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Captain Marvel has the most negative number of reviews of all MCU movies

posted 5 years ago by DarthRoger (867)
21 replies | jump to latest

Here's something worth noting. I looked at five other MCU movies that were considered middle-tier to not great. I then compared them to Captain Marvel for the total number of rotten reviews from RT.

Here's what they show:

1. The Incredible Hulk - 75 rotten reviews
2. Thor: The Dark World - 89 rotten reviews
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron - 87 rotten reviews
4. Iron Man 2 - 77 rotten reviews
5. Ant-Man and the Wasp - 47 rotten reviews

So how did the latest (somewhat controversial) MCU movie compare?

6. Captain Marvel - 94 rotten reviews

Again, I'm noting this and it's not based on a percentage of the total number of reviews, just the amount of reviewers that deemed these movies "rotten" at RT. These aren't audience reviews, these are critic reviews. So there's another bit to add to the drama surrounding this MCU entry.
If you liked the movie, then great. I chose not to see it based on Brie Larson's comments and the movie's supposed feminist bent. We each have on own opinions.

[–] furiousstyles (4365) 5 years ago

Id say its better than all the above bar IM2 and TIH which i think is underated , its a fun movie, not the best , not the worst, i actually really liked the story, its a solid 7 out of 10 CBM for me

[–] NorrinRad (5129) 5 years ago

For argument's sake and also playing a Devil's Advocate I'll take the Comic-Book-Partisan approach and present some data from another POV:

Here's what I found:

1. Aquaman - 122 Rotten Reviews
2. Justice League - 218 Rotten Reviews
3. Wonder Woman - 30 Rotten Reviews
4. Suicide Squad - 258 Rotten Reviews
5. BvS - 293 Rotten Reviews
6. Man of Steel - 141 Rotten Reviews

And for Good Measure some non Comic-Book data points:

Jason Bourne - 139 Rotten Reviews
Bourne Legacy - 100 Rotten Reviews
Borne Ultimatium - 20 Rotten Reviews
Borne Supremacy - 36 Rotten Reviews
Borne identity - 32 Rotten Reviews

So what is the take away from this data and or the narrative? It can be what ever you want to stretch an opinionated "Truth" or "Reality" to be. You can take away any bias from that data and inject that into any and every conversation.

Confirmation Bias:

also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities. It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning.

I could suggest that Captain Marvel was being more positively reviewed by "Critics" than any of the DCEU films besides Wonder Woman. Just as I can suggest that WW was being more positively reviewed as a film than her stable mates in the DCEU. WW was a stallion and the rest of the "Harras" were basically mules? I saw them all and enjoyed them all to various degrees.

As to liking the movie Captain Marvel, as you understand, I have my own opinion of the movie because I saw the movie and my opinion to see or not see the movie wasn't based on cherry picked summarization of some data points.

1. The data I provided suggests that CM was reviewed comparatively better than all of the DCEU films save WW.
2. The data I provided suggests CM was reviewed comparatively better than some Bourne films.

To which I would shrug my own shoulders and say, "Hmmmmmmmmmmmph".

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

Agreed. I don't give much credit to movie critics (at least, to current ones), much less when it comes to politically driven movies like CM, but it's logical that the more critics, the more negative reviews. The absolute number doesn't mean anything, it's the percentage that counts.

[–] DarthRoger (867) 5 years ago

Update - Captain Marvel now has 98 negative reviews.

And I do appreciate the devil's advocate debate, NorrinRad. These are the kind of debates one should have without getting personal. I respect your points by listing the other movies from the DCEU and the Borne saga, however I was only focusing on the MCU movies and CM still has the most negative reviews of that franchise.

[–] Fonz (634) 5 years ago

I think all this just shows is that fans don’t care about reviews good or bad. I mean CM is on it way to a billion yet a lot of people are calling it avg at best. While Alita has very high reviews but no one is watching it at in the USA. I saw both and liked Alita better as the overall movie.

[–] NorrinRad (5129) 5 years ago

I think all this just shows is that fans don’t care about reviews good or bad.

And you'd be wrong. I don't state that in a confrontational way or to refute your statement.

Fans, audiences, consumers and or customers do very much care about reviews, their opinions are affected by reviews, their buying choices are affected by reviews and their conversations are influenced by reviews whether they will admit it or not. Not ALL fans but enough fans, consumers, and audiences are affected by reviews.

Case in point: Go to a store that sells media, pick up a movie and see if that movie has an RT logo splashed on the cellophane wrapping. But even before that critic reviews were splashed on billboards, in magazines and on TV adds describing an impression of the movie. What would be the point if fans didn't care, didn't pay attention or ignored that type of marketing?

