The Power Of The Critic

The Film Critic – are they a mighty powerhouse capable of conquering, influencing and making people bow to their opinion? Are they a band of monsters, who enjoy inflicting negative responses for the sake of boosting their own name and career while taking some sadistic enjoyment making fun and criticising someone else’s work? Or are they merely humble servants to the profession?

Ultimately it’s the question that divides all film journalists, does the film critic really affect and even influence the box office? Can one damning review really be responsible for destroying a film’s chances of success?

Speak to any journalist, and you’ll get a different answer. One of the most respected film journalists, the BBC’s Mark Kermode, mentioned on his recent Radio2 Film review show that he does not think the critic affects how well a film does or how much money it makes, something he has always believed and stated. Where some film journalists can be slammed for a bad review, it’s also a sore subject, after all a reviewers job is to say what they think. It’s their opinion.

There are several types of cinemagoer. Those that go because they like to see a book or comic book they love translated to the screen. Those who admire art-house films or beautiful animation, and those that just simply want to be entertained, relax in front of a good story and have fun. Finally there are a growing minority of people that love ALL kinds of film. These are the ones who are more likely to become a critic.

Lets face it, if film journalists and critics were so reviled, there would be no jobs for them. Directors and actors alike would refuse to be interviewed and films would never have press screenings or preview festivals. With the popularity of film review magazines, websites, cinemas pamphlets and TV shows on the rise, it’s clearly obvious they are going nowhere.

 In the DailyMail today, regular writer Christopher Tookey has shared his brutally honest reaction to the latest US comedy, This Is The End, the latest offering from the likes of Seth Rogan and James Franco. His review of the film is not good to say the least. That’s his opinion. On the Empire film website, they have given it a moderate review. The film is already garnering ratings from 1 to 3 stars from several different sources.

So will one bad review stop people from seeing it? Perhaps so in some cases, but mostly, its unlikely not. If you are thrilled by the trailer, or you’re already a fan of the actors, you’re going to see it whether you read a review or not. How many people actually have time or are interested in reading a review?

Last year saw the sci-fi action blockbuster John Carter finally hit the big screens. Adapted from the successful novels, the filmmakers and production team had high hopes, along with the fans high expectations. John Carter sunk at the box office, big time. It was one of the most unsuccessful films of the last decade, with a $200Million budget it made a staggeringly embarrassing financial loss, and with all the TV spots and marketing campaign costs on top, it never broke even. The critics loathed it, and so it appears did audiences. For those who didn’t know anything about the story or the original book, the trailer provided non the wiser with a trashy mish-mash of CGI monsters, laughable and unpronounceable names of characters, dumb action scenes making no sense and a script that was atrocious; a fantastic film idea and concept gone horribly wrong.

Could the film critics be blamed for this? Certainly negative word-of-mouth didn’t help it, but the state of the film spoke volumes for itself. It was clearly a stinker!

Press screenings are a great way for the film distributors to get their films seen to the professionals before the general public. However in some cases, films are embargoed and no screening takes place? Why? Do the studios fear one critic’s bad review will ruin an opening weekend? Of course that’s why! In truth, this makes very little difference.

Lets not forget that the whole point of a film critic is to give their opinion…not the opinion of the masses, but a personal feedback and reaction. Film journalists sees hundreds of films a year, it’s their job and its what they love to do. They don’t go into a screening wanting to hate a film, they want to be entertained and surprised, and sadly they are frequently let down. The reasons for this are arguable – less originality, too many lazy sequels, good narrative sacrificed for the sake of a big thrill and splashy explosions, dreadful acting, dreadful casting, poor direction or editing. The choices are endless.

Perhaps many filmmakers are being too sensitive these days, but if they are so confident and pleased with their work, then it shouldn’t matter what one bad review has said. They shouldn’t care.

Hollywood will continue to make films to make money. Cinema’s still show bad films that make a fortune, while smaller budget sleepers fade into the background.

Does this mean the critic is to blame? