Movies You Think Got A Bad Wrap

Jigen

Jigen

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What are some movies you think are fantastic, but the critics or box office didn't agree?

I'll start it off.

The Karate Kid Part II, this one has an average rating of 42% and I don't understand why, I find it superior to the original. It adds more depht to the plot along with sticking with the same Daniel vs. the bully formula. The film gives Mr. Miyagi a background and his own problems to solve as well as the death of his father and his mourning thereafter and we see Daniel grow in this film too as he must face a life or death challenge. it just goes places the original did not. I don't know if I'm wrong and this is a bad movie, but I surely didn't think so.
 
Drop Dead Fred. Saw it for the first time when I was about six and didn't think of it as anything more than a mildly amusing comedy about a mischievous imaginary friend causing havoc in all aspects of the life of the imaginer, Elizabeth, with a happily-ever-after coda. I watched it an awful lot over the next year or so. A couple of years back, however, I came across an article in which the author theorised the title character was both a visual manifestation of a coping mechanism brought about by years of emotional abuse at the hands of Elizabeth's narcissistic mother and a dissociated part of her own personality acting out her internal cries for help, both of which are constantly at odds with one another.

I was sold.

Think about it: how in the fuck is someone who doesn't even exist able to smear dog shit all over a freshly shampooed carpet? To flick bogies into a cup of coffee? Cut a person's hair? Cause irreparable damage to a boat? Stuff belongings into a bag of loot? Trash a dining room? Launch a plate of food across a restaurant? Push someone into the arms of their ex-husband in front of the latter's new girlfriend?

Simple: they aren't. Elizabeth, in her state of deep emotional turmoil, however, through the manifestation of another entity, is. Drop Dead Fred is merely the little voice in the back of her head saying, "Go on - do it," at his worst and the mouthpiece of what she really thinks, but is too afraid to do so, at his best.

On the surface, Drop Dead Fred is a pretty puerile comedy; show it to a psychologist, however, and they will jerk themselves into a fucking coma.
 
Man of Steel
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Incredible Hulk
 
Jigen said:
The Karate Kid Part II, this one has an average rating of 42% and I don't understand why, I find it superior to the original. It adds more depht to the plot along with sticking with the same Daniel vs. the bully formula. The film gives Mr. Miyagi a background and his own problems to solve as well as the death of his father and his mourning thereafter and we see Daniel grow in this film too as he must face a life or death challenge. it just goes places the original did not. I don't know if I'm wrong and this is a bad movie, but I surely didn't think so.
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I remember thinking the sequel was great for the reasons you stated above but unfortunately kid me and adult me have vastly different opinions on this film. I rewatched the Karate Kid movies recently to set the tone for Kobra Kai and found the original still held up quite well, was better than I remembered, but the second film was just terrible. The storyline was lazy and desperate, the scenery did not feel like Japan at all and the fact that all the characters spoke broken English instead of their native tongue was infuriating. Even when there were no English speakers to be seen; two Japanese natives would have a passionate argument with each other in broken English. It was borderline racist lol. Also the whole rivalry Daniel-san had with his nemesis was laughable at times and the final fight was very contrived.

Despite all that though Kobra Kai is amazing and I recommend you give it a watch.
 
paddyj said:
I remember thinking the sequel was great for the reasons you stated above but unfortunately kid me and adult me have vastly different opinions on this film. I rewatched the Karate Kid movies recently to set the tone for Kobra Kai and found the original still held up quite well, was better than I remembered, but the second film was just terrible. The storyline was lazy and desperate, the scenery did not feel like Japan at all and the fact that all the characters spoke broken English instead of their native tongue was infuriating. Even when there were no English speakers to be seen; two Japanese natives would have a passionate argument with each other in broken English. It was borderline racist lol. Also the whole rivalry Daniel-san had with his nemesis was laughable at times and the final fight was very contrived.

Despite all that though Kobra Kai is amazing and I recommend you give it a watch.
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What!?! Kobra Kai is shit.

What do you mean it's racist, why is everything racism these days?
There are quite a few people who speak quite good English in Japan -- especially in the 80's. How was the nemesis any more laughable than Johnny?

And to top it off the storyline is well paced, and has more going on and they handled things well, sorry I just don't see your viewpoint.
 
Jigen said:
What!?! Kobra Kai is shit.

What do you mean it's racist, why is everything racism these days?
There are quite a few people who speak quite good English in Japan -- especially in the 80's. How was the nemesis any more laughable than Johnny?

And to top it off the storyline is well paced, and has more going on and they handled things well, sorry I just don't see your viewpoint.
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You took that a bit seriously mate, Jesus. Did you write the movie? I don't mean it's actually racist but it's incredibly lazy and inauthentic. Japan is extremely homogenous and natives do not speak English to one another. I understand if a foreigner is around and making an effort to help the outsider understand but why would two natives communicate to each other in a language neither of them is fluent in when they both fluently speak Japanese? It would be like me writing this reply in Japanese but it'd be much less articulate and more along the lines of 'Karate Kid Part 2 very terrible. Bad movie'. The film would've automatically jumped up a few notches if it was subtitled. The dude was laughable in that he would pop up out of nowhere every single time Daniel was on the town with the same dramatic music; we get it he's bad! The way he hang glides into the final fight is beyond cringe.
 
