies. The assumption seems to be that they are a Hunger Games ripoff (true, the books were) and nothing could be good about them. I get the feeling that people dissing the movies haven’t even seen them. Well, I have, and they are awesome! And I’m a 44-year-old dude, probably not in the films’ target demo. No matter, these films are swiftly paced and well-acted with really nice action setpieces. Shailene Woodley is a stone hottie. Jai Courtney is a very effective villain. (By the way, that’s an actor that, like these movies, gets pissed on for no reason. Maybe Hollywood has tried to sell him too hard, but he’s a fine character actor who does action well. End of chat!) Now here’s the thing about these movies: they are pretty cheesy. But I would invite people to watch them through a certain lens that makes them much more enjoyable. You know how Star Wars was intended as a sendup of old space serials from the 30s (Flash Gordon, etc.)? Well, if you watch Star Wars through that lens, it’s actually more enjoyable. And I think if you watch the Divergent movies through the lens of over-the-top MOVIE, they are quite enjoyable. Regardless of whether they were intended that way, they work as cheesy adventures. And not bad-good, just good. Like movies made in a more naive time in which you could have scenery-chewing villains and whatnot (which is what Darth Vader is, writ large).

So tell me what you think of the above, and what are your own movies that fit this category? Thanks!

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I really don’t get the hatred for Signs. It’s almost like its cool to hate this film, so that’s why it gets so much hatred.

Personally, I like it and try to watch it every time it comes on.

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I agree with Divergent, and to a lesser degree, Insurgent. Definite agreement on Signs. I think Signs mostly got hated because it didn’t have a “twist”. People decided after Sixth Sense that Shyamalan’s “thing” was twist endings and hated Signs for the lack of it, but I didn’t see where he promised that in the first place. If you weren’t counting on a twist, Signs was a perfectly decent suspense thriller.

I’ll add AI: Artificial Intelligence. The movie I saw was well written, well acted, and thought provoking, with at least one scene each that moved me, my husband and my son to tears (different scenes for each of us, which I found an impressive feat - this was a movie with something that moved each of us differently). The movie the critics and general public saw was boring and too long and too dark and too light, too “Spielbergian” and just generally disappointing.

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I think Signs divided audiences when it came out, however, based on some pretty concrete things, including what may be called the twist (aliens are burned by water–duh!). I was extremely disappointed by the movie when I saw it in the theater. I think it also gets retroactively punished because, after either Unbreakable or Signs (i.e., some people include this in his “good movie era,” some don’t), Shayamalan is seen as whiffing until the present day. If it were not on the border, perhaps Signs would be seen in a better light. I think it was a good setup that didn’t quite deliver.

I think this might be a better example, though it seems like more of a forgotten movie than a dissed movie. Perhaps remembered as not quite fulfilling its promise. I was sort of nonplussed when I saw it in the theater, but I wasn’t a hater. I agree that it’s moving in parts.

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I agree that Daredevil was a pretty good movie.

Signs was even better; nitpicking about the water completely missed the entire point of the film, which was dealing with issues of religious belief and handled them pretty well. But people are so proud of how clever they are to notice the water that they don’t pay attention to any of the rest of the film.

Similarly, there’s been a lot of hostility to Hail, Caesar, another film with a strong religious theme. It’s quite obvious, but no one sees it.

Similarly, Crash gets dissed by people who, once again, don’t understand what it was saying. Everyone who criticizes the film mentions a reason that completely misstates the theme of the film.

Ishtar isn’t anywhere near as deep as the others, but is a pretty good comedy.

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Predator 2. It gets overshadowed by the first one but I think it’s a much better movie.

It has flaws but I like Star Trek Nemesis. I think it’s a good Star Trek Movie.

Not dissed as much as ignored but I really like The Purge: Anarchy. Interesting social commentary and good cheesy action.

The Last Action Hero had the problem of being obnoxiously marketed and setting itself up as a challenger to Jurassic Park. It is an interesting movie and funny if you love movies.

For a few…

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Snakes on a Plane.:smiley:

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French Kiss with Kevin Klein and Meg Ryan, if you like cute sitcommy romance movies. I’m not saying it’s a fantastic piece of cinematic art but it’s fun and the chemistry is good. Definitely better than its critical rating.

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Maybe The Lone Ranger (2013).

This guy knows a little about film:

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Up The Creek

It gets lost among the mass of teen flicks of the era: Porky’s, Animal House, etc. Starring a couple of actors from Animal House, one from Porky’s, another from Hill Street Blues, one from Magnum, PI, Howard Wolowitz’s father, a couple of Playmates…the list goes on and on. It has a quite literate and funny script, adequate nudity and journeyman performances from everyone, including Chuck the Dog.

Hard as hell to find on DVD but well worth the effort.

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Yeah, see, that’s not a twist. That’s a villain’s weakness, discovered at the crucial moment before their demise. They all have them. That’s electromagnets or Krillitane oil or stopping to brag before the hero is dead.

You can’t go back and watch the movie a second time knowing that bit of information and have it be an entirely different movie - the hallmark of Sixth Sense’s twist. All you gain by knowing that is seeing how they’re setting the scene (literally) for the eventual hero’s triumph.

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
I’m not gonna try to argue it’s a good movie or anything I just don’t see why it gets so much hatred. It’s just not a good movie imho. I don’t why it gets a reputation of OMG TERRIBLE WORST MOVIE EVER WE MUST NEVER DISCUSS IT.

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I totally agree about Signs. I very much enjoyed it and still watch it whenever it comes on. People don’t understand two things about the movie: 1)It’s not science fiction, it’s a modern fairy tale and 2)people assume the invaders are aliens, but I have always believed they were meant to be demons.
The story is about faith, and in the end it’s Mel Gibson’s faith and his wife’s belief that defeat the demons.

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1941 - I always thought it was a brilliant piece of comic, madcap filmmaking. Even Spielbergo doesn’t give it any respect.

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Weekend at Bernies. If it had been in French and titled Samedi Et Dimanche À Chez Bernard, it would have been hailed as a classic farce.

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Unbreakable. It was good, dammit.

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Agreed. Not first-rate Spielberg, but a fun romp none the less. Worth it for the dance sequence and Slim Pickins alone.

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I’ll second this one. Did find “Signs” a bit dull, though. I did like “The Village”.

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“The Village” could have been great if not for all the awkward dialogue. I can still watch it, though.

I was entertained by “Signs.” I wouldn’t disrespect it, but I’m not gonna stand up for it either.

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Agreed. I liked it and never understood the hostility.