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Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This pinned post is here to establish some basic guidelines. All of the Media Forum rules still apply.

  • This thread is for talking about the live-action films, TV shows, animated works, and related content that use the Marvel brand, currently owned by Disney.
  • While mild digressions are okay, discussion of the comic books should go in this thread. Extended digressions may be thumped as off-topic.
  • Spoilers for new releases should not be discussed without spoiler tagging for at least two weeks. Rather, each title should have a dedicated thread where that sort of conversation is held. We can mention new releases in a general sense, but please be courteous to people who don't want to be spoiled.

If you're posting tagged spoilers, make sure that the film or series is clearly identified outside the spoiler tagging. People need to know what will be spoiled before they choose to read the post.

    Original post 
Since Thor and now Captain America came out this year, I wanted to get what Tropers thought of the concept and execution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. Personally I love the idea and wonder why this idea hasn't been seriously tried before. It sorta seems to me like the DCAU in movie form (And well, ummm, with Marvel), and really 'gets' the comic book feel of a shared universe while not being completely alienating.

Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#80026: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:21:47 PM

Also, apparently 3/5 is rotten? I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I could have sworn that 60% and above was their criteria for "Fresh".

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#80027: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:23:06 PM

[up][up][up] Well, it is an action movie, so it should have a minimum of action....but I somehow doubt that there is much of a lack in it, considering the trailers.

edited 7th Feb '18 2:23:17 PM by Swanpride

Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#80028: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:24:53 PM

I believe the reviewer decides whether the review is Fresh or Rotten.

Also, who wrote that review?

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#80029: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:26:25 PM

Ed Power at the Independent (Ireland).

Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#80030: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:28:20 PM

I find RT convenient. If I already know I'm interested in a movie, and the reviews are bad, I'll read some and see if they indicate I wouldn't like it.

If I have no set preferences and just want to go watch something, RT helps me avoid the stuff that's widely considered terrible and narrow my options down to the decent stuff.

If I'm skeptical or indifferent about a movie and RT says it's great, I'll read some reviews and see if they indicate the movie suits my tastes.

I wouldn't have gone to see Thor Ragnarok if the RT reviews hadn't been so good; I found it entertaining. I would have gone to see The Dark Tower if the reviews hadn't been so overwhelmingly bad; I'm satisfied with not having seen it.

But the difference between a 95% fresh movie that succeeded in being broadly inoffensive and a 70% movie that's good but more controversial is something you need to read reviews in order to know.

edited 7th Feb '18 2:30:32 PM by Galadriel

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#80031: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:33:26 PM

[up] Pretty much. The advantage of RT is not just the percentage, it is also the various review blurbs. Way more handy than shifting to all those reviews yourself. And easier to avoid spoilers this way.

Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Ramen Fairy
#80032: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:39:30 PM

RT is mostly OK, but I personally find Metacritic’s algorithm to be more useful & informative (the score is based on average ratings rather than a simple good/bad dichotomy).

In other news, I don’t usually use the forums to advertise things like this, but I thought this was important to share.

Peace is the only battle worth waging.
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80033: Feb 7th 2018 at 2:40:14 PM

[up][up]That part I have no problem with. It's the Fresh/Rotten split, the prominence of that percentage number.

edited 7th Feb '18 2:40:23 PM by Unsung

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#80034: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:05:11 PM

RT is generally useful for films that heavily lean one direction or another. Like, there is functionally little difference between a film with 49% freshness and one with 61% freshness. Both of those mean you have a fair chance of liking the film.

But when you see something like 96% Fresh or 4% Fresh, you've got a pretty strong idea of what people think about that movie.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80035: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:21:50 PM

The extremes on either side are a reasonable guide, but the binary Fresh/Rotten metric falls apart in the middle, which is ultimately where most movies are going to be. It's not entirely useless, but people have come to rely on it far too much.

edited 7th Feb '18 3:27:44 PM by Unsung

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#80036: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:24:50 PM

It doesn't help that people also tend to have trouble understanding a ten-point scale due to being conditioned by the education system.

The RT score is not a grade. It is not an objective measure of quality. It's just a general aggregate of how many people liked the movie. Like, having a 50/50 odds of liking a film means it's worth at least giving it a shot.

