It's not THAT bad.

[Johnny Novgorod]

Arkham Origins isn't that bad if you don't take into account all the glitches and game-breaking bugs.

And of course the eccentricity of the story, which basically declares that all Batman villains were first met on the same night a year into him being Batman, which is my main problem with the whole experience.

Well it's not exactly ALL of them. It's a bunch of D-listers and three or four key ones. And he's already aware of Penguin and Bane before the game begins. He only meets Riddler and Joker for the first time ever, and only one of them face to face.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Toby Macguire as Spiderman. Just I prefer him as awkward, not some skater-boi who is insta-cool and fanciable. We have them already in droves in the bands they sell, claiming to be musicians.

Prometheus. Err yeah, stupid people be stupid. But has anyone met anyone else who does nothing stupid, no matter their alleged IQ?

The Matrix trilogy. Of course you can't beat the already solved mystery of the first film, that would be insane. They balanced action, style and philosophy quite artistically. Appreciation has grown with understanding.

Christopher Nolan. Some internet hates him, some people follow internet hate blindly. I just don't see the problem. Has never pissed on my kids at christmas.

Fedoras. Or trilbys. Or top-hats (if they got caught up in it too, I dunno). They're just hats. Hats are a good thing. It is the people we must be wary of. Leave the hats alone.

Cats. Mostly because they rhmye with my last choice and last i checked, people were still cool with mats.
They are nice to you if you are nice to them. Not just nice because you are their feeder. Although maybe they are, but at least they hide it better.

Me. Come on, i'm not that bad. Compulsive murder is perfectly natural in the wild. Anyway, when was the last time you spoke to a live critic? Exactly.

 

[happyninja42]

Let's see, list of ones that I think were pretty good.

Superman Returns: This really wasn't that bad a movie, and it felt way more Supermany than Man of Steel did.

Phantom Menace: This was a decent scifi movie. Not great, but certainly not terrible. It's considered awful due to 20+ years of concentrated fanboy expectation + interest.

Alien: Ressurection: This was a pretty damn funny movie really. And I liked the banter of the ship's crew.

Tron: Legacy. I'm adding this simply because I saw it mentioned above by someone else, so apparently the popular opinion is that it was bad? *shrugs* I thought it was pretty fun. Not great, but not terrible. Again, 20+ years of fanboy expectation + interest is really what colored the views of the public I think.

I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them.

 

[Something Amyss]

The first Punisher movie probably fits that bill.

By "First," do you mean 80s with Lundgren, or the other one that people consider "first?"

Either way, I agree, just wondering.

Also, Green Lantern. I will never defend it as a great movie, but it sure wasn't as bad as people made it out to be.

 

[Pyrian]

Deus Ex: Invisible War. And Deus Ex: The Fall, for that matter. Sure, they're the weakest entries in the Deus Ex series, but I had fun with them.

 

[Something Amyss]

Toby Macguire as Spiderman.

And Tom Baker as The Doctor. And while we're at it, Sean Connery as Bond.

I don't get the backlash against Garfield as Parker, which is probably more relevant to a "wasn't that bad" thread. Peter was a bit of a dick until Uncle Ben died in AF15, and within a few issues of Amazing Spider-Man he'd punched out Flash Thompson (Flash would eventually get some good character arcs out of this, along with some questionable ones) and started having girl problems with multiple girls. It was like two years into the comics when Mary Jane was introduced and started fighting with Gwen Stacy (and others) for his affection.

People seemed angry at Amazing and Garfield for not being true to the character when that version of the character was largely a concoction of the movies.

 

[Callate]

I didn't hate The Amazing Spider-Man. It wasn't a fantastic movie; it jumped through a few too many trite genre hoops to really fly. But I didn't hate any of the performances, and I was kind of impressed to find out that some of the web-slinging was done with practical, rather than digital, effects.

Never saw the second one, though. The overwhelming level of hatred directed at it kept me away.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Toby Macguire as Spiderman.

And Tom Baker as The Doctor. And while we're at it, Sean Connery as Bond.

I don't get the backlash against Garfield as Parker, which is probably more relevant to a "wasn't that bad" thread. Peter was a bit of a dick until Uncle Ben died in AF15, and within a few issues of Amazing Spider-Man he'd punched out Flash Thompson (Flash would eventually get some good character arcs out of this, along with some questionable ones) and started having girl problems with multiple girls. It was like two years into the comics when Mary Jane was introduced and started fighting with Gwen Stacy (and others) for his affection.

People seemed angry at Amazing and Garfield for not being true to the character when that version of the character was largely a concoction of the movies.

