Critics aren’t supposed to like blockbusters more than the general public.
It rarely happens in the opposite direction. Audiences feel it’s better than its reputation. (If you were to make the argument that Rotten Tomatoes is a deeply flawed system at best and actively harmful to the future of criticism at worst, well, I wouldn’t stop you.) If you’ve bought a ticket for a movie - as opposed to having seen it at a free critics screening - you’re far more likely to have self-selected as a fan already, and thus, you’re far more likely to be into the movie. There’s also 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a 26 percent score from critics and a 61 percent score from audiences, for a 35-point gap. Critics, however, only liked the film to the tune of a 40 percent score - a 39-point gap. A divide between movie audiences and critics happens all the time - especially with blockbusters.Ĭonsider the recent case of Justice League, which brought together a bunch of big-name superheroes, to the delight of 79 percent of those who saw it and bothered to register their opinion on Rotten Tomatoes.