Fans and audiences agree! What is WOM if nothing but an aggregate review of fans for new customers?

Bad reviews for cars, restaurants, airlines, game consoles, toothbrushes, etc affect buying habits.

Consumer Reports used to be a force to be reckoned with. Yelp has an impact pro and con.

Alita has a below average box office base versus production/advertising budget&cost not because of reviews good or bad but because of comparative branding and audience awareness. The James Cameron/Fox/Alita brand wasn't as big as the Disney/Marvel/Captain Marvel brand.

CM was positioned very well in the marketplace and Alita was not comparatively. You go into a store and your impulse buying need is satisfied by quick purchase items at the front by the check-out. Captain Marvel was positioned as part of a long form story component or chapter.

[–] Fonz (634) 5 years ago

Well obviously CM had much more advertising money plus the Marvel brand name behind it. To me there was no doubt CM would do very well. As for the reviews for movies I stand by statement. There’s a difference between going to a movie for $12 vs buying a car for 30K. Losing $12 for an avg movie isn’t the worst money spent. The point is the negative RT reviews didn’t seem to affect CM box office numbers.

[–] NorrinRad (5129) 5 years ago

I don't disagree that the negative reviews didn't have that MUCH of an affect on the CM box office but it does have some affect. The larger pool of positive reviews (thus the %percentage) is the real driver. Those that dislike the movie that have an agenda therefore want to drive the % negative to a higher and higher total.

They also want to drive another narrative as a talking point but not a winning proposition and that is that they are countering a money grab and the alleged agenda setting through the % positive review aggregation. They will intimate and or imply that the %Positive is not real and or manipulated. Audiences tend to not care about them and their agenda or audiences care more about the reviews than they care about Internet Influencers on Youtube who are creating 100's and 100's of negative (but monetized) reviews and videos on Youtube.

If the amount of advertising dollars is all that is needed to guarantee success EVERY movie studio would do just that by simply increasing their advertising and marketing budgets. That wouldn't affect "Legs" or "WOM".

Products big and large have reviews that have an impact on their sales regardless of the amount that the product costs. The best product in the world won't sell itself without a review unless it is something you NEED and not want. If you are a guy I could market, advertise and review Monistat 7 all day and you'd still never buy it or try it because you didn't need it or had no use for the product.

As entertainment Alita 7 had a certain market size that might buy tickets. It was never that big and positive reviews helped get more seats into theaters. There is nothing "Blockbuster" about Alita as it's just a good movie built in an attempt to be a franchise. That is part of the reviews that audiences didn't like about the movie. It also made it unstaisfying for some. I agree with you that as reviews go the cost of an entertainment product is not as critical for my budget or time. But it is for some.

People don't decide to pirate because of reviews but they will decide to forego seeing a movie in theaters if reviews are poor. They'll just decide to wait for streaming, DVD release or for it to appear on cable. Families will make that type of decision because taking the whole crew to a movie is expensive.

[–] FilmBuff (6862) 5 years ago

As the previous responder wrote, you are cherry-picking data to support what you already believe to be true. Rotten Tomatoes offers a score based on the ratio of positive to negative reviews. Of course Captain Marvel, a film reviewed by 434 critics, will have more negative reviews than The Incredible Hulk, which was only reviewed by 227 critics. Had The Godfather been reviewed by 5,000 critics it would have 100 negative reviews. Would that mean anything in comparison to Captain Marvel's 94? Of course not. What matters is that 98% of critics reviewed The Godfather favorably, 78% reviewed Captain Marvel favorably, and 70% reviewed The Incredible Hulk favorably.

As for your choice not to see the film-- hey, it's your choice. For what it's worth, there's zero "feminist bent" to the film. You could swap Jude Law and Brie Larson's roles, and not a single scene or line would need to be changed with a male playing Captain Marvel. I'm as opposed to feminism as anyone can be, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film and found nothing about it to be nothing political or feminist whatsoever.

[–] ultravioletx (10222) 5 years ago

Why not focus on percentage instead? Oh yeah. Because its 78%. Higher than Iron Man 2, Age of Ultron and Incredible Hulk. Ant-Man and the Wasp was just as good as CM in my opinion but I can see others rating it higher.

[–] Frogarama (12942) 5 years ago

You didnt comprehend Brie's comments in the first place.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

All this proves is that someone has a lot of time on their hands, and a desperate need to prove that "Captain Marvel" is a failure on some front. Any front.

If that's all they can find, the movie is an overwhelming success.

