2000s Movies Where The Critics Got It All Wrong

Critics and reviewers are an essential connection between the movies and audiences. Receiving some of the first looks at new films, it is the critic's job to distinguish a movie's value and merit and communicate their findings to potential viewers. Like any other art form, cinema is a spectrum of quality whose audience can be diverse. Critical reviews can help people decipher the type of content that they give their time and money.

Unfortunately, film criticism is ripe with subjectivity and biases. There is no instruction booklet for what makes a great movie, nor is there any way to calculate how a film will connect with a mass audience. As such, movie critics can make the wrong judgment of a project as easily as the weatherman mispredicts the rain. There are many examples of movies that have become beloved classics, that reviewers expected to flop. Even the world's most respected film critic, Roger Ebert, has been known to miss the mark as he underrated celebrated films like "Fight Club" and "The Usual Suspects," while giving the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy "Junior" a near-perfect score.

The 2000s were a decade overloaded with polarization between movie critics and audiences. Below are a dozen of the best films that the reviewers disregarded and fans grew to love. Keep reading but try not to lose faith in your favorite film critic along the way.

Comedy movies seem to be the hardest for critics to predict. Generally, when it comes to the genre a good laugh can easily make up for a lackluster story. And one of the best examples is 2001's "Super Troopers." Developed by the Broken Lizard comedy group, the movie centers around a rural Vermont state highway patrol department where boredom leads to outlandish shenanigans. The plot follows the "Troopers" as they get competitive with a local police department as they attempt to land the state's biggest drug bust.

Unfortunately, the predictable story and often-derogatory humor caused "Super Troopers" a solid panning by professional reviewers. The New York Times was quick to call the movie "tasteless." Meanwhile, the average critic score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at a less-than-desirable 35 percent. Regardless, the movie found its audience in young adults across the nation, earning an astounding audience score of 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. With a limited budget of $1.2 million, "Super Troopers" was an undeniable hit collecting over $23 million in worldwide gross. Subsequently, Esquire described the original film as the "shaggy-dog classic for generation Y," as Broken Lizard was able to crowdsource the finances to make a sequel in 2018.

There is no denying the fact that 2000's "Coyote Ugly" is a gratuitous and overly sexualized film that notches a lousy 23 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, beyond the steamy dance sequences, "Coyote Ugly" has developed a sincere cult following. Over two decades have passed since its release, and the film has become an iconic time capsule of aughts fashion and culture. "Is Coyote Ugly a model film? In almost every way, no," said a 2020 essay from Esquire. "But in these decidedly less optimistic, painfully realistic times, it's nice to remember how whimsically hopeful things were back in 2000."

Hilariously, after tearing the film apart, Roger Ebert made notes about the film's star Piper Perabo, which in hindsight were more wrong than his estimations of the movie's value. He wrote, "she has one of those friendly Julia Roberts smiles, good comic timing, ease and confidence on the screen, and a career ahead of her in movies better than this one. Lots better." Despite a promising career and a breakout performance in "Coyote Ugly," Perabo's career failed to reach the status that Ebert predicted. Her career fizzled out through the 2000s with roles in "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Subsequently, the actress has been making a TV comeback recently in shows such as "Billions" and "Yellowstone."

In 2001, celebrated director Cameron Crowe of "Jerry Maguire" fame, delivered his American rendition of the popular Spanish film "Open Your Eyes." Based on an already critically successful screenplay and riding an A-list cast that includes Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Jason Lee, "Vanilla Sky" should have been an automatic smash hit. Unfortunately, a convoluted science fiction story about a man living in a dream state after a near-fatal car crash did not fare well with critics.

The biggest struggle critics faced with "Vanilla Sky" was feeling any type of sympathy for the main character. A review from the San Francisco Gate stated that the movie "makes the mistake of assuming that we'll extend our unconditional sympathy to a character as narcissistic, as privileged, and as pleased with himself as David Aames." However, aside from the unlovable main character, the story of "Vanilla Sky" has become more pertinent, and, as such, the movie has amassed a cult following. "The concept's relevance is, of no surprise to anybody with access to the outside world, far less science fiction and more akin to reality than it was 20 years ago," explains a 2023 review from Under the Radar Magazine, "making the film worth watching as an increasingly necessary piece of disconcerting cultural and technological commentary."

Director Tony Scott had developed a history of pleasing critics and audiences with hit movies like "Top Gun," "True Romance," and "Days of Thunder." So, a 2004 action thriller starring Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, and Dakota Fanning should have been a critical darling. "Man on Fire" features a former CIA officer turned bodyguard, John Creasy, tasked with the duty of watching over a nine-year-old girl. After she is unfortunately kidnapped, Creasy goes on a violent rampage in search of the girl he had made an emotional connection with.

While "Man on Fire" maintains a relatable and enjoyable plot, critics struggled with the over-the-top violent vigilantism of the main character. A review from Variety noted that the timing of the murderous plot may have caused some backlash from critics, saying the movie was "too long and heavy to fully attract the 'Training Day' crowd, and could suffer a bit from the current mini-glut of R-rated revenge-themed pix." Despite struggling to land favor with critics, "Man on Fire" indisputably won over fans, becoming one of the biggest box office winners of the year and maintaining an audience score of 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Today, the comedy group known as the Lonely Island and their frontman Andy Samberg are instantly recognizable as they appear in all four corners of Hollywood from sitcoms to big-budget films. However, back in 2005, the group was still breaking free from internet obscurity and establishing itself in the mainstream by joining "Saturday Night Live." In 2007, the Lonely Island received their first chance to make a feature film with "Hot Rod," a movie originally written for "SNL" alum Will Ferrell. After reworking the script and injecting their own unique brand of humor, the comedic trio predicted the barrage of negative reviews on the way, with Samberg telling Entertainment Weekly, "It will get bad reviews. Comedy is traditionally not reviewed that well."

"No one seems to have told the Lonely Island boys that the stakes are a little higher in features than they are in music videos," pointed out one reviewer from the Austin Chronicle. "Underlighted shots and sloppy editing are more distracting on the big screen than on television." Still, much to Samberg's prediction, "Hot Rod" found its audience outside of film reviewers, quickly gaining cult status and launching Lonely Island on a successful career.

Loaded with luxurious cars, over-the-top heists, and, of course, family, the "Fast and Furious" franchise has taken on a life of its own. Spanning 10 major motion pictures, with another on the way, the "Fast" saga has become as big of a Hollywood event as they come collecting billions at the box office. It has gotten so out of hand that star Vin Diesel recently held a Los Angeles release party just for the arrival of the "Fast X" trailer months before the movie arrived. However, nobody predicted Universal's most financially profitable franchise when the inaugural movie was released in 2001.

Back when the "Fast" saga was still about street racing, "The Fast and the Furious" was not the instant resounding success that would be expected from a leading film franchise. In fact, most reviews of the first "Fast" movie mention mediocrity and offer an equally moderate rating. Notably, many of the sequels maintain an equally average reception from reviewers. But what the critics fail to recognize is the audience's love and appreciation for the fast-paced relentless action offered in "The Fast and the Furious" and its sequel franchise. Surprisingly, each edition in the collection boasts a higher audience score than the critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.