The Problem With Rotten Tomatoes

Why do critics disagree with audiences so often? Is it because critics have no taste, or are they looking for things that general audiences aren't?

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0:00 - Intro
1:11 - An Issue Of Target Audience
3:52 - Critics Want Originality
5:56 - Are Critics Pointless?
8:55 - Why You Shouldn't Use Rotten Tomatoes
11:16 - What Is Good Storytelling Anyway?
13:03 - What To Do Instead Of Rotten Tomatoes

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All stock footage is provided by Getty

Written, recorded & produced by Henry Boseley
Edited by Brandon Reardin

[TheCloserLook]

I hope you found this one useful!

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- Henry

[cyanmanta]

I haven’t seen the Mario movie, but from everything I’ve heard, it did exactly what it needed to do. Namely, it placated the Nintendo executives who kept the IP locked away from Hollywood for decades and proved that the film industry could do it justice.

[thijmen]

The validity of a critic doesn’t lie in his opinion on a certain piece of art but in the consistency of his voice. I watch a lot of critics on multiple art forms online, some of which I almost never agree with but they’re credible reviewers for me because I’ve looked into and understand what THEY want and look out for when experiencing a certain piece of art. When looking at it with that perspective you can see why someone with that specific point of view would like or dislike something and applying to how much you differ or align with that you can use that review as (nothing more than) an advice on the question “is this art piece worth for me to invest in?”

[erichurtado]

I’ve had a hard time convincing people that it’s simultaneously ok to like bad movies, and also to not like good ones.

[thewizard-edits]

I saw someone online discuss the Mario movie and put it simply. It’s not a very _good_ movie technically speaking, but it’s 90 minutes of straight fun and nostalgia. This is why the critics hated it but fans loved it. As she continued to say, it’s the best 6/10 movie she’s ever seen.

[EnclaveMarineCorps]

As a plumber myself the Super Mario Bros movie presented in insanely accurate depiction of a plumbers line of work, I myself on multiple occasions have stomped on turtles and tossed giant godzilla like creatures named gay bowser, good work illumination!

[clunkclink]

I watched the Mario movie with my nerdy group of friends. We have been playing through Mario games together for years, and we had an absolute blast. We all agree it was definitely not a masterpiece, but it was fun, and that’s what mattered.

[Lord_Ian]

I do agree with a lot that is said in the video but I just wanna warn people that if you only listen to people who agree with you, you have to take a step back when facing something or someone you don't agree with. They are not necessarily wrong, and you are not necessarily right either, you just don't agree and that is fine. Keep in mind that the world is complex and full of nuances. Not agreeing can be the starting point of one of the most interesting and stimulating conversation of your life.

[michaelt.]

The most useful reviews, in my mind, are those that say "You'll probably enjoy this if you are or can get into X, Y and Z".
Or alternatively, reviews that describe the movie in a manner that you can set your expectations going in, or know it's not for you.
The perfect example, for me, was "The Expendables", which one review described along the lines of "consists of nothing more than adrenaline, gunpowder and testosterone".
I went in with exactly that expectation and was NOT disappointed. Had I expected something with even a little depth, I would have gotten far less enjoyment out of it, but I went in knowing what I'd get.
Same thing, on the other end of the spectrum, was "Dune", which I knew beforehand was complex, a slow burn and not action heavy.
Went into the movie with those expectations, and enjoyed it throughout.

[mikeedward]

Roger Ebert was my go-to critic. His approach was simple: Does the movie do what it set out to do, and does it do it well? That's how a movie like "Booty Call" got a three-star review.

[silasplague]

The Mario games were my entire childhood and i was smiling/laughing throughout the entire movie. It was an incredible experience to me.

[arisien]

It’s a lot like what’s happening right now with the Fnaf movie, with critics calling it shallow and going off on tangents, but most of the fans absolutely loving it because the movie was made for them.

[SquareOFortune]

I feel SO validated that Hot Fuzz was your B-roll while talking about how “…a film can be—objectively speaking—a bloody masterpiece that is perfectly made.” It’s been my favorite movie of all time since I saw it, and I watch it every year around my birthday. I haven’t met anyone who feels remotely the same about Hot Fuzz; I typically get “huh? never heard of that one” or “really? It was alright, but I’m surprised it’s anyone’s ‘favorite of all time.’”

It’s the best thing ever put to filmstock (in my personal subjective opinion). 🤩

[lorcantapley]

I disagree that you should stop listening to people you don't agree with.
It's like what they say about outside art. Listening to people you don't agree with and understanding their opinions helps you gain a new appreciation for pieces of art you don't like, and help you cherish the art that you do like, all the more.

[BruceHurley]

I find the Rotten Tomatoes scores very helpful. If there's a big discrepancy between the critics and the users, then that tells you something about the movie. If they both like it, then it's almost certainly going to be worth watching. If the critics love it and the users hate it, it's probably an artsy movie that will only appeal to certain types of people. The target audience explanation doesn't explain it all because critics rate kids movies highly all the time.

[Evanz]

This is one of the reasons I almost roll my eyes when someone praises a film because “it has a bit of something for everyone”. I don’t want a film that’s going to try and please everyone, I’d rather a film cater to its strengths and go all in on appealing to certain people.

[Norkas_]

Nice to hear a more elaborate take on this problem. I stopped caring about score reviews a while ago. What I want to know from a review is both "What does this creative work try to do?" and "How well does it actually do it?", and that's basically all of it. Even when score reviews evaluate a thing on different standardised metrics (sound/visuals/story, ...), it doesn't tell me anything about what is that core idea that might make me love that thing.

[federicoarmando]

Not to mention that most people think that the percentage is the average score given by critics (WHICH ITS NOT). It is an approval rating. If it has a 65%, it means that 65% of critics gave it a passing score, and 35% didn't. Out of that 65%, maybe half of them are 10/10, and most people won't even know.

[Leeonrf]

I think Mario did a thing that no movie ever did before: it adapted a game and kept true to its original source, rewarding its fanbase instead of a studio being pretentious enough to think they need to "fix it" doing their own thing

[ceinwenchandler]

Your advice about finding the right critic for you really reminds me of another piece of advice I heard once. I'm an aspiring author, so I've heard almost exactly the same thing about - at least where self-publishing is concerned - how you have to find the right editor for the kind of story you're trying to tell, or the changes they're going to suggest are going to do more harm than good.