Rotten Tomatoes And Moviegoing

 

There has been a great deal of attention on the website rottentomatoes.com of late. The website in some respects is getting a bad rap. In and of itself Rotten Tomatoes is a great reference tool. It is a site to go to read a cross section of reviews. This is not a bad thing at all. However, far too many people are bypassing the reviews and making decisions based solely on the Tomatometer score. That is what seems to be the hot button issue.

Rotten Tomatoes is not the bad guy. The issue is all in how people are utilizing the website. At the end of the day the site is a vast collection of reviews. Reviews are written by people like you and me. Reviewers are simply people with experiences and opinions that shape their worldview. Rotten Tomatoes collects a vast assortment of reviews and puts them on one site. Rotten Tomatoes is just a reference tool. It is a collection of varied opinions. It is not rule, it is not law, it is just opinion.

We all have are own likes and dislikes when it comes to movies. We all have our own opinions on what is good and what is not so good. I am a huge fan of Jackie Chan and his movies. I find a great deal of his movies to be highly enjoyable. Going to Rotten Tomatoes I picked four recent movies starring Jackie Chan, along with each film’s Tomatometer score.

The Shinjuku Incident (2009) 60%
The Foreigner (2017) 62%
The Medallion (2003) 18%
Police Story: Lockdown (2015) 13%

Based on the scores perhaps I should watch the first two on the list and definitely skip the last two. Here is my assessment based on my own experiences with these movies. The Shinjuku Incident, the highest rated of the four films, is my absolute least favorite Jackie Chan movie. I watched the movie once and I never want to see it again. I truly disliked this movie and regret watching it. The Foreigner was an extremely enjoyable and well made movie. I definitely want to watch it again. The Medallion is a movie that I greatly enjoyed. I have viewed this one several times, in fact I own it on DVD. Police Story: Lockdown, the lowest rated of the four, is one of the best Jackie Chan movies of the 21st century. These are all just my own opinions. When it comes to my favorite actors Jackie Chan is high on my list.

From a genre standpoint superhero based movies are a favorite of mine. Like any genre there are good and bad superhero movies. I picked four high profile superhero movies from 2017, along with each film’s Tomatometer score.

Wonder Woman 92%
Spider-Man: Homecoming 92%
Thor: Ragnarok %92
Justice League %40

I must say that I enjoyed the four movies listed above. However, the level of enjoyment and personal investment into each movie varied greatly. I loved Wonder Woman immensely. The praise for the quality of this movie was generally universal. I enjoyed the movie so much that I purchased the DVD. Spider Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok have the same score as Wonder Woman. I thought Homecoming was a fun movie. But once it was over it was over. The movie did not stay in my thoughts and I had no immediate desire to see it again. Of the six theatrical Spider-Man movies Homecoming has the second highest score on Rotten Tomatoes. I liked the movie, however it is my least favorite Spider-Man movie. Thor: Ragnarok is by far the highest rated of the Thor movie series on Rotten Tomatoes. I really enjoyed the movie, but it is my least favorite Thor movie. Justice League is the lowest rated of the four films. I absolutely loved the movie! Is it a perfect film? Far from it, yet despite its many flaws I was thoroughly engaged with this film. I really connected with Justice League. I watched the movie twice and I plan on buying the DVD upon its release.

I could go on and on about movie critics, Rotten Tomato scores, what attracts me to a movie, etc, etc. At the end of the day Rotten Tomatoes is a fantastic reference tool. But a Tomatometer score should not be life or death for a film. Rotten Tomatoes provides numerous reviews, all one can ask is that moviegoers  do their own research. Read a few different reviews to get a better idea of why critics feel as they do. Movies are an investment in our time and our finances, I want to spend both well. However, if I base my moviegoing decision solely on a Tomatometer score I am sure to miss out. Based on their scores I may have missed some of my absolute favorite movies. This is all just one movie fans opinion, but it is something to think about.

 

Troy T.