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Professional movie critics and regular moviegoers don’t always see eye to eye.
Sometimes, however, the disparity is so wide it feels like critics and audiences live on different planets.
That’s evidenced by these movies that critics hated, but audiences actually loved.
It’s not simply that audiences prefer dumber movies, with simpler stories and extravagant explosions.
Although that mightseemto be the case, the truth is that audiences and critics can simply have different standards.
Here are 32 legitimately great movies that critics hated but audiences loved.
Venom (2018)
Critics were not taken by Venom, but audiences latched onto it like sticky goo.
Together, the two fight as Venom to stop an evil tech billionaire from destroying the world.
However, the movie has been embraced by audiences.
Today, it maintains a strong 80% approval rating by audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite that, But I’m a Cheerleader has its fans rooting from the benches.
It boasts a mighty 91% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It keeps a strong 72% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregate approval score among audiences is a comfortable 78%.
Inevitably, the two fall in love.
While Edgar-Jones' performance was praised by critics, the movie as a whole was unpopular among critics.
However, audiences gravitated to the movie.
The movie enjoys an audience rating of B+ on CinemaScore.
(PTA worked with Sandler on the film Punch-Drunk Love, released in 2002.)
Audiences, however, are more down for Beckinsale in black leather hunting lycanthropes.
But audiences are a bit soft on The Rock.
RT’s audience ratings for Black Adam is at a mighty 88%.
But for audiences, it’s a whole different game.
It boasts a B+ from CinemaScore.
“It’s a lovingly envisioned, lavishly produced, and painstakingly crafted cash grab.
And it’s not much more than that,” echoed Angie Han at Mashable.
Still, Wet Hot American Summer drew a passionate crowd to make it into a franchise.
On CinemaScore, Hook boasts a pixie dust-coated A-.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Twilight scored 49% among critics and 72% among audiences.
Jurassic World: Dominion
Life, uh, finds a way… to ruin a classic.
The results were cataclysmic, at least to critics who deemed the series extinct.
Man on Fire (2004)
In 2004, Tony Scott helmed the second feature film version of A.J.
Quinnell’s 1980 novel Man on Fire.
Critics weren’t alone, as even audiences avoided The Thing at the box office.
Today, The Thing is widely regarded as a classic of 1980s filmmaking.
It enjoys an A- CinemaScore and 90% audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes.
Critics were unimpressed by King of the Monsters' imposing presence, but audiences cheered it on anyway.
