GG
MemberGiganMay-29-2019 8:39 AMGodzilla movies tend to be trolled by critics, and I saw tweets the night before the embargo lifted of critics saying, "This is the part of my job that I hate, having to go see movies like Godzilla." It's disgusting, and the movie is rocking a 97% audience score on Google and an astonishing 8/10 on IMDB off of nearly 1000 reviews. Ignore the critics.
Good grief.
Titan of Water
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 8:44 AMWhether the movie is actually good or not is completely irrelevant to them, it was doomed to be panned by critics because:
1. It’s a Godzilla movie and a according to them all Godzilla movies are bad
2. It isn’t a Disney movie
3. Probably won’t follow the SJW narrative
Angering the Godzilla fan base one take at a time
Titan of Water
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 8:46 AMThat’s not to say none of them at all have legitimate criticism, I’m sure there are one or two who actually didn’t like something about. But at the end of the day people should really just form their own opinion about the movie after watching it.
Angering the Godzilla fan base one take at a time
GojiFan99
MemberMothra LarvaeMay-29-2019 8:49 AMI tend to think that critics like these don't fully understand Godzilla movies like we do, they probably expect a masterpiece of some sorts.
I'm sure we've come to expect that giant monster movies are dumb fun movies, you watch it for the monsters beating the hell out of each other. It doesn't need to be anymore than that.
Godzillatheking123
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 8:50 AMIt would be naive to pretend all critics are objective or don't come to a movie without an agenda. Sometimes their criticism has a solid basis and I can agree with them if they are well-reasoned. Sometimes they let their bias cloud their judgement. They may try to hide it with flowery phrases, but usually we can tell whether they are going to dismiss a movie before even watching it.
Since we are the true fans, our opinions are ultimately the most important.
ZillaDude345
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 8:55 AMThey nit-pick at everything. I get it's their jobs but movies like these are meant to be fun. But their are more audience viewers compared to critics. And audience reviews are rocking at 97%. So whos word are you gonna take. A few thousand people or a few hundred critics?
King and Queen of The Skies.........
Gmkgoji
MemberRodanMay-29-2019 8:55 AM8/10 on IMDB?
Thats very good!
Zwei Wing is the best singing duo. Change my mind.
Ultrazero80
MemberTitanosaurusMay-29-2019 10:16 AMI have a feeling that this is gonna be another movie that critics hate, but audiences love.
Godzilla... Truly a God incarnate.
Gmkgoji
MemberRodanMay-29-2019 10:20 AMLike, Venom?
Zwei Wing is the best singing duo. Change my mind.
TheLazyFish
MemberRodanMay-29-2019 11:05 AMI wonder where the Nostalgia Critic will fall........ anyways, whether or not the critics hate it, I'm almost definitely going to LOVE this movie!
If people weren't lazy, we wouldn't try to be efficient. If we weren't efficient, we'd never get anything done.
G. H. (Gman)
AdminGodzillaMay-29-2019 11:07 AMUltrazero80,
But the thing is, critics don't hate it. The positive reviews are very positive and the negative reviews aren't even all that bad.
This is the problem with Rotten Tomatoes--It has nothing to do with critics. We need critics to keep art in check. What we don't need is a percentage telling us how many of those critics liked or disliked a movie.
The "Tomatometer" tells us how many critics "liked" the movie, but it doesn't immediately give us the average score by critics. You have to click another tab in order to see what is [very] arguably more relevant. After all, what if a movie gets a 95% fresh rating, but the average score is 6.5 out of 10? What good is a 95% fresh score if most people grade it with a 65?
Even then you shouldn't be looking at the score critics give. You should be reading their words. As an English minor it's absolutely embarrassing how we've allowed Rotten Tomatoes reduce thought, analysis and words to an arbitrary number.
There used to be a day where you read reviews after you watched a movie. But now people have become dependent on a website where they don't even read reviews. They just look at some digits and throw a party when the numbers are high or claim, "critics know nothing, Jon Snow," when the percentage is low.