But a lot of people see 56% and go, "56%? That's an F! This movie must suuuuuck!"

edited 7th Feb '18 3:25:10 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80037: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:28:54 PM

Yeah, it being a numbered percentage pretty much guarantees that. Well over a decade of conditioning? One little website isn't going to get people to change old habits anytime soon.

edited 7th Feb '18 3:40:06 PM by Unsung

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#80038: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:37:12 PM

Don't have an issue with that since our education system doesn't use percentage.

Anyway, I think that the extremes are very helpful. Avoiding a low percentage movie is usually a good thing, and while a middling score doesn't make much of a difference (if I was interested beforehand I will most likely still watch it, and if not, it won't change my mind), a high score is an indicator to at least consider a movie.

That so many people apparently don't get how it works is really on them. It has been explained often enough by various people.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#80039: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:39:50 PM

RT is a decent guideline if people understand what the number actually means and then go look at the actual critical aggregate.

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80040: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:44:35 PM

I don't mind it being there, it has its place, but I do think discussions like the one that's been going on for the previous few pages kind of show that people put more stock in it than is really warranted. It's not that movies with high scores don't deserve them— they're up there because they're both good and broadly appealing. But if enough people treat the percentage as a letter grade and a shortcut over reading actual reviews, that hurts movies that are maybe more niche.

edited 8th Feb '18 4:48:46 AM by Unsung

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#80041: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:49:06 PM

I seem to have accidentally sparked this convo. Which misses my entire point. Namely, that that guy’s review was o.O (emoji with one big eye and one small eye)

edited 7th Feb '18 3:54:32 PM by wisewillow

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#80042: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:51:32 PM

Zero point zero?!

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#80043: Feb 7th 2018 at 3:51:46 PM

-

edited 7th Feb '18 3:51:53 PM by Draghinazzo

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80044: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:05:30 PM

Not sure if it's worse for the first bad review to be for a completely trivial reason rather than something more substantive, but that really did sound like the reviewer was offended by the movie being too good or something.

edited 7th Feb '18 4:11:50 PM by Unsung

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#80045: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:09:38 PM

[up][up][up][up][up] It is kind of fun to see who is the first breaking from the flock in a situation like this. Though in this case what spawned the discussion wasn't really the score, it was the odd review. I mean, it is really rare that someone complains that a movie is too complex. And the idea that Superheroes are heroes because they punch people is, well, pretty nonsensical. Jessica is a Superhero, and while she is strong, she is mostly a hero because she cares, and she rarely goes around punching people. (not to mention that a lot of heroes rather shoot than punch anyway).

[up] Has been known to happen. There was this guy who gave Ladybird a negative score specifically because he felt the movie didn't deserve 100%.

edited 7th Feb '18 4:10:33 PM by Swanpride

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#80046: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:13:14 PM

Internecine. A word I had never heard even in passing (I’m a law student; I read a LOT), a word that I had to go look up.

And he used it. To complain. About the movie being too complex.

Sigilbreaker26 Serial Procrastinator Since: Nov, 2017
Serial Procrastinator
#80047: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:18:14 PM

I've heard it before, it's not that obscure.

"And when the last law was down and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, the laws all being flat?"
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#80048: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:19:29 PM

To be completely honest though, does it really matter all that much? You're going to get contrarian/silly reviews for practically every acclaimed film or tv show. I wouldn't dwell on it too much.

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#80049: Feb 7th 2018 at 4:19:39 PM

It's funny how that happens. I had never heard the word "po-faced" until a few months ago, when I suddenly read it in like three different places at once, with publishing dates decades apart.

But yeah, I don't know quite who that guy thinks he's writing to with a review like that. As for my comment, it wasn't just the review itself, it was the several pages beforehand waiting to see who that first bad review would be— that's kind of what I mean about putting too much stock in the number that appears on RottenTomatoes.

edited 8th Feb '18 4:47:56 AM by Unsung

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#80050: Feb 7th 2018 at 5:55:35 PM

What's wrong with using the word internecine? It's a valid word, if uncommon.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!

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