Featured article: "Sucker Punch: Who's the sucker?"

Article link: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/03/28/sucker-punch-whos-the-sucker/

I'm normally the last person to defend Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum. I'd say about 8 times out of 10 she phones in her reviews. But I like this article because it points out something that has bugged me for a while - this expectation for fanboy movies. There's an assumption that anything based on a comic book, graphic novel, or (these days) video game should do well in theaters. The movie gets hyped to the skies by fanboys excited for the adaptation and the movie kills at Comic-Con. But the rave reviews from the fanboy crowd don't often translate into huge numbers at the box office, and executives are dumbfounded. "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," "Watchmen," and "Kick-Ass," among others, had this problem.

Lisa goes on to challenge the limp statement that "the movie is meant for fanboys," and therefore should be held to lower standards? One commentor rightly deems them the "if you don't like it, you just don't GET it" crowd. She also brings up the fact that many people think she didn't like the movie just because she's an old woman, while the movie is meant for young boys. Now, many times her reviews smack of a hidden bias. Some of her reviews have spent the entire paragraph or two talking about something unrelated to the movie or complaining unnecessarily about the genre, clearly signaling how she felt about the movie anyway. But in this case, I have to take issue. I sincerely believe that anyone can enjoy a good movie, no matter the genre and no matter their race, gender, age, etc. Or, at the very least, a person can admit when a movie is good even if it's not their favorite genre. I also believe that critics can trash a movie but still admit when it's fun or a guilty pleasure nonetheless.

Professional critics get an unfair amount of criticism as snobs and haters, but if a hundred movie critics on Rotten Tomatoes say a movie is terrible, I'm inclined to believe they're not just hatin' and the movie really does have some problems. There are quite a few critics who are snobs and won't admit when a comic book movie or horror flick is good, but they are few and a critical reader can see through that to the fair reviews.

"Kick-Ass" was a great fanboy movie and managed a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, which was that low mainly for the gratuitous profanity and graphic violence. But it still got a majority of good reviews because it was a good movie. You can say it's not your thing because of the violence, swearing, or you just don't like comic book movies, but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie because it's 'not your thing.' Likewise, just because a critic gives a negative review of a movie, don't assume it's because it's 'not their thing.' It's easier to criticize the people whose profession it is to put their opinion out into the public, but it's not the critics who make those movies bomb at the box office. Maybe fanboys should think about that for a second.