The 8 Biggest Movies of 2012, and Whether They Were Any Good

2012's top grossers, counted up by worldwide money, checked against their movie.guru scores. A giant budget does not buy you a good movie.

The top grosser made the most money. It still isn't the best.

1. 8
   Men in Black 3 (2012)5.5

   The most expensive shrug of 2012.

   Reported $215 to 250M budget, $654M worldwide, and a 5.5 movie.guru score, the exact median movie. Josh Brolin doing Tommy Lee Jones is the only part anyone remembers.
2. 7
   The Hunger Games (2012)7.8

   Best bargain on this list, and it isn't close.

   Reported $78M budget, $408M domestic. The shaky cam makes the action hard to follow, but Jennifer Lawrence still dragged it to a 7.8 and an A CinemaScore.
3. 6
   The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)6.7

   Garfield and Stone were great. The movie around them wasn't.

   $759M worldwide and a 6.7 movie.guru score. Guru's Take is 5.9 because the Lizard plot feels like a placeholder while the studio sets up a sequel.
4. 5
   The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)4.9

   Worst score here, and $889M says nobody cared.

   4.9 movie.guru score and 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, yet an A CinemaScore and $889M worldwide. Fans showed up for a goodbye, not a good movie.
5. 4
   The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)7.4

   One short book, way too much movie.

   $1.02B worldwide and beat 88% of movies with audiences, but critics stalled at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Jackson padded a bedtime story into a reported $315M marathon.
6. 3
   The Dark Knight Rises (2012)8.6

   Weakest of Nolan's Batman run, and fans won't hear it.

   8.6 movie.guru score and 2,034,108 IMDb votes, but a 64 on Metacritic. Guru's Take is 7.2 because the plot holes are wide enough to park a Tumbler in.
7. 2
   Skyfall (2012)9.0

   The actual best movie of 2012's top eight.

   9.0 movie.guru score and an 81 Metacritic, the highest critic number here. Guru's Take is 8.6. The finale does slow down when it swaps spycraft for a home defense.
8. 1
   The Avengers (2012)9.0

   Biggest movie of 2012. Second best. Fight me.

   $1.52B worldwide, A+ CinemaScore, beat 97% of movies with audiences. Metacritic still gave it 69 to Skyfall's 81, and the first hour is heroes arguing in rooms.

$1,517 says your rewatch this weekend is The Avengers, not Skyfall, and you call it research.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it