Your Biggest Experience With Hype Backlash

[Twintix]

Do I make too many threads? It feels like it. But I have so many questions, though...

OK, I'm sorry for using TV Tropes terms here. But let me explain:
Hype Backlash is what happens when you hear pretty much never-ending praise about a movie/game/book/Youtube channel/whathaveyou, get interested, check it out..and get immensely underwhelmed by what you see. Everyone has experienced it at some point, and some have experienced something that disappointed them to the point of infuriating them.

I want to hear about your experiences with this phenomenon. What moments of Hype Backlash stand out most to you? What's the most disappointed you've been with a pretty much universally appraised piece of media? Like I said at the start, this isn't just about movies. It can be books, games, TV shows, Youtube channels, any kind of media.

REMEMBER: I feel like I shouldn't have to say this, as most of you people are a swell bunch. But this thread is about what you think, what you didn't like, what disappointed you. Feel free to agree or disagree, but don't attack each other for having a different opinion.

Also, the piece of media in question doesn't necessarily have to be bad. It just has to leave you with a feeling of disappointment.

Well, I'll just quote my example from a thread I posted in about three months ago. This one was mostly me hyping up myself, though:

TRON: Legacy

I saw the trailer for this movie and got somewhat exited, which is rare, since I'm extremely picky with movies. The trailer was so awesome. I was looking forward to cool motorcycle races, an interesting story and characters to actually give a shit about.

Instead I got 2 hours worth of an awful clichéd plot, (seriously, I could tell how the movie was going to end after 15 minutes) terrible flat characters whereof the girl gets one scene of kicking ass before she's reduced to a wandering plot device, pretty much zero use of the 3D effect (I watched it in 3D; What a waste of money) and drab, bland colors that started feeling a bit harsh on the eyes after a while.

Seriously, the one character, the ONE SINGLE CHARACTER that was actually somewhat interesting and fun gets killed off after, like, three scenes with him. Sorry, pal; No room for memorable characters in this movie. We need more room for the infuriatingly stupid and boring villain.

Fuck this movie.

It is because of Hype Backlash (and that I'm not that into movies) that I didn't get excited for Frozen. I heard so many good things about this movie, but I also heard a lot of people who didn't like it. Then I got the chance to watch it on the plane on my way home from the US. I gave it a shot, expecting it to be an incredibly average movie.

Well...I got what I expected. It's not a bad movie by any stretch, it's just...painfully average to me. The music was nice though. (Except for the troll song. Blegh.)

Well, those are my thoughts. Share your disappointment here!

 

[Colour Scientist]

Breaking Bad

That was a bit of a let-down.

I was pretty late to the party so I had months, if not years, of people telling me it was the most amazing thing ever and, as a big fan of The Wire and The Sopranos, I thought it would be perfect for me.


I made it to season four before I gave up.

I didn't think it was bad by any means, I just don't think it could have possibly lived up to my expectations and after watching for three seasons and waiting for it to become the mind-blowingly awesome show everyone was talking about, it finally sunk in that this was it. I will likely go back to finish watching it some day but it's not high on my priority list.

Edit: Also, Skyrim but I think I've posted about that more than enough times.

It's probably time to move on. XD

 

[Scarim Coral]

I guess that would be Iron Man 3.

Since I liked Iron Man and LOVED Iron Man 2 (despite what some critics has say) I expected the same routine from Iron Man 3 (action, Tony one liner and a mech like fight at the end). What I got was Tony playing detectives and a disspointing villain and I ain't referring to the Mandarin (I liked that twist seeing how I never get why the villain is named after one of the Chinese langauges). Sure I get that they were trying to define Tony without his suits but I just find it a drag and so different from the past two films!

 

[shrekfan246]

The entire Marvel cineverse.

The more people go on and on about it, the less I care.

Not that I can't appreciate what it's doing, but Christ alive, you'd think they're the greatest films that have ever been filmed in the history of humanity the way the internet talks about them. Even the mediocre ones get free passes despite having the same problems that people skewer other films for. Blegh.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Pacific Rim. It was all right, decent way to spend the afternoon. But given the insane amount of hype I was hoping for something absolutely mindblowing. Instead, it was just okay.