[–] DarthRoger (867) 5 years ago

Guess it depends on how you define "success." Star Wars: The Last Jedi made over a billion dollars but is fervently hated by a large percentage of lifelong SW fans. A lot of movies have been deemed successful that went on to undermine a franchise. Solo anyone?

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

"The Last Jedi made over a billion dollars but is fervently hated by a large percentage of lifelong SW fans"

And which of those facts do you think the studio cares about more?

Honestly, there are a lot of Star Wars fans who forget that Star Wars is made for the mainstream, not just for them. It always was.

[–] DarthRoger (867) 5 years ago

I imagine that they started caring a lot more when Solo flopped financially. Pretty sure that got their attention and most of that were fans still disgruntled about SW:TLJ. It's cause and effect. You can pretend it doesn't matter, yet it does.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

"Solo" flopped because the mainstream found it underwhelming

You guys really dont get the importance of mainstream audiences to these franchises.

[–] galahadfairlight (414) 5 years ago

The Last Jedi is both a success and a failure.

$1.3 Billion is a success...... $700million less than Force Awakens is a failure.

By any measurement you care to use, Captain Marvel is a success. Critically well received, the box office is stellar for an origin story, only Black Panthers origin story is a bigger success.

Thing is, I don't care what Brie Larson thinks, if I judge actors by their politics or whatever cause they hold dear, theres a lot of movies I wouldn't see.

Tom Cruise is a Scientology fruit loop...... but the man knows how to act and be in some great movies, so I utterly don't care about his personal life.

Wanna know whos an even bigger SJW than Brie Larson hopes to be? Chris "Captain America" Evans.

I loathe SJW's, they irritate the shit out of me, but there is absolutely no-one else on this planet I want playing Captain America more than Chris Evans, he OWNS that part, and I say that after hearing him being chosen and rolling my eyes thinking "thats the moron who was Jonny Storm in FF4!!!"...... Turns out Marvel know a good godamned more than me when it comes to casting for roles.

Go see Captain Marvel, don't see Captain Marvel, but whilst I don't agree that all what Brie said about white male critics is true, she is right that predominantly, theres white male critics and a tiny minority of others, she can pretend that a black 20 something would review A Wrinkle in Time better, but the reality is, it would still be a crappy movie, but its not wrong to point out that a cursory glance on Rotten Tomatoes shows a sea of white male faces, at least it shouldn't be if its true.

[–] DarthRoger (867) 5 years ago

You had me until that last paragraph. We're a majority white nation, so the fact that there are more white critics is kind of elementary. I think I know what you're trying to say but I'm not sure.

On your other arguments, I get your points and all I'll counter with, is that someone can buy a finger paint piece of art for a million dollars and everyone can "oh" and "ah" and say "that's a million dollar painting!" But the reality will be that it's still a finger painting that someone merely paid a large sum of money for, which is not an indicator that it's actually a good painting.

[–] galahadfairlight (414) 5 years ago

Yes I appreciate that whites are the majority, but I think the point Brie was making was for something like movies, music and other forms of entertainment, maybe having a different spread in the ranges of people critiquing them is no bad idea.

I would avoid race personally because its too divisive, but certainly there should be a better range in the ages critiquing the movies.

Whilst I don't always agree that a 40+ year old man can't review a younger age movie fairly (the output of Pixar, Blue Sky show that they can be reviewed fairly), i'm also pretty sure that no 40+ year old man is going to go into something like Dragon Ball Z anytime soon with the same eager and expectant feeling as he would Steven Spielbergs latest opus.

Brie was right, A Wrinkle in Time wasn't made for 40 year old white dudes, however she picked the wrong horse to back, because it turned out it wasn't made for 14 year old black and white girls either, because they all avoided it.

[–] jasonbourne (1027) 5 years ago

Captain Marvel also made over $1 B in box office sales, so the rotten reviews didn't exactly put a dent in it.

The 7 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that made over $1 billion at the global box office
https://www.businessinsider.com/marvel-cinematic-universe-movies-to-make-1-billion-at-the-box-office-2019-4#5-iron-man-3-2013-3

Only 38 movies have ever hit $1 billion at the box office — here they are
https://www.thisisinsider.com/highest-grossing-movies-box-office-2017-1

[–] Roguemail (1583) 5 years ago

Surely the reviews are academic, because the bottom line is it made money, and ultimately it all boils down to did you personally like it or not.

I like the fact that the healthy box office take is an indication that most people ignored the supposed man-hating nonsense, and decided to go and see it for themselves.

Even if they didn't like it...they chose to spend their money and make their own mind up.

Unless of course some people still think that Disney bought a lot of the tickets themselves...anridiculous notion that fell by the wayside when certain people were asked to show proof.