Bright was not a stellar film either; like Bird Box, these films got shoved in our faces (in NA, anyways), meme'd to death and they're just average, ho-hum films.

I could probably list a bunch of films here, but I'll go with a recent one that sadly, was released at a poor time and marketed horribly; Valerian and the City of One Thousand Planets.

Again, one that the media tried to shoehorn and promote as, "from the creator of 'The Professional,'" (ITS FUCKING LEON, DAMNIT, GET THE TITLE RIGHT) and, "a sequel to the Fifth Element," (ITS NOT A SEQUEL, DAMNIT; FIFTH ELEMENT WAS BASED OFF OF BESSON'S LOVE OF VALERIAN. JESUS CHRIST), which screwed the film before it even started.

For starters, those that like Leon and those that like Fifth Element (unless you're a Besson fan like myself) are generally not the same people, as the group that enjoys one of those films, rarely will enjoy the other. So you've partially alienated 2 fanbases (I know it sounds like hyperbole, but its true; I had my ear to ground for a full 15 months before the film came out, until a few months after release) and are not promoting the film to the right audience, Strike one.

Secondly- and this may be the fault of Besson himself- unless you have some background knowledge of the Valerian universe (which truthfully, I didn't), a lot won't make sense to you. This turned off a lot of people, who have no idea why the story plays out like it does and took a lot of the conventions and plot pieces, as rip offs from other films... that were influenced by Valerian in the first place (but that's not important). Strike two.

Lastly, it released in NA on the same day as Dunkirk AND, as Dunkirk had more money, promotion and name power behind it, got the IMAX releases; this killed Valerian's chances of competing, as it was far more deserving of being on IMAX, even if Dunkirk is the, "better," film. Strike three.

I can see why Besson got pissed about the end result; the film still did well, but not double the budget that determines whether or not it is a bomb or a success and that has hurt his future prospects.

Anyways, that film is visually delicious, easily the best use of CGI I have ever seen and the acting is actually not bad, especially for a usually wooden actor (Dane DeHann) and someone who many said shouldn't even be acting (Cara Delavigne); Cara is actually awesome and does a fantastic job, portraying a somewhat realistic depiction of Laureline.

And she's good eyecandy :).

Definitely deserves better than the 6.5/10 it has on IMDB; should be closer to a 7.5 or so.
 
paddyj said:
You took that a bit seriously mate, Jesus. Did you write the movie? I don't mean it's actually racist but it's incredibly lazy and inauthentic. Japan is extremely homogenous and natives do not speak English to one another. I understand if a foreigner is around and making an effort to help the outsider understand but why would two natives communicate to each other in a language neither of them is fluent in when they both fluently speak Japanese? It would be like me writing this reply in Japanese but it'd be much less articulate and more along the lines of 'Karate Kid Part 2 very terrible. Bad movie'. The film would've automatically jumped up a few notches if it was subtitled. The dude was laughable in that he would pop up out of nowhere every single time Daniel was on the town with the same dramatic music; we get it he's bad! The way he hang glides into the final fight is beyond cringe.
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Yeah I did, when I draw a line in the sand I'm not one to back off. But for now I just say I disagree.
 
Jigen said:
Yeah I did, when I draw a line in the sand I'm not one to back off. But for now I just say I disagree.
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Yeah horses for courses init. One thing you might agree on is that it's a damn shame Miyagi never fought Sato. I was left with serious blue balls for a Miyagi ass kicking.
 
paddyj said:
Yeah horses for courses init. One thing you might agree on is that it's a damn shame Miyagi never fought Sato. I was left with serious blue balls for a Miyagi ass kicking.
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Yeah I guess, but it was better they worked it out. Miyagi was not a violent character, I mean his whole arc is avoiding needless conflict. Though, can't lie seeing him baah heads is fun.
 
Although it was eviscerated by critics as an inferior ripoff of Lawrence of Arabia, and totally neglected at the box office, I always thought Lord Jim was a great character study, satire of imperialism, and adventure movie on its own, and easily one of Peter O'Toole's best performances. The entire cast was memorable. It's also a very good adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel imho.

Now, going way back, the 6th adaptation of SHE (1925) is still the most faithful version of the story put to film. Imho, it's the best portrayal of Ayesha and Holly as well. However, it is largely ignored in favor of Merian Cooper's art deco 1935 masterpiece, which set design I appreciate, but the overall movie simply isn't as good as the ignored 1925 version.

Lastly, The Toll of the Sea from 1922 is an underappreciated film that gets a bad wrap by critics and film historians as being merely a demo of technicolor, but that's nonsense -- it's a very poignant version of the Madame Butterfly tragedy (set in Hong Kong instead of Japan) and one of the best performances of Anna May Wong too.
 
You sir, have a damn good film taste, if you're contrasting 20's films with more modern ones.

I commend you!
 
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