And I would say Transistor. Given how much I adore Bastion, my first time playing through Transistor was a bit of a letdown. But about halfway through the second time it really started to grow on me and is now one of my favorites.

 

[Vault101]

I thought hype backlash was less finding something overrated and more the inevitable "backlash" of tons of people saying "it wasn't that good" after the initial hype dies down , its like a cycle

now weather or not its justified is another thing, I think often its borne not over the quality of the thing, but more irritation with everyones obsession over it

personally I think the hype backlash of AVATAR was justified, even if you liked that movie there wasn't a whole lot of substance there and the plot was both preachy and cliché, and really it didn't seem to stick in peoples minds after it was all over

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Dragon Age 2. The only game that I bought on release, and something I always remember whenever I'm tempted to buy a new game. Never again.

 

[Mezahmay]

That Scarlett Johansson movie...what was it...oh! Lucy! I really hated that movie. I MIGHT have enjoyed it as an action movie if I could look past every ounce of bullshit science and the weak story, but I was unable to look past any of the bullshit science or buy into the threadbare plot. Every single time something happened I had to resist the urge to audibly groan in the theater.

 

[J.McMillen]

That Scarlett Johansson movie...what was it...oh! Lucy! I really hated that movie. I MIGHT have enjoyed it as an action movie if I could look past every ounce of bullshit science, but I was unable to look past any of the bullshit science. Every single time something happened I had to resist the urge to audibly groan in the theater.

I've seen a number of movies where the secret to enjoying it was to just accept some magical bit of tech or science worked, and throw logic out the window. Seriously, master that and it's easier to just sit back and enjoy the show.

 

[Mezahmay]

That Scarlett Johansson movie...what was it...oh! Lucy! I really hated that movie. I MIGHT have enjoyed it as an action movie if I could look past every ounce of bullshit science, but I was unable to look past any of the bullshit science. Every single time something happened I had to resist the urge to audibly groan in the theater.

I've seen a number of movies where the secret to enjoying it was to just accept some magical bit of tech or science worked, and throw logic out the window. Seriously, master that and it's easier to just sit back and enjoy the show.

You have no idea how much happier I'd be if I could let things like that go. But I can't.

 

[Fox12]

Easy. Citizen Kane.

The greatest film of all time. A masterpiece of film making. The golden standard by which all film are judged. When we want to label something as groundbreaking, we compare it to Citizen Kane. Heck, Bioshock Infinite is apparently the Citizen Kane of gaming. And I agree, it is, in the sense that they're both monstrously overrated, and not nearly as intellectual as people claim.

I was expecting to be blown away, but instead I was disappointed. It began with what must have been one of the clumsiest exposition dumps in the history of cinema. You're supposed to weave exposition into the narrative. The pacing was stilted and weird, some of the scenes made little to no sense, and the acting was a mixed bag.

The film wasn't bad, of course. Several of the scenes were very powerful, especially the ones dealing with Kane's second marriage, and Orson Welles commands the screen, sometimes saving the film from less competent actors. You really see him breaking at the end, and it hurts. Dorothy Comingore does a decent job as well, though some of her dialogue is rather weak. All of this can't save the film, however. I can think of numerous films off of the top of my head that a superior in almost every way. I understand that Kane was ground breaking, but objectively it just doesn't hold up as well as the critics would have you believe.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'll have to second Avatar. I was impressed visually with the movie, but the Dances With Wolves plot kind of grated on me quite a bit for some reason. It wasn't the bee's knees for me and I'm not happy there are multiple sequels. Then again I haven't been a Cameron fan since Titanic was released. Thats another movie I was not impressed with despite its popularity. I only went to see it because my grandmother asked and I love my grandma very much.

 

[EyeReaper]

I wanted to be part of the cool kids anime club and find Attack on Titan the second coming of anime christ like everyone else, so I gave it my standard "Three episodes for it to hook me"... buuut It really didn't. The protagonist is a whiny cliche twerp, the "strong but silent" waifu bait was boring, and I just didn't care about the rest of the characters.

Not to mention that the Titans don't really seem to be doing anything wrong. They just kinda wander into the city like toddlers to an anthill, picking up bugs and chomping on them, not to mention that their "creepy" designs are downright laughable.

