History GrowingTheBeard / Film

* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' has always had its loyal fans who watch it for [[JustHereForGodzilla the awesome car chases]], but critics didn't start to warm up to the movies until [[Film/FastFive the fifth installment]] -- which surprised most non-fans with its positive reviews.[[note]] It actually managed to earn a "Certified Fresh" rating on Website/RottenTomatoes, where none of the previous movies had even managed a "Fresh" score.[[/note]] The general consensus is that the movies noticeably improved when they stopped taking themselves entirely seriously, and decided to proudly embrace their own cheesiness by ramping the {{spectacle}} up to eleven with action sequences that wouldn't seem out of place in a Franchise/JamesBond movie. It also didn't hurt that they moved away from the original movie's "''Film/PointBreak'' [-[[RecycledInSpace with sports cars]]-]" premise, and reimagined it as a [[TheCaper heist]] series centered around a band of close-knit TrueCompanions; many critics felt that the series gained some much-needed heart as it began to focus on the UndyingLoyalty of the crew, spotlighting Creator/PaulWalker and Creator/VinDiesel's excellent chemistry. The series received fresh ratings for four straight installments. [[note]]This streak was broken with ''Film/{{F9}}'', which ended up barely below the threshold to receive a fresh rating at a 59%.[[/note]]

* The first three ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' films received mixed to positive reviews. While fairly popular, it wasn't until ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'' that they became some of the most well-reviewed films of the year, with three in a row getting over a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

* The first two ''Film/HarryPotter'' films were enjoyable enough, but suffered from [[AdaptationDistillation squeezing in as much of the original books as possible]], with little in the way of cinematic imagination. ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' however, embraced itself as a film first and foremost, and the rest of the series followed suit.

* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' has always had its loyal fans who watch it for [[JustHereForGodzilla the awesome car chases]], but critics didn't start to warm up to the movies until [[Film/FastFive the fifth installment]] -- which surprised most non-fans with its positive reviews.[[note]] It actually managed to earn a "Certified Fresh" rating on Website/RottenTomatoes, where none of the previous movies had even managed a "Fresh" score.[[/note]] The general consensus is that the movies noticeably improved when they stopped taking themselves entirely seriously, and decided to proudly embrace their own cheesiness by ramping the {{spectacle}} up to eleven with action sequences that wouldn't seem out of place in a Franchise/JamesBond movie. It also didn't hurt that they moved away from the original movie's "''Film/PointBreak'' [-[[RecycledInSpace with sports cars]]-]" premise, and reimagined it as a [[TheCaper heist]] series centered around a band of close-knit TrueCompanions; many critics felt that the series gained some much-needed heart as it began to focus on the UndyingLoyalty of the crew, spotlighting Creator/PaulWalker and Creator/VinDiesel's excellent chemistry. For four straight installments, the series received fresh ratings. [[note]]This streak was broken with ''Film/{{F9}}'', which ended up barely below the threshold to receive a fresh rating at a 59%.[[/note]]

* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' has always had its loyal fans who watch it for [[JustHereForGodzilla the awesome car chases]], but critics didn't start to warm up to the movies until [[Film/FastFive the fifth installment]]--which surprised most non-fans with its positive reviews.[[note]] It actually managed to earn a "Certified Fresh" rating on Website/RottenTomatoes, where none of the previous movies had even managed a "Fresh" score.[[/note]] The general consensus is that the movies noticeably improved when they stopped taking themselves entirely seriously, and decided to proudly embrace their own cheesiness by ramping the {{spectacle}} up to eleven with action sequences that wouldn't seem out of place in a Franchise/JamesBond movie. It also didn't hurt that they moved away from the original movie's "''Film/PointBreak'' [-[[RecycledInSpace with sports cars]]-]" premise, and reimagined it as a [[TheCaper heist]] series centered around a band of close-knit TrueCompanions; many critics felt that the series gained some much-needed heart as it began to focus on the UndyingLoyalty of the crew, spotlighting Creator/PaulWalker and Creator/VinDiesel's excellent chemistry. For four straight installments, the series received fresh ratings. [[note]]This streak was broken with ''Film/{{F9}}'', which ended up barely below the threshold to receive a fresh rating at a 59%.[[/note]]
* The original series of ''Film/{{Gamera}}'' movies made little effort to be anything more than a cheap knockoff of the far superior ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise (which had more than its fair share of [[SoBadItsGood bad movies]] to begin with), and today are most notable for providing ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' with some good comedic material. But thanks to such talents as director Creator/ShusukeKaneko, special effects director Creator/ShinjiHiguchi, writer Kazunori Ito, and composer Kow Otani (of later ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' fame),[[note]]all of whom, with the exception of Ito, worked on ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'', nigh-unanimously considered the best Godzilla movie of the "Millenium" era (1999-2004) by far[[/note]] the rebooted "Heisei-era" Gamera trilogy (released between 1995 and 1999) quickly became known as representative of the height of the {{kaiju}} genre alongside even [[Film/{{Gojira}} the original 1954]] ''[[Film/{{Gojira}} Godzilla]]'' [[Film/{{Gojira}} movie]]. This is all particularly true of [[Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys the third film]].

* [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Walt Disney Animation Studio]] has fluctuated in quality throughout the years, but there's have been various definitive starting points for when their studio rebounds in quality. The first instance of this was ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'', the first film to come close to capturing the critical and commercial success of their first feature, ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. Before that, the studio was finding themselves struggling to find a strong title. Disney would go on to have another string of successes until ''Walt Disney's'' passing signaled a decline in quality after ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}''. Their next stage began with ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', which saw the starting point of the Disney Renaissance. Eventually the 2000s would result in another AudienceAlienatingEra for the studio. The late 2000s and early-to-mid 2010s had [[Creator/{{Pixar}} John Lasseter]] as the head honcho of the WDAS, with movies like ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' bringing the studio back to the critical acclaim and commercial success.

* Years prior to being the TropeNamer on TV, ''Franchise/StarTrek'' was this on the movies, and also because creator Creator/GeneRoddenberry was sidelined - though while in ''The Next Generation'' on his own accord due to failing health, this time on studio imposition: Roddenberry had plans for a follow-up to ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', but Paramount decided that his excessive input was what led to that movie getting over budget and being tepidly received as [[LeaveTheCameraRunning boring]], so he was instead KickedUpstairs to being just an executive consultant and other people assigned with the sequel. ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' was a remarkable SurprisinglyImprovedSequel, and the ensuing success of further movies also ensured there was the return to television. No matter if [[StarTrekMovieCurse the film quality became inconsistent]].

*** While all the early movies were financial successes, critical reception was hit or miss. Things turned around with ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', which some have even compared to ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' as one of the best superhero movies of all time and a great case of GenreBusting the superhero movie. Every MCU movie since has gotten glowing praise, with the only ones not breaking 80% on Rotten Tomatoes during its first three phases being ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' and ''Film/CaptainMarvel''.