Oh, don't get me wrong, it isn't one of those teh-original-is-da-best-y'all things. I have no hate or negative feelings towards Garfield, he plays his part well and apparently closer to the source material. Even his name alone brings forth images of tasty lasagne. It is just that as a film, it felt more interesting watching Macguire whereas the Amazing spiderman's character just breezes through in a less troubled manner. Romance kindof happens because it's supposed to, there was no effort to portray struggle. Or doubt. Just have it, and it you have! I know, I know...spiderman films shouldn't be a source of good romance stories. It is only the reason I feel more drawn to Macguire.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

The first Punisher movie probably fits that bill.

Wait... do you mean the Thomas Jane one, or the Dolph Lundgren one?

For me, I just finished watching the Captain America made for TV movies from '79, and they genuinely weren't as bad as I was expecting. To be fair, I wasn't expecting much, but you can't really miss with Christopher Lee as a villain.

Thomas Jane definitely, thanks for asking and not assuming! lol

Phew! I was going to ask the same!

The Tom Jane Punisher film is still one of my favourite Comic Book films. It is exactly what I expect from a Comic Book film... over the top, a bit daft, and relatively simple.

I bet that now the massess have become more accepting of the genre, and The Punisher was given the budget other Marvel films get, that same storyline (with an enhanced script, and some slightly better acting) would be much more popular. I think they did well with the little they had! It plays exactly how a comic does... in instalments.

There is the first third hook intro which ends with the tragedy, the bad guys background and the punisher is born.
Then you have the Punisher plotting his revenge. He gets to know the enemy, and lets them know of him. Just like the comics he decides to play with them as he decides exactly how he is going to inflict pain and anguish on them such as he suffered.
Then there are a series of fights with major mooks. In the typical punisher way these are themed hit men. Namely Harry Heck ,with the dissapointingly short car chase, that ends with it causing the entire montage of him doing his car up as a forified war machine pointless; and The Russian... which is a fantastically violent fight scene which does the comics proud.
Then finally you have a beautifully long winded plan executed with typical precision working his way up to the boss before the final kill... amazing!

The flaming skull made of the cars in the car park... John Travolta killing his right hand man through steered jealousy... The Cuban cigar smugglers... Harry Heck's weirdly dark song... The non-love interest anti-trope... The fat singing chef, 'just can't get the right guy' girl-next-door and the kooky geek neighbors who you can't help but love... Superb.

If you just add the writing from Dirty Laundry and it could be a fan pleasing classic! If Deadpool is a success then they should look at retrying with the Punisher!

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Final Fantasy Spirits Within. Its actually a really decent sci-fi story with great animation. Too bad it was named Final Fantasy.

Lets see...Warhammer 40k Fire Warrior actually had a really good 40k plot. Wasn't great gameplay, but as far as plots go, its pretty good for 40k.

Space Robot Samurai Zombie Slayer was pretty good too.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Mass Effect 3.

In some regards, I think it was better than the others. The gameplay was by far the best it's been, the story was wildly up and down, but it had some rather good moments. Given the hate that I heard about the ending, I expected it to be the worst thing in the world. It was just... mediocre. There were larger issues I had with the game than the ending. The worst part of the game in my opinion was your "badass ninja nemesis". He was just completely out of place there, and he kept showing up constantly.

 

[BlackBark]

Doom, the movie. I mean, it's hardly the best film ever made and it didn't live up to the games, but I think it's pretty reasonable overall.

+1 to FF Spirits Within as well. I guess it just didn't live up to expectations, like most anime films to be honest, but it was still decent enough.

Finally, (although someone beat me to it) Deus Ex Invisible War. It's pretty good, all things considered, even if it's not as great as the original. I actually think it does some stuff better than Human Revolution.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Final Fantasy XIII

There, I said it.
Every time FFXIII comes up in a discussion there's people moaning how awful it was. Kill it with fire and all that. To me it seems to be a case of bringing personal preference to a discussion of its merits. Let me just state it: FFXIII is not broken, unplayable or lacking in gameplay or content. It works, it looks good and it has a lot to offer.

What is objectively bad about FFXIII? I would argue the pacing needs some serious work, as it takes too long to get going. The story can be convoluted at times (but is it any worse than previous FF games?). But linearity is not exactly a new thing for Final Fantasy. With its long corridors and lack of world map/vehicles, it disguises it less well than other games in the series, but that's about it.

Don't you like the characters, the gameplay or something else? Fine. But that does not make the game awful. Final Fantasy has always been a game series that has not been afraid to change things up. So sad the newer titles have all had to suffer from the 'not-FFVII'-syndrome. Don't even get me started on FFXII.

