8 Fantasy Movies Critics Hated That Audiences Would Fight For. The Crowd Was Right, Every Time.

Critics wrote the reviews. Audiences bought the tickets, rated the movies and kept rewatching. On these eight, the crowd called it, and we're siding with them loudly.

Number one has a fanbase that never loses arguments. Neither do we.

1. 8
   Underworld (2003)5.0

   Leather, rain and werewolves. Critics missed the entire point.

   Rotten Tomatoes gave it 30%. It made $95.7 million worldwide on a reported $22 million budget. The plot is mush. The mood carries it anyway.
2. 7
   Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)6.3

   Nostalgia bait, sure. It's the good kind of nostalgia bait.

   Metacritic gave it a 45. Audiences gave it an A− CinemaScore and $129.4 million domestic. It leans on the 1984 movie like a crutch. Nobody in the theater minded.
3. 6
   Meet Joe Black (1998)5.9

   Slow as molasses, and audiences savored every drip.

   Metacritic 43. IMDb 7.2 across 305,396 votes, plus an A− CinemaScore. Martin Brest never met a scene he couldn't stretch. People still rewatch it on purpose.
4. 5
   About Time (2013)7.3

   Richard Curtis's best movie, and critics barely shrugged.

   Metacritic 55, IMDb 7.8 from 445,722 voters. Bill Nighy as the dad is the reason. The time travel rules make zero sense. Doesn't matter, you'll still cry.
5. 4
   The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)7.4

   Bloated, yes. Way more fun than critics admitted.

   Metacritic 58, CinemaScore A, $1.017 billion worldwide. A dwarf dinner party eats the first hour. Then Martin Freeman shows up and earns every frame.
6. 3
   Warcraft (2016)4.5

   The rare game movie that actually takes its lore seriously.

   Rotten Tomatoes 29%. Domestic: $47.4 million. Worldwide: $439 million. The rest of the planet showed up. The humans are the weak link. The orcs are the movie.
7. 2
   Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)5.7

   Way too much movie. That's exactly why it rules.

   Rotten Tomatoes 43%, CinemaScore A−, $961.7 million worldwide on a reported $300 million budget. Gore Verbinski crammed three movies into one. Audiences happily ate all three.
8. 1
   Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)7.9

   The Snyder Cut is the real Justice League. Fight me.

   It beats 96% of movies with audiences and 49% with critics. IMDb 7.9 on 482,466 votes. It's long and grim, sure. The fans who demanded it were right.

$67.41 says someone types "Warcraft deserved a sequel" before they even scroll to number one.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it