Entertainment
21 2019 Movies With A High Audience Score & Low Critics Score On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is one way audiences can decide which movies are worth seeing. The review aggregator lets potential viewers know if a movie has overall positive or negative reviews from critics. But while the most prevalent scores on the site come from reviewers, Rotten Tomatoes also features the opinions of ticket buyers, and, sometimes, there is a big difference between a movie's audience score and critics score.
There are, of course, movies that critics loved and audiences hated, but the following slideshow is for all of you who tend to trust what you hear from fellow viewers more than what you read in reviews. This slideshow features 21 movies from 2019 with a high audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but low grade from critics.
Unfortunately, Rotten Tomatoes has not released a list of films that have the biggest discrepancies between the ratings, but just looking at this year, several movies fit the bill. Toy Story 4? Everyone loved it. The Lion King remake? Not so much.
If you're interested in learning about past movies that have huge differences between their audience and critic ratings — in both directions — you can check out The Guardian's 2013 analysis of the Rotten Tomatoes data of 10,000 movies. The honor of the biggest divide went to movie the 1986 BMX movie Rad. (Granted, its 0% from critics only comes from the five reviews on the site, but most of the 7,000 viewers who rated it really love it.)
To see which movies fans loved this year — but critics not so much — keep clicking. You may have to put some films you previously disregarded back on your watch list.
1. 'The Lion King'
Audience: 88%
Critics: 53%
Difference: 35 points
The "live-action" Lion King got plenty of viewers on its side. It also really cashed in at the box office, making over $1 billion worldwide.
2. 'Aladdin'
Audience: 94%
Critics: 57%
Difference: 37 points
Similar to The Lion King, the live-action remake of Aladdin was a big hit for audiences and in ticket sales, though critics weren't thrilled about it. This one also made over $1 billion worldwide.
3. 'Shaft'
Audience: 94%
Critics: 31%
Difference: 63 points
Yep, another Shaft movie came out this year. This one is about three generations of Shafts, and, apparently, a lot of people were really into that. Can you dig it?
4. 'Anna'
Audience: 81%
Critics: 26%
Difference: 55 points
You might not have heard of Anna, but 81% of people who rated it, liked it. The movie is about a KGB assassin who is trying to live free from the organization, and didn't get a wide release or a lot of promo.
5. 'The Upside'
Audience: 82%
Critics: 40%
Difference: 42 points
Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart won over viewers in this dramedy about a wealthy paralyzed man who forms a friendship with his caretaker. The Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes? "Preachy, manipulative, and frustratingly clichéd."
6. 'After'
Audience: 73%
Critics: 18%
Difference: 55 points
This movie about two college students — an innocent girl and a very mysterious boy — is based on the novel of the same name by Anna Todd. Maybe a lot of the audience reviewers were fans of the book?
7. 'Godzilla: King Of The Monsters'
Audience: 83%
Critics: 41%
Difference: 42 points
Audiences and critics were very divided over this take on Godzilla that introduced several other ancient monsters. Meanwhile, the previous movie from 2014, had a 75% approval rating from critics and 66% from the audience.
8. 'Men In Black: International'
Audience: 66%
Critics: 22%
Difference: 44 points
The Men in Black franchise returned this year with Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth taking over the lead roles. Clearly, the audience wasn't super wild about this one, either, but 44 points is still a notable gap between audience and critic scores.
9. 'A Dog's Journey'
Audience: 93%
Critics: 49%
Difference: 44 points
A lot of viewers felt very passionate about this "dog with human thoughts" movie. Its dog reincarnation plot had to be big with loving pet owners.
10. 'The Intruder'
Audience: 72%
Critics: 31%
Difference: 41 points
Hey! It's Dennis Quaid again. This time, in a very different role as a creepy stalker man who sells his house to a married couple. There's a pretty big divide between these scores — clearly audiences found it much more exciting than reviewers did.
11. 'Poms'
Audience: 76%
Critics: 35%
Difference: 41 points
Poms stars Diane Keaton as a woman who moves to a retirement community and starts a cheerleading squad. It might not have worked for critics, but the story warmed the hearts of 76% of viewers who rated it.
12. 'Alita: Battle Angel'
Audience: 93%
Critics: 61%
Difference: 32 points
Alita: Battle Angel is considered "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes (because it has higher than a 60% approval rating from critics), but there was still a big gap between critics and audiences when it came to this futuristic film.
13. 'Glass'
Audience: 70%
Critics: 38%
Difference: 32 points
Glass is the sequel to Unbreakable and Split, starring James McAvoy, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bruce Willis. It was not up to par for a good amount of viewers and for a lot of critics.
14. 'Tolkien'
Audience: 80%
Critics: 51%
Difference: 29 points
The Tolkien trailer wants you to know that the Lord of the Rings writer's name is pronounced Tol-KEEN. The Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus wants you to know that that Tolkien "lacks the imagination required to truly do its subject justice."
15. 'Dark Phoenix'
Audience: 64%
Critics: 23%
Difference: 41 points
A lot of people were disappointed in Dark Phoenix, the latest installment in the X-Men film series. But still, 64% from viewers is far from the worst rating ever.
16. 'The Red Sea Diving Resort'
Audience: 82%
Critics: 31%
Difference: 51 points
This Netflix movie with Chris Evans is about a fake hotel that was opened to help Ethiopian refugees. It won over a good amount of viewers, but critics really didn't care for it.
17. 'The Best Of Enemies'
Audience: 77%
Critics: 53%
Difference: 24 points
This true story set during the Civil Rights movement worked for many viewers. Unfortunately, the Critics Consensus says it has a "problematic perspective and a disappointing lack of insight".
18. 'Yesterday'
Audience: 89%
Critics: 63%
Difference: 26 points
Like Alita: Battle Angel, Yesterday is still "Fresh" because it has a 63% from critics. Still, audiences liked the story about the Beatles ceasing to exist much more than critics.
19. 'Stuber'
Audience: 79%
Critics: 42%
Difference: 37 points
An action-comedy about an Uber driver is an odd concept, but it worked for 79% of ticket buyers. Wonder how many of them were Uber drivers...
20. 'Super 30'
Audience: 92%
Critics: 33%
Difference: 59 points
This Indian movie about a math teacher who helps underprivileged students take an entrance exam to go on to higher learning, has a big discrepancy in scores. That said, only 12 critics reviews have been tallied on the site.
21. 'The Secret Life Of Pets 2'
Audience: 90%
Critics: 59%
Difference: 31 points
The Secret Life of Pets 2 fared far better with audiences than the original. The 2016 original got a 62% approval rating from viewers, but 73% from critics.
