8 Times Rotten Tomatoes Got It Wrong About Awesome (And Awful) Superhero Movies
We've scoured through the Rotten Tomatoes scores for every superhero movie ever made and singled out eight we both believe deserved better and some which quite honestly should have scored much, much worse!
Rotten Tomatoes has become a very touchy subject among some fans but it's not hard to see why. Regardless of whether you love or hate the review aggregator, moviegoers do pay attention to the scores generated for films and that can make or break a release during opening weekend. The company has also been accused of bias which is ridiculous but we all pay attention to those percentages!
With Justice League's score causing controversy once again this week (not to mention Rotten Tomatoes' decision to hold off on revealing it), we thought now would be a good time to look over the scores of some of our favourite - and least favourite - superhero movies to see if they fit. So, what you'll find below is a look at eight past movies we think deserve considerably better (or worse!) scores...
To view this list of movies in its entirety, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!
Man of Steel - 55%
Critics Consensus: Man of Steel's exhilarating action and spectacle can't fully overcome its detours into generic blockbuster territory.
A great effort from Zack Snyder, the only explanation I can see for Man of Steel receiving such a divisive score is that a lot of middle-aged film critics couldn't quite cope with seeing a Superman slightly harder around the edges. Yeah, it was a little daft for Clark Kent not to become Superman until he was in his 30s but that and a few other mistakes weren't enough to earn this many bad reviews.
The destruction in Metropolis was totally justified as was Superman's clearly very hard decision to put a permanent end to General Zod. Alas, Man of Steel's final act generated a good two year's of think pieces and became such an issue that Snyder had to address it at the start of Batman v Superman! Regardless, this was a solid reboot which may not have exceeded expectations but certainly met them.
Iron Man 2 - 73%
Critics Consensus: It isn't quite the breath of fresh air that Iron Man was, but this sequel comes close with solid performances and an action-packed plot.
Iron Man 3 may have been a controversial movie after that big Mandarin reveal but it's nowhere near as bad as some fans try to make out. Iron Man 2, on the other hand, most certainly is! The fact it has a score of 73% is nothing short of mind-blowing, especially when there's little about this movie which is actually good beyond some solid action scenes and enjoyable performances.
Mickey Rourke remains one of the worst MCU villains to date and there was so much groundwork laid here for The Avengers, the sequel delivered a barely cohesive story (and don't even get us started on that subplot about Tony Stark's illness) and it's easy to see why Jon Favreau decided to move on from this franchise after this one. Why it scored such favourable reviews is really hard to say.
The Wolverine - 69%
Critics Consensus: Although its final act succumbs to the usual cartoonish antics, The Wolverine is one superhero movie that manages to stay true to the comics while keeping casual viewers entertained.
Logan has been showered with praise and much of that is well-deserved but what went wrong with this solo adventure for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine? While it's true that the final act became something of a mess with the hero losing his claws (a plot thread ditched by the time X-Men: Days of Future Past rolled around) and a big CGI battle but there was so much here that worked well.
It was a huge improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine and that sword fight alone was out of this world and shot beautifully. The movie did a great job of adapting the Japan Saga and while it wasn't 100% faithful to the source material, it was a fun adventure and deserved a better score than this. Sure, it wasn't on par with Logan but an argument could be made it wasn't that far behind either.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - 27%
Critics Consensus: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice smothers a potentially powerful story -- and some of America's most iconic superheroes -- in a grim whirlwind of effects-driven action.
Sorry, but this was a travesty. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a flawed movie but didn't deserve the scorn it received from critics because there's a lot this movie does right. For starters, we get the best big screen Batman to date, not to mention a meeting and epic battle between the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel which should put a huge smile on any comic book fan's face.
It's overlong, a little muddled in terms of plot, and definitely dark but it seems most critics tore into Batman v Superman solely because it wasn't a Marvel movie and because of that one "Martha!" scene (which really isn't all that bad and far less silly than what we've got in other superhero releases). This may not have been a perfect movie revolving around the Trinity but it wasn't bad.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 52%
Critics Consensus: While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters.
52% is obviously a score which points to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 being a divisive movie but that's still way too generous for this horrendous sequel. There are a lot of superhero movies better than this which were better in almost every way that have scored lower and when you compare this to Suicide Squad, it's unbelievable that this total mess would somehow score higher.
Don't get me wrong, that messy DC Comics adaptations made a lot of mistakes but even reshoots and a bizarre editing process didn't result in it being anywhere near as bad as this disaster which wasted Jamie Foxx, ruined one of the most powerful moments in comic book history with the death of Gwen Stacy, and was ultimately so terrible that Sony scrapped the franchise and teamed up with Marvel.
Watchmen - 64%
Critics Consensus: Gritty and visually striking, Watchmen is a faithful adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, but its complex narrative structure may make it difficult for it to appeal to viewers not already familiar with the source material.
Oh boy, are you starting to see a pattern here? Watchmen was a very long movie and clearly aimed at fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' complex graphic novel but that doesn't mean it didn't deserve better reviews and it should rightly be hailed as a masterpiece because lesser films have earned such a title without putting in anywhere near as much effort as Zack Snyder did here.
64% puts Watchmen squarely in the "Well, it's pretty good!" neighbourhood and that's just not fair. A movie like this was always going to be a hard sell to moviegoers but this sort of score no doubt put a lot of people off from checking out what is arguably still one of the best comic book movies to date. Where should it be ideally? Well, I'm shocked it's not at least in the high 80s!
X-Men: Apocalypse - 48%
Critics Consensus: Overloaded action and a cliched villain take the focus away from otherwise strong performers and resonant themes, making X-Men: Apocalypse a middling chapter of the venerable superhero franchise
X-Men: Apocalypse wasn't perfect but I still don't think it deserved a critical pounding anywhere near as bad as this. Sure, Apocalypse wasn't great but Oscar Isaac delivered a solid enough performance and Bryan Singer definitely set the franchise on the right track here by introducing younger versions of fan-favourite characters and finally giving the heroes some proper costumes.
Perhaps he tried a little too hard but the endless comparisons to X-Men: Days of Future Past (an undeniably superior film) were ridiculous, especially when this one clearly wasn't trying to be that. Of course, the critics who pretty much chased Singer off this franchise may live to regret it now that Simon Kinberg is in charge because it's hard to imagine X-Men: Dark Phoenix being any good!
The LEGO Batman Movie - 91%
Critics Consensus: The Lego Batman Movie continues its block-buster franchise's winning streak with another round of dizzyingly funny -- and beautifully animated -- family-friendly mayhem.
The LEGO Movie was a superb animated adventure but this spinoff...well, it kind of sucked. It wasn't bad by any means and while the animation was on point, the story was weak and while throwing a bunch of random movie characters into the final act may have been appreciated by some, it didn't work in this world and the only really good thing here was Batman and The Joker's relationship.
Aside from that, there was really nothing special about The LEGO Batman Movie as it was instantly forgettable and failed to do the Caped Crusader justice. It seems many critics gravitated towards this release because it was the "fun" Batman movie that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn't but you just know that if half of these plot elements were seen in live-action, they would hate it.