CBR
10 Great Movies to Watch if You Ignore Their Awful Rotten Tomatoes Score
By Sarah Barrett
Sept. 13, 2024
Rotten Tomatoes scores are an important factor to consider when evaluating a movie’s marketing campaign. The website is a review aggregator, meaning it weighs up reviews of the film and displays them as a percentage. That percentage can make or break a movie.
However, some movies get poor Rotten Tomatoes scores but are still, at their core, very fun movies. They’re proof that audiences shouldn’t prioritize the reviews of a film, they should simply trust their own judgment and try to have fun. After all, many people’s all-time favorite films were utterly slammed by critics when they first came out.
10. Batman vs Superman Was Flawed, But Interesting
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%
Everyone was looking forward to Batman vs Superman. It was pitting two of the most famous superheroes of all time against each other, with Superman played by Henry Cavill and Batman played by (an admittedly controversial choice) Ben Affleck. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) was going to make an appearance too. Hype was at an all-time high… and then the movie came out and got terrible reviews.
And yet, there’s lots to like about Batman vs Superman. Some would say it takes itself too seriously, but others would point out that it has a sincere streak often missing in comic book movies. And the three main actors are clearly giving it their all.
Cast
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot
9. Van Helsing Was a Campy Adventure
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 24%
Van Helsing has vampires, Frankenstein and Wolverine’s actor Hugh Jackman in it, so it could never be awful. It’s ridiculous, and not all the acting is top-notch, but it knows precisely what sort of movie it is and embraces its horror roots wholeheartedly.
It also has one incredible standout scene: the part where Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) dances with Anna (Kate Beckinsale) at his palace. There are multiple dancers, but when Anna looks in the mirror, she sees only her reflection. Vampires surround her! That’s one of the things the movie is best remembered for.
Cast
Hugh Jackman , Kate Beckinsale , Richard Roxburgh , Shuler Hensley
8. Hook Had a Winning Performance From Robin Williams
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%
It’s hard to believe that Hook has a bad Rotten Tomatoes score because millennials belove it. Its audience score is 76%, indicating that the website got this very wrong. It’s hard to see what critics found objectionable about it because it’s a perfect family movie.
Hook centers around an older Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who has become an adult and had children. But then the children are kidnapped by Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), and Peter must rediscover his sense of wonder if he can hope to get them back. It’s a charming, joyous movie.
Cast
Robin Williams , Dustin Hoffman , Julia Roberts , Maggie Smith
7. Hocus Pocus Is a Halloween Mainstay
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 40%
Hocus Pocus is about the Sanderson sisters, a trio of evil witches played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimi. They’ve become Halloween icons, so it’s easy to forget the movie received negative reviews when it first came out. Famous film reviewer Roger Ebert called it “a confusing cauldron in which there is great activity but little progress, and a lot of hysterical shrieking.”
But looking back on the movie now, it’s hard to see why so many critics disliked it. It’s a lot of fun, with great performances from all the leads and the perfect Halloween movie for the whole family. Disney eventually came to see this and made a sequel to the film in 2022.
Cast
Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw
6. Five Nights at Freddy’s Made Millions
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 32%
Five Nights at Freddy’s was a massive franchise even before the movie came along. The video games the film is based on are hugely popular. So, despite it getting a lot of negative reviews, it was a success at the box office. It actually scored the second-highest opening for a video game movie ever, just behind The Super Mario Bros Movie.
The main problem with Five Nights at Freddy’s, according to critics, is that it wasn’t an R-rated film. It plays it much too safe and cuts away before anything truly horrifying happens. But the animatronics in Five Nights at Freddy’s are still scary, the story is engaging, and Josh Hutcherson puts in a winning performance as the main character Mike.
Cast
Josh Hutcherson , Matthew Lillard , Elizabeth Lail , Mary Stuart Masterson
5. Ghost Rider Was Hellishly Fun
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 27%
In Ghost Rider, Nicolas Cage starred as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt rider who sold his soul to the devil to save his father’s life and became Ghost Rider. Cage plays the role with exactly as much relish as you’d expect, and his presence elevates Ghost Writer to so much more than just its (fairly lackluster) script.
Few critics appreciated Ghost Rider for what it was, and Cage even got a Razzie award nomination for Worst Actor. Yet people who saw it when they were kids have a sincere love for it, and wouldn’t have any complaints if Ghost Rider eventually showed up in a Marvel multiverse movie, Deadpool and Wolverine-style.
Cast
Nicholas Cage , Eva Mendes , Sam Elliott , Matt Long , Raquel Alessi , Brett Cullen
4. Venom Was a Huge Hit Financially
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 30%
Venom is one of the most beloved Spider-Man characters of all time, and everyone was looking forward to his solo movie. And even the bad reviews didn’t dissuade them. The Tomatometer score went lower and lower, but still, fans couldn’t wait to see the movie.
They weren’t disappointed. Venom was true to the character (unlike Spider-Man 3, his last outing) and furthermore, it was tons of fun. It grossed $856 million worldwide and was number seven in the top ten highest-grossing films of 2018. It even spawned not one but two sequels, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance.
Cast
Tom Hardy , Michelle Williams , Riz Ahmed , Scott Haze , Reid Scott
3. The Phantom of the Opera Was Always Going to Have Fans
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33%
The Phantom of the Opera is actually one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time. The musical, which played on Broadway and the West End, pulled in billions. Based on the French novel by Gaston Leroux, it tells the story of a disfigured music genius and the beautiful singer he falls in love with. It’s a toxic love story, all right… but people go wild for it.
When the movie came out, plenty of critics considered it a pale imitation of the stage version. But hardcore Phantom lovers, the ones who had helped make the franchise so profitable, absolutely loved it. They swooned for the Phantom, played by Gerard Butler, and cried at the love songs.
2. Batman and Robin Isn’t All That Bad
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 12%
Batman and Robin unfortunately went down in history as one of the worst comic book movies of all time. Even lead actor George Clooney, who played Batman himself, didn’t like it. He joked in a Variety interview that he wouldn’t even let his wife watch the film in case she lost respect for him.
But, that’s simply not the case for a lot of people. They love Clooney and they love his take on Batman. Although Batman and Robin is an acquired taste for sure, it’s great for casual Batman enjoyers who just want a colorful, campy film. And it even has some genuinely sweet moments between Batman and his father figure, Alfred (Michael Gough).
Cast
George Clooney , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Chris O’Donnell , Uma Thurman , Alicia Silverstone
1. Eternals Was an Epic Journey
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%
Eternals seemed to be everything audiences wanted the MCU to be. It had a large and diverse cast of superheroes, a minimum of quipping, and an interesting story. It even finally introduced the MCU’s first gay character, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). And yet, it was a complete flop at the box office.
It didn’t make enough money to garner a sequel, critics turned their noses up at it, and the characters never featured in the MCU again. And yet Eternals is a beautiful, earnest film with gorgeous cinematography. Hopefully, time will be kind to it and it’ll eventually be reassessed.