 

[kasperbbs]

Arkham Origins isn't that bad if you don't take into account all the glitches and game-breaking bugs.

It's not a bad game, but when it breaks 3 times in 3 different places you tend to forget most of it's good points.

 

[Evonisia]

X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine aren't really worthy of the universal revilement they have, often being grouped as among the worst superhero films. Neither of them are good. In fact, I think both of them are bad, but they at least have their odd redeemable feature here and there.

Besides First Class and Days of Future Past, I think The Last Stand has the best action in the franchise. The odd mutant gets a nice moment to show off their powers. That final battle, while poorly lit, did at least entertain me and I really enjoy that mutants fought off against each over using their powers which we didn't get (much of) in X-Men and X2. The subplot with Rogue I thought was also a nice addition. The Last Stand's biggest failure was there was no investing in anyone.
Can't support Magneto 'cos he's still doing the kill all humans thing.
Can't support the Humans because they're weaponising a cure for the mutant condition.
Can't support the X-Men because they're supporting the Humans.

As for Origins. It's bad. The first twenty minutes are nice, and some of the mutant fights before the climax are nice. Some little nods like seeing teenage Cyclops was cool as well. It sometimes accidentally turns into pure cheese like when Wolverine suffers a loss, and does at least try to simulate tension with a character who is invincible.

Yeah, it sucks otherwise. I only learned after I watched it that Sabertooth was in it, that's what happens when you hire a different actor and base a large part of the plot on a henchman from the first film. The detour with the old couple, Wolverine can't carry a film on his own[footnote]I think The Wolverine 2013 is OK, but by God is it hard to stay invested when it so predominantly focuses on Wolverine, regardless of how good Jackman is at acting him.[/footnote], the bullshit treatment of Wraith, the special effects are awful (the big mutant being fat, Deadpool, Emma Stone's diamond form) and many other qualities contribute to its badness, but it didn't really invoke any kind of negative reaction.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Ford and LaBeouf had some good on-screen chemistry, and the whole plot with the evil Commies, psychic experiments and yes, even the aliens, felt like classic Indy. It had some of the most exciting action scenes in the series. Some of the things in the movie that people complain about - the aliens, the CGI, the fridge, Shia LaBeouf - all seemed to be in good fun to me. Hell, it's not even the worst movie of the four.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

X-Men 3 and Spiderman 3. The former is lackluster, cluttered, rushed and poorly paced, but not the genocide of Sumatran orphans some seem to take it as. The latter is silly, inconsistent in tone and also cluttered with too many plot threads, but it has great effects and some nice action scenes.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

To be honest, I think people just complain too much, overall. Alot of people can't just enjoy a movie like I can, so out come the complaints and nit-picks. Some things ARE bullshit, but not as much as most would say.

This, so much this. Although if I had to go for something a bit more specific, spin-offs, particularly video games. Yes, they are a bit different, but that's not a bad thing good grief.

I always saw Metroid Other M that way. Easily it was the worst of the Metroid series, and there was a lot I didn't like and some wasted potential. But the "main" problem people had was something I didn't have a problem with. The problem that they "got Samus wrong." And being that prior to that she was a self-insert blank-slate, I didn't get that. I recognized that I had been wrong about Samus, but it seemed most people just had a hard time letting go of "their" version of Samus. The fact that she had insecurities and weaknesses (like a person generally does) killed their vision of the hyperbro "woohoo" guns blazing alien pirate-killer 80's action hero they seemed to picture.

Now, I never said that the way they finally characterized Samus was good. But call it bad writing, not mischaracterization. Oh and the infamous "Varia Suit" issue with Other M. "Some Man told her not to activate her Varia suit, even though she was going through a lava chamber and taking damage. And she didn't disobey... blasphemy." Yeah, how DARE they make Samus go through environmentally dangerous areas... like she did in Zero Mission, and Super Metroid, and Prime 3 Echoes... oh yeah. No, it wasn't written well in Other M. But the mechanic of going through environmentally dangerous areas before you get the item that lets you navigate the area safely WAS a staple of the series. And frankly, in Other M with it's regenerating health (an added feature I didn't like) it was easy and only a danger to the completely ham-fisted gamer.

Blank-slate...yes...because the phrase "actions speak louder than words" is just a phrase.

And come on, I doubt most people complain about the "what" of the Varia Suit bit. It's the "why" and honestly the whole "permission" business with her gear was completely idiotic.

And lastly, there's a colossal difference between "insecurities and weaknesses" and "being so mindbogglingly stupid as to actively endanger yourself for no reason when you have to means to protect yourself." I wouldn't want Samus or any other character to have that trait.