 

[deathbydeath]

The entire Marvel cineverse.

The more people go on and on about it, the less I care.

Not that I can't appreciate what it's doing, but Christ alive, you'd think they're the greatest films that have ever been filmed in the history of humanity the way the internet talks about them. Even the mediocre ones get free passes despite having the same problems that people skewer other films for. Blegh.

A-fucking-men. Today when I heard about PHASE THREE of their master plan my first thought was "Why can't they make a movie worth watching before they plan a goddamn decalogy?".

Also Kill la Kill. Granted I'm not sure if this entirely counts seeing as I regard Japanime with the same hatred I reserve for hipsters, ISIS, and white people (hyperbole, chill), but I was conned into it by a few friends and there was nothing better to do anyway. Thing is, episodes six and seven were really, really good. Seriously, they were fantabulous works of art with regards to their story and characterization. I get so hyped over these two episodes that I keep watching despite my "burn it on general principle" policy towards this sort of thing, and it completely let me down. Six and Seven were interesting, fresh ideas when the rest of the entire show (I assume, I gave up ~20-21) was boring, bog standard shounen bullshit that I grew out of six to seven years ago.

The worst part was how the show pretended Senketsu and Junketsu were anything other than fap fuel. Cheese and rice, that bit was painful to watch.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Dark Knight Rises for me. I was super hyped for it because I loved Begins and Dark Knight so much. Went to see it opening night midnight release... walked out and felt... cold. Not really hating it, but not loving it or even really liking it. To me it was an overly long action piece that sort of went on and was easily forgettable when it was over.

 

[GrumbleGrump]

Halo: Combat "Evolved".

I played it and held my interest for a grand total of around 30 minutes. It still holds the record for the quickest I've ever left a game in the dirt and my first lesson in hype: don't believe it.

 

[RaikuFA]

Bioshock Infinite. That game was soooooooooooooooooooo boring. Yet people claim it to be the pinnacle of human achievement. Story wasn't bad, but that gameplay was just horrible.

 

[Shadow flame master]

I honestly don't know what item of media I suffered the most hype backlash from. I do believe that James Cameron's Avatar was a little bit pretentious and Pacific Rim, while cool, wasn't all that I thought it would be, I still like both but I don't see them as the best thing ever created.

As for video games, there was Skyrim, while it was an interesting game it felt kinda hollow to me. But that might be because it was a serious open-world game, and if I don't find anything interesting to do in open-world games, then it gets boring after a few hours. This is why I will play GTA 5 over Skyrim any day. Bioshock: Infinite was one of those games that I was gonna get no matter what, hype or no hype.

Click the box to see how I view Spec Ops: The Line.

Spoiler

With Spec Ops: The Line however, I was following it on and off since the first concept trailer (the trailer that shows a younger Walker with black hair) so I was already a little hyped for it. When it came out, and I read the reviews, it seemed like everyone was praising it for being so different from the standard shooters that came out. So of course I saw the hype as truth that this game was gold, until I played it. Don't get it twisted, I understand the themes that are being thrown my way in the game, and it was a very enjoyable game overall, I just didn't like how ham-fisted it was, which took away major points in my book.

And lets not start on how The Line was compared to every modern military shooter, and all the articles that popped up saying how Call of Duty and Battlefield and others should be like this gem that is oh so superior to them. It felt like, and still feels like people are trying to present this game as something it wasn't. Yes, it did have something to say about how we glorify violence as a culture, but what about the other themes that you can find in the other shooters?

Just off the top of my head, Modern Warfare 2's "Blindly following orders from anyone without question can result in catastrophic consequences," or Black Ops 1 and 2's "Tomorrow's enemies can be created from the smallest of incidents."

 

[Elfgore]

Attack on Titan, Kill La Kill, and I'm assuming JoJo and Gurren Lagen might fall victim as well. I started watching Attack on Titan when episode 14 was released. The first episodes were great, as was the Battle of Trost arc. After that, downhill hard. Kill La Kill I didn't really care for all that much since the start. Mako is cool, but everything else is meh.

 

[Grottnikk]

Team Fortress 2. I just could never get into it. It was (and is) supposed to be the best team shooter EVAR, with the best combination of classes, the best balance, the best maps.... Meh.