The Internet can be both uniting and divisive. That's nothing new to not. And has perhaps been highlighted more than ever in recent times people's opinions on many things, from politics to recipes, can be amplified.
Not surprisingly, that also extends to movies. Passionate fans have been expressing love for the film of choice. But likewise, detractors also get their say. And at times, that latter of the two gets more of the attention when it shouldn't. And some websites might be bigger culprits in this than others. Full disclosure, I'm going to reference a couple of franchises here.
Ones of which I'm generally a legit, proverbial card-carrying member of the fanbase for. Though my opinions will seep in at times, I'm still going to address many things objectively. But if you've got a problem with that, you've been warned.
Websites like Rotten Tomatoes shouldn't get so much deference
Over the years, the website Rotten Tomatoes has risen to fame. They are likely starting off with good intentions before things go off the rails. In essence, the website accumulates movie and television reviews from professional critics and the general public. In theory, giving an aggregate of how good or bad a movie or television show is perceived to be. Projects are scored from 0% to 100% on how 'rotten' or 'fresh' they are.
The higher the percentage they are, the fresher they are. And, supposedly, the better they are.
Except that's not really how it works. A cornerstone of this premise should be that everybody's opinion should be equal. In the U.S., somebody's thoughts from any news outlet in any state should count as much as any other. It should be similar with other countries.
But that isn't how Rotten Tomatoes or similar sites, such as Metacritic, do things.
Instead, some critics from some outlets are given more credence than others. On its face, that's unfair. And then you get into other loaded questions on things such as who decides which critics are 'better than others. It also likely helps lead to bizarre statistics on the site.
Their own algorithms can say a movie's reviews have been more than 50% positive. But still, be below 50% on the rotten-to-fresh tracker.
Even what is or isn't given the so-called fresh status is a bit perplexing. The website has certain benchmarks for where something can be certified fresh. Fair enough. But it seems like basic common sense that something that gets majority positive feedback should not be considered bad—and yet released with scores like 59% being classified as rotten. So, people work hard on a project, it gets released, most people say it's good. Yet it somehow gets labeled as bad by a website with a ridiculously disproportionate amount of credibility.
Many movies get an unfair rap
Problems with websites like Rotten Tomatoes or even Metacritic are even more apparent following the recent release of "Eternals". Another chapter of the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe. General responses have included some criticisms, including on its exposition. But it's also gotten highly positive feedback for elements like its cast and visuals.
The movie does have a bit of a different feel than other Marvel movies, notes The Guardian. It's not perfect, but overall, it works rather well. The changes were unwelcome for some of the critics as mentioned above. Apparently, in some of the very same ones who've been saying that Marvel's formula is too repetitive.
A premise that I fundamentally and heartedly reject. But it does make sense for a franchise as big and long-running as Marvel to do something different from time to time. It's hypocritical to slam something for being the thing that they've been asking for. There've also been accusations of bias against the movie because of director Chloe Zhao.
"Eternals" put up a 'dominant performance at the box office with its opening, as indicated by Deadline. It could be another indicator that professional critics don't really carry that much weight for people's viewing choices. At last check, "Eternals" has good audience scores according to several sites - including Rotten Tomatoes. But people should perhaps be wary of these scores as well.
Audience scores are really probably more representative of reality than ones from critics.
There are also other phenomena, like 'review bombing' and 'vote brigading'
Even among the general public, inaccurate narratives can take root. We can look back at Marvel again for examples of this. At times, it can be an innocent mistake. One can see how somebody might think "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies were failures because of their abrupt ending. More were in the works, and then they weren't. In truth, the audiences were received well by audiences and critics and did very well financially. But the character was moved to the MCU, and much of the behind-the-scenes talent went with it. Decision-makers opted to just go for a reboot than try to explain a franchise merger.
But there are also other, more malicious activities in play. Chiefly, what's been dubbed as 'vote brigading' and 'review bombing' by onlookers. Basically, a movie initially scores positive numbers. And then, a group of Internet users with a plan seeks out to artificially negatively impact the scores, at times devoting a pathetically obscene amount of effort to mislead people.
This famously happened in the MCU with "Captain Marvel." But perhaps no franchise has been targeted more by it than "Star Wars." More specifically, the newer movies that have been released since 2015. Generally, the prequels released during the same time have been accepted. But the sequels have been a bitter point of contention.
The end of the story for Ben Solo can be exceedingly frustrating. Some elements are open to criticism. The fact that filmmakers decided to 'wing it' with Rey's backstory from movie to movie is, in hindsight, absurd. But generally, they're great movies.
The turmoil really seemed to get a foothold with the release of "The Last Jedi." The initial response to it was fantastic, perhaps too much so for some segments of the franchise's fanbase. She was greatly offended that it was written as good if not better than the original movies. Others were deeply hurt that their fan theories didn't pan out.
An apparent mixture of original movie loyalists took to the world wide web. Once glowing, scores were quickly dragged down.
Many readers were quick to note the trend. Our old friends at Rotten Tomatoes downplayed the trend at first. But they would eventually acknowledge that review bombers 'seriously targeted' the movie. Similar events followed with the next sequel, "The Rise of Skywalker."
