Hated Movies That You Legitimately Like

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

We all love to rag on bad movies, but I also believe that many of us have seen films with a mixed or negative consensus that we personally really liked despite some problems. To be clear, I'm not talking about guilty pleasures, either. Those are movies that you agree are bad, but still enjoy anyways despite that, like how I enjoy the first two Mummy movies from the reboot series as guilty pleasures. This thread, however, is where you can talk about any movies that you really did personally enjoy as a good movie, despite everyone else seemingly hating it. Here are a few of my own choices:

Spider-Man 3: It's no secret that I like this movie. I can understand why people might not like the Raimi SM movies in general, but it always baffled me how so many people could call the first two films masterpieces and then hate the third one for being "too silly." That's like hating Toy Story 3 for being a lot like the first two movies in tone. It's just a bit hypocritical. Speaking of which, while I do agree about two criticisms (Venom in this movie sucks, and that dancing scene is atrocious), everything else just feels like either nitpicking or being way too harsh on the movie for not being close to its source material. As for the complaint about the movie being too cluttered, the only real casualty was Venom. Peter, MJ, Harry, and Sandman all had fully fleshed out character arcs. I just feel like people took the butchering of one character and applied it to the whole movie. Ironically, Iron Man 2 did a far worse job of balancing multiple characters and sub-plots, but got a free pass because people really loved RDJ, I guess. But at least S3 was entertaining, whereas IM2 was outright boring.

Superman Returns: Honestly, I haven't seen this one in a while, so maybe my opinion could change, but this felt like a proper third part to the classic series, as opposed to the one that we originally got. The movie had good action for the time and a decent script with a lot of heart to it. I'm mot saying that it didn't have issues, but I genuinely enjoyed it. I just never got the hate for this one.

Prometheus: Yes, this movie had some seriously stupid bits of writing in it, but not nearly as much as people made out. And really, it wasn't those scenes that everyone lingered on complaining about. The real reason that people hate this movie is because it's not what they expected. People expected a prequel to Alien that answered a lot of questions. Instead we got a very loosely tied-in story that in many ways was a modern take on the atmosphere and suspense from the original Ridley Scott Alien, but that only raised more questions of its own. Personally, I loved that about the movie. It's the only other film besides the original Alien that had that sense of mystery and tension to its atmosphere, but which also had me completely engrossed to learn about what was going on, and really prompted me to thoroughly analyze the movie on re-watches. Any film that can make me think to that extent is worth a lot more credit than what people give this movie, IMO.

Those are just a few of my own choices, but I have a lot more that I can talk about later. In the meantime, hopefully someone else can 'fess up about their own personal tastes.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom.

Yes it's very over the top and goofy and not much like Raiders at all, but I don't care. I drink this movie in whole with whatever flaws it might have. I think Crystal Skull might have given people more appreciation for it, but it's a really fun action movie that isn't anything like the other movies. Which is just as well since the only movies in the series anything alike are Raiders and The Last Crusade.

[Foggle]

I think Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence is far superior to the original. It's beautifully made, better paced, and has an extremely interesting story.

[Daikun]

I personally like the Mortal Kombat movie, even if it is dated. I hated the sequel, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The first Mortal Kombat movie has gained a bit of a cult following over the years, I believe. But yeah, most critics hated it when it came out. Interestingly enough, Gene Siskel of all people gave it a positive review at the time.

He also gave Blade a positive review, which reminds me that I really do enjoy the first two Blade movies. I was struggling between whether I consider them to be guilty pleasures or not, but when I think about it, neither film set out to be technical masterpieces. They were meant to be stylish, violent, and entertaining vampire-slaying action movies, and IMO they really succeeded at that, so despite their mixed reviews, I think that they are good movies for what they are.

[gunswordfist]

I found myself liking what I saw of Blade 3 a few months ago. I have trouble hating superhero movies.

I think X-Men The Last Stand is a legitimately good movie. It definitely does a lot of stupid things though but it's entertaining.

[Avaitor]

I don't love the 2003 Daredevil, but despite the show blowing it out of the water, I find the movie kind of fun. It's really not the worst thing ever.

Elektra kind of is, though. Of course, I'd also argue that Jennifer Gardner's portrayal of the character in both movies is far more of a problem than Ben Affleck though, who isn't great but is hardly awful. I still love Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've heard that the directors cut of the 2003 Daredevil contains over 40-minutes of additional footage and a ton of differences from the theatrical version which makes it a completely different (and much better) film. I may check it out some day if I can, since from what I've heard, this is a movie that was really sabotaged by the studio when it was being made.

[gunswordfist]

I think I heard about that. I also heard something similar about the Thomas Jane Punisher movie. I legitimately liked (..pretty much loved) Daredevil back in the day but I did eventually grow tired of it.

[Avaitor]

I've heard that the directors cut of the 2003 Daredevil contains over 40-minutes of additional footage and a ton of differences from the theatrical version which makes it a completely different (and much better) film. I may check it out some day if I can, since from what I've heard, this is a movie that was really sabotaged by the studio when it was being made.

Yeah, the director's cut version is better, but I'll still admit that it isn't a great movie.

But I'd personally take Daredevil over any Spider-Man movie any day, but that's just me...

[Foggle]

But I'd personally take Daredevil over any Spider-Man movie any day, but that's just me...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I still consider the Raimi Spider-Man movies to be really entertaining if you take them for what they are (Sam Raimi movies featuring Spider-Man) rather than what you want out of a more faithfully adapted Spider-Man movie.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I've always enjoyed them. I do think 3 got, and still gets, way too much hate, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've always enjoyed them. I do think 3 got, and still gets, way too much hate, though.

Yep. There's a reason why I chose that as the first movie to talk about on this thread. That's when I realized that sometimes I just don't get people and how they choose to react to things.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The criticisms were like a strange mirror.

Me: "Man, Emo Peter was hysterical."
Them: "Emo Peter was so badly done, it was almost like a comedy!"

Me: "Considering Marvel's notes, Raimi did a really good job fitting everything in. Venom was a bit tacked on though."
Them: "What a mess of a story! And what was the deal with Sandman? It should have been all about Venom!"

Me: "I like how everything came full circle and all the plotlines were sealed off. Raimi did a good job with his trilogy. They all gel together really well."
Them: "Well, at least the first two movies were super-serious and good. Shame Raimi ruined the tone in 3 by going goofy and silly with the melodrama, though."

Me: "I hope Spider-Man 4 at least brings back Venom and gives him real focus."
Them: "DUMP RAIMI DUMP RAIMI DUMP RAIMI. UNSALVAGABLE!"

And of course we got a reboot because of them. But it was like they were willingly blinding themselves to the movie they were actually seeing. I don't get it. The other movies have the same elements that 3 does. I just wonder if the reaction was because they wanted something other than what they got, but can't articulate what they wanted instead.

It's a lot like what we said about Gamers and Nintendo in the E3 thread.