There have been many movies when upon viewing their trailers, watching their previews before a movie or reading about the movies prior to their release, has led to high levels of skepticism or haven’t led any impression on the person at all. Some of these movies subsequently end up being as bad as many have predicted or just “meh,” but there are some that ended up being a delightful surprise.

Here are 10 of those movies that have exceeded the negative expectations and have led to acclaim and praise by both critics and audiences alike.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)

The first Disney movie to garner a PG-13 rating at its release, and to be based off of the Disney theme park attraction of the same name would leave a lover of Disney a bit unsure. But, Disney is magical, and the people behind this film brought the magic of the theme park attraction to life. “Pirates of the Caribbean” is a haunting yet wildly entertaining movie that would spawn its own franchise of other entertaining adventures of the beloved Jack Sparrow, played by the excellent Johnny Depp who was nominated for an Academy Award for his efforts. Its effects are stunning, the score is perfectly dark, and it inadvertently revived the dead Pirate-themed-genre forcing any skeptics of this movie to take back what they said about this movie when they watched it in previews a year earlier.

"Mean Girls" (2004)

“Mean Girls,” when just looking at the movie poster, looks to be just another one of those teen comedy films that were incredibly popular in the early 2000s. You know, the ones where the weird new girl becomes popular or gets a makeover and the athletic heartthrob starts to see her sudden true beauty and wins her heart in the end? Fortunately, “Mean Girls,” while still following similar tropes, is not like the other teen movies. It has an incredibly smart script with witty and addictively quotable dialogue that just forces you to watch it over and over and over again, without it being stale. Along with interesting and fleshed-out characters to root and boo for, “Mean Girls” definitely exceeds the expectations of the conventional teen movie and is just an all around awesome movie.

"Batman Begins" (2005)

Fans of the beloved caped crusader were still reeling after Joel Schumacher’s seeming destruction of the Batman franchise. No one was excited to see another reboot of Batman and with the fairly unknown Christopher Nolan at the helm, no one expected “Batman Begins” to be anything worth watching. Boy, were they wrong. “Batman Begins” was the grittiest, darkest and most believable depiction of Batman that anyone had ever seen put to screen. It was action-packed with a carefully constructed story that gave Batman the movie he deserved. It also spawned two follow-up movies that were both as incredible and with “The Dark Knight” in particular being one of the best action movies of all time and started the comic book movie craze that subsequently followed.

"The Lego Movie" (2014)

“A movie about Legos?” “Is that a joke?” These were a few of the thoughts going through movie connoisseurs’ minds when first hearing such a movie was in the works. It seemed to everyone that Lego was just trying to advertise itself on a broader scale and it seemed to be that way in the first trailer. An appealing and forgettable looking film to entertain the likes of children was all it looked like. Instead audiences were treated to laugh-out-loud dialogue, an interesting and enticing story line with a twist ending, amazing animation and a wonderful cast of characters. It was adored by audiences and received acclaim from critics, holding a 97 percent score on rotten tomatoes. Not only is there to be a sequel but a Lego Batman spin-off is also in the works.

"Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (1997)

One of the greatest and beloved movies of all-time, “Star Wars,” as it was initially called, was actually a surprise box-office smash. It broke records at the time of its release, claiming the title as the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing a little film called “Jaws.” However, when it was first released, only 45 theaters agreed to show “Star Wars” and creator George Lucas believed it would be overshadowed by summer releases such as “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Other Side of Midnight” and “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Fortunately for Lucas audiences were immediately astounded and enchanted. Word soon spread and theaters across the country and the world were demanding to get a hold of the film. With the original trilogy and a prequel trilogy released and now that we’re one movie into the sequel trilogy, it’s obvious how wrong everyone was in 1977.

"The Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011)

After the horrendous “Planet of the Apes” in 2001 from director Tim Burton, another reboot from the classic “Planet of the Apes” of 1968 seemed pointless and ready to fail. Although it’s not a remake but a prequel to the “Planet of the Apes,” critics and film buffs were waiting to see it be on the same par as the 2001 movie. However, audiences and critics alike were introduced to an interesting and thought-provoking movie with believable CGI apes instead of monkey suits and another outstanding motion-captured performance from Andy Circus. It kept audiences at the edge of their seats and kept them coming back, so much so that it grossed half-a-billion dollars at the box-office and was followed up in 2014 with an even more impressive “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

"21 Jump Street" (2012)

Another reboot, this time of the immensely popular TV show of the ’80s: “21 Jump Street.” Many people didn’t believe that taking the popular show to the big screen could work. However, with the likes of comedic geniuses Jonah Hill as Officer Schmidt and directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord at the helm, the original premise of the show as an investigative drama was turned into a hysterical buddy-cop movie that was bound for success and received it rightfully so. It had so much success that it grossed five times its budget and was followed up with an even more impressive and hilarious sequel, “22 Jump Street.” Which is to be followed up by a “23 Jump Street” and a supposed crossover with the Men in Black.

"Casino Royale" (2006)

Due to prior Bond films disappointing, many fans were not too excited for another Bond film especially a new Bond who is -- blonde! Many fans and critics didn’t think much else would be different of the films besides Daniel Craig playing 007 -- blonde! Similar stock action moments with explosions and car crashes were all to be expected but Craig and director Campbell showcased a more contemporary James Bond with more gritty and realistic action scenes that wowed audiences with every second. “Casino Royale” is considered one of the best James Bond films of all time and thankfully revived the franchise. It introduced the MI6 agent to a new generation of Bond fans and made everyone wish (including me) to be a spy.

"Casablanca" (1942)

Often regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, “Casablanca” was never expected to reach such high standards upon its release. Although packed with A-list stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, everyone involved with the film thought that it would be just another Hollywood production. Even upon its release it didn’t make a huge impact in the box office but did nab Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15^th Academy Awards, surprising those who had been a part of the film-making process, but no one involved expected that in the years that followed the film would gain such a recognition and achieve the acclaim it has received today.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015)

Another action masterpiece that at first had moviegoers reluctant to go see it, ”Mad Max: Fury Road” is the fourth installment of the “Mad Max” franchise. The people who were most reluctant to see it were those who had not seen the original three movies of the ’80s and they didn’t know what to expect with this endeavor. Even those who saw the three movies were a bit skeptical after “Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome” didn’t hold up as well as its predecessors. Not to mention “Fury Road” comes almost 30 years after “Beyond the Thunderdome” so even fans of the original three films didn’t know what to expect. Luckily, George Miller was back to direct and stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy as the titular character brought their very best and made one of the greatest action movies ever. It is filled to the brim with action that coincides with a wonderful story of redemption and freedom and a guy playing a guitar with fire blasting from the neck of the guitar! One doesn’t even need to see the original movies to love it, which makes it all the more enjoyable and memorable. It holds an impressive score of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and won six Academy Awards along with four other nominations including Best Picture, Best Achievement in Visual Effects and Best Director.