I was a film critic for nearly a decade. I can attest that Rotten Tomatoes has helped destroy film criticism. Too many websites, magazines and other publications require critics to conform to certain word counts and formats just so they can make it on the site. Some sell out so they can be listed as a "Top Critic" or "Featured Critic" on Rotten Tomatoes. This has perpetuated distrust between audiences and writers and it's unfortunate because it's the fault of Rotten Tomatoes more than anything.
It's the rise of this website that has stopped audiences from finding some intelligent things to read about film. Instead, they assume a critic's job is to tell people if a movie is good or bad. What's worse is that many critics today believe that's their job too.
Understand that's not the case. A film critic's job isn't to say whether a film is good or bad. Their job is to inspire audiences to think about a movie and engage it differently than they would have on their own. Yes, they do this by offering their opinions and views--Because new discoveries are made by going outside your box.
My recommendation is not to get mad at critics and be so close minded as to assume that they collectively, "don't understand" your favorite movies. My recommendation is to do your research. Find critics you trust - Listen to them - Let them help you engage with movies, whether you agree with them or not - And stop watching a tomato thermometer.
TheLazyFish
MemberRodanMay-29-2019 11:15 AMGman
That's a really good point, I didn't really think about that. I always thought that the Tomatometer or whatever is called was pretty stupid because good movies, in my opinion, got sucky ratings a good portion of the time and bad movies get good ratings (also in my opinion) another large portion of the time. I didn't really think that the tomatometer actually somewhat changed the outlook of critics and dumbed down their words this much, so that was a very interesting and valid point.
If people weren't lazy, we wouldn't try to be efficient. If we weren't efficient, we'd never get anything done.
Ultrazero80
MemberTitanosaurusMay-29-2019 1:53 PMGMan- I actually agree with that.
Godzilla... Truly a God incarnate.
maricorreialol
MemberMothra LarvaeMay-29-2019 2:14 PMG-Man you said everything holy damn
and it kinda sucks that people sell out just to be part of a site which by the way i still don't know why it's used as the biggest platform for film criticism??
and like you said we should stop focusing on the rotten and look for the ones we trust!
thank you for this read!
dk
MemberGodzillaMay-29-2019 4:55 PMZillaDude345 I have noticed that reviews in general- not just movies, have gotten a little out of hand. It seems that the internet has made a lot of people feel like big shot critics because they can take pictures of food or movie settings and pretend to have any real expertise. It also seems like these so called critics or reviewers just like to hate on things as if to make themselves look above it all somehow.
TBH, I am aware of the new Godzilla movie and have been ignoring everything about it pretty much. I will see it and when I do, I don't want to know what snobs think about it. I will look at this forum first if nothing else.
G. H. (Gman Well said. Unfortunately, a lot of people put trust in metrics since we can actually provide numbers to represent quality- or so it seems. I have hated or enjoyed movies, games or music and found out later that my rating was way off the mark: I loved what critics hated or hated what critics loved. Honestly, I tend to trust members on Scified- they don't seem to have an agenda and are quite articulate.
When it comes down to brass tacks, if you have a hunch about a movie or whatever, check it out and decide for yourself. Seek reviews later if needed.
I Meme Everything
MemberGiganMay-29-2019 5:25 PMGodzilla movies to critics:
"Part of the journey is the end..."
Godzillatheking123
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 6:06 PMG. H. (Gman): I don't think anyone here said point blank that there should be no film criticism. That was never the point. The point is that film critics themselves have devalued their own profession, which you yourself has now admitted.
And don't look at the RT score? Too late now. People today want instant gratification, instant knowledge. They have busy lives and don't have the time and patience to assess a movie by going through and reading many critics opinion on it.
And even if they do read critics review carefully, like me, I do find critics have less and less meaningful things to say about a moive these days. Which goes back to the degradation of the profession. And you have to admit, some critics do harbor certain agendas when it comes to film review. That tends to rub people the wrong way, especially us fans. Like what the OP, they already dismiss Godzilla before watching it.
G. H. (Gman)
AdminGodzillaMay-29-2019 6:24 PMGodzillatheking123,
When people say sentences to the effect, "critics know nothing" and the like, it paints a picture that they aren't needed or don't understand the genre. That may be the case for some, no doubt, but that's not the point I was driving home. The point I'm making is that film critics need to be seen in a different light. Quantifying their reviews as mere numbers instead of reading their words does a diservice to them and audiences.
Critics may have helped to devalue their profession, but Rotten Tomatoes started the campaign. We as audience members don't help them either when we only look at a percentage to sum up some likely more intelligent words that might have been said--We're just as much at fault for keeping that website alive.
TheGMan123
MemberTitanosaurusMay-29-2019 6:59 PMAt the end of the day, I think it's best if everyone tries to go in without anyone else's opinions informing their own, at least on the first few watches.
Godzillatheking123
MemberBaragonMay-29-2019 7:15 PMG. H. (Gman): Well, it's true some critics just don't get Godzilla, haha. ;)
As for the rise of RT, it is part of the larger trend of the move towards quantification over qualitative analysis in society. You see it in sports, businesses and the academia. Everyone demands a number, a correlation and so on. No one cares about qualitative analysis anymore, sadly.
dk
MemberGodzillaMay-29-2019 8:32 PMEveryone demands a number, a correlation and so on.
That's what I was talking about. I think if something sounds interesting, one should just check it out. Deciding whether to experience something like a movie based on metrics is a form of peer pressure.
G. H. (Gman)
AdminGodzillaMay-29-2019 10:42 PMGodzillatheking123,
And as true as that may be, it doesn't make it right. Like I said, in 80s and 90s critics were reserved after audiences had seen the film. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel even insisted on that kind of order. The former even wrote about the death of film criticism in the mid-2000s as publications were pulling word counts from newspapers and magazines.
When Rotten Tomatoes came into being it only belittled it further. Quantifying thought and analysis may be trendy, but it's not accurate. And in the case of film criticism, we as audiences that assimilate this kind of information have allowed it to happen by turning to RT's numbers.
We certainly have the power to make something as arbitrary as a "tomatometer" irrelevant, but apparently not the will.
dk
MemberGodzillaMay-29-2019 11:41 PMWe certainly have the power to make something as arbitrary as a "tomatometer" irrelevant, but apparently not the will.
For starters, we could just check out stuff that interests us. Or we can be mindless consumers and just watch and pretend to enjoy whatever comes out with tons of hype and nod heads , be happy and ensure being current for water cooler discussions.
Do as you are told, buy your tickets,snacks and parking- and enjoy the block buster you are told to enjoy. It sold a lot of tickets so it must be great, right? Whatever. It is both your time and dime. Hopefully you will enjoy- the numbers say you should!
Yes, this is intentionally provocative. The intent is to encourage people to not get caught up in so called expert previews and reviews.
fluttashift54
MemberMothra LarvaeMay-30-2019 10:07 AMScrew film critics imo. They don't know a good Godzilla movie and King of the Monsters is looking amazing based on the trailers and t.v. promos. I'll enjoy it if it's kaiju action to the max!
TheLazyFish
MemberRodanMay-30-2019 10:26 AMIt's not entirely the film critics fault, as some others on here have said.
If people weren't lazy, we wouldn't try to be efficient. If we weren't efficient, we'd never get anything done.
fluttashift54
MemberMothra LarvaeMay-30-2019 10:34 AMI'm not saying it's their fault, but to me, they seem to bash anything that isn't up to their high, oscar-tainted standards. It's a movie about giant monster fighting not an award show designed "masterpiece". It's Godzilla not The Departed.
G. H. (Gman)
AdminGodzillaMay-30-2019 10:59 AMfluttashift54,
And most critics do understand this--People who were once filmmakers and studied film get that not every movie is supposed to be an "Oscar winner". That's a cop out argument. They just expect certain movies to live up to their promised potential and for some it has not.
Look at John Wick: Chapter 3 or Avengers: Endgame for example. Neither are going to win big awards, but both were highly praised by critics for delivering the types of movies they were meant to be.
Now granted, there's some grey area with Godzilla since it comes from a Japanese franchise and there are many American critics that have not studied Japanese cinema. However, seeing as this is an adaptation of that franchise, rather than a cultural transplant or foreign film, that shouldn't be too much of a hurdle to get over.
TheLazyFish
MemberRodanMay-30-2019 11:43 AMWhat he said XD
If people weren't lazy, we wouldn't try to be efficient. If we weren't efficient, we'd never get anything done.