Do you let critic reviews influence your decision to see a movie?

[terry78]

^and?

 

[scifiwolf]

Absolutely I let critic reviews influence my decision. Now they don't make the decision for me, and don't always change my mind (BvS), but I'd be effing stupid to spend money uninformed. Now, I don't bother with all critics, but there are a handful of those to whom I pay attention, and within that small sample is represented a broad spectrum of tastes and perspectives. But, just like I listen to critics, I pay attention to what you guys are saying on things. Critics vs fans vs general audiences will have weighted influence depending on the movie and all the other circumstances in my life, but I like to have as much info going in as possible.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I lean towards no, because critics come into play in very rare occasions. For example, they never influence my decision to see a movie in a theater. If anything, I sometimes read critics AFTER I experienced a movie myself.

Do they influence my decision to watch a movie online or buy a DVD - in very rare occasions as a secondary opinion. Because before I search for a critics opinion, I already know the premise of the story, actors, directors and most likely opinion of people, whom taste I know and value. And in most cases it's enough to make a decision.

 

[terry78]

Honestly I can't always take critics serious because a lot of them are getting compensated for the reviews they write. Roger Ebert was the last one I really took at face value.

 

[BlZARRO]

It's only normal for people to pay attention to what the media says. It has always been that way. Critics can definitely impact people's decision of whether or not paying for a movie, depending on the movie.

This topic was created after a discussion between me and The Joker regarding whether or not critical opinion could stop a movie from reaching its full BO potential. I claimed that easily, at least 10% of the audience would care about critics. And that's a conservative number, but it's still a number that on a large scale can definitely have an impact on the BO. The Joker claimed that no, the percentage of people who would care about such thing is insignificant, so he created this topic to sort of prove his point.

Too bad not many people have voted. But still, 31% kind of tell us that a decent percentage of do care about critical opinion.

 

[Sundancer]

Definitely.

I read several critics and try to take their tone of voice into consideration whens I'm on the fence about a movie or am curious how bad it is (Jem). A good critic knows how to look at a movie objectively as opposed to people who just write "this sucked" or "awesome action!"