Criticizing The Critics

Whenever a movie is on the horizon or in theaters, we instantly ask ourselves “Is it good?”, “Is it worth seeing?”. Enter critic reviews. These are the reviews we trust to reflect on how the film was in every aspect we care about. Acting, Directing, Cinematography, Sound, Script, etc. Professional critics have influenced audiences and box office sales because of their reviews. If it’s thumbs up, great sales, great movie. Thumbs down, bad sales, bad movie. At least, that’s according to them. Unfortunately that’s not always the case. There are plenty of films that got great reviews and were particularly bad, and vice versa (this is also where we get cult classics from). Why is this? Human mistakes mostly. It’s never granted that because someone who works for a news outlet says something is good or bad, they’re automatically right. If that was true, we really need to work out our political system. It’s also because of misunderstandings. Filmmaking is an art form, and if you misunderstand the art, you misinform people whether it’s good or bad. The other reason, which ties into human mistakes, is because these critics can be paid for their opinions.

I remember when a friend asked me a few years ago whether the movie “After Earth”, a Will Smith movie about a father and son in the far future surviving on a desolate and warped planet Earth, was good or not. I told him that I heard it was terrible and he said, “That’s funny. This critic from my paper said it was great.” After he saw the film, he told me he should have listened to me in the first place. Just like new outlets have been called biased or unfair (or more recently, “fake”. Laugh it out), critics share the same traits. What’s more, their bosses or film production companies can pay their critics to give an opinion in favor or against films, despite their opinions. This probably doesn’t fit all critics, since some of them do have dignity, but it also explains why their reviews and the film’s actual success can be different.

The point I made about misunderstanding stems from an obvious fact. Critics are critical. Now before you say “duh”, hear me out. There are plenty of great, underrated and under-appreciated films that I know should have done better, if not for over critical reviews. I also talked about this in my previous article about cult classics. Movies like the most recent “Godzilla” remake in 2014, “Fight Club” and “Wet Hot American Summer” were great films, but were received poorly by the critics. The best example I can think of would be Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. This amazing film about a woman on the run and a man with a domineering mother is probably one of the best and most famous in cinematic history, and yet critics hated it upon its initial release. They said that it wasn’t subtle and panned it for its low-budget. Today, I have not yet met another person who agrees with these statements.

Just recently, I saw Guy Ritchie’s “King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword”, the latest take on the classic legend, which got terrible reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but everywhere else I looked, it was well received. And I have to agree with the positive reviews. I can understand why some critics weren’t in favor of the film. It’s an unoriginal story and Guy Ritchie’s work is either a hit or a miss with audiences. Mainly because he has fast paced dialogue or cutscenes ripe with flashbacks. However, I happen to love Ritchie for this reason and I think he excels at storytelling, unoriginal or not. Granted, this is my personal opinion, and I do have friends who think differently, but that’s the honest truth. Despite popular critic reviews, this movie was excellent and I will recommend it to everyone who feels the same way about similar films or directing.

So if these critics can’t be trusted, where do we look? I personally still use critic reviews, but with a grain of salt. I mainly put my trust in user reviews, YouTube videos of reviewers whose opinions I agree with. If I agree with most of their top film choices, they’ve got my vote. However, I also take these with a grain of salt. Just like professionals, reviewers, myself included, can be wrong about their reviews or opinions. That's the trouble with criticizing an art form. There are multiple interpretations. What I do gather information about the film and decide for myself whether it’s right or wrong. I also accept opinions from my friends and family whenever I decide to watch a movie or not since I trust them to give me their honest opinion. At the end of the day, the best opinion to trust is your own. If you think it’s interesting and a good way to spend your free time, go and see whatever film you want. As my brother would put it, “You do you”.