But not a lot of other people feel that way, apparently. It got a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even the "good" reviews basically said that the movie was dumb. So I never bothered to see it in the theaters, and only found out I liked it when it started showing on TV.
This happens to me a lot. I read reviews, just like everyone else, and if a review is shitty, I don't go to see the movie. But I'm starting to think there should be a different set of critics for sci-fi movies or something. I've watched tons of movies that got lukewarm reviews, or were outright panned, and I liked them just fine. Time Machine, Aeon Flux, Constantine, Blade Trinity... I thought all of these movies were enjoyable. Maybe not the best movies ever, but definitely worthy of a Sunday matinee, at least.
So I was happy to see a lot of the comments on io9 for the Riddick thing were from people who also liked the movie.* I mean, I can totally be fine with having crappy taste in movies. That's okay with me. I'm just not convinced that all of these movies I like are genuinely bad. It seems like movies in other genres, like comedy, get a pass for a stupid premise or a crappy script as long as the comic timing is good. Case in point: Zoolander, Dodgeball, Anchorman. Don't get me wrong, I love these movies.Hi-larious.
But a crappy sci-fi script, even with the most utterly awe-inspiring effects ever to sear themselves on to your eyeballs, is still dismissed as not having any substance. Huh? Isn't awesome special effects and amazing sets and costumes the reason we go to see these movies? I mean, I didn't watch Dodgeball because I wanted to experience the agony of being an underdog - I saw it because Ben Stiller looks funny in that wig. And apparently, that was enough for critics to praise it as goofy fun. But Chronicles of Riddick, which in the words on of io9 commenter was "the best Dune since Dune," (no argument there!), is dismissed as goofy fun.
I don't get it. I know, let's make up a conspiracy theory about it. Yeah!
*Before devolving into the inevitable squabble over which was better, Chronicles or Pitch Black. Sigh. Nerds.
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1 comment:
I never listen to the reviews. I like to make my own decisions. And Riddick was entertaining, which is what Hollywood is supposed to be doing for people. Entertaining them. I absolutely love a lot of "bad" movies because I can appreciate them for what they are. Take the Resident Evil movies. I heart them because they're not "good" per se, but the filmmakers didn't pretend that they were. They just made fun, entertaining flicks. Hee hee! Karl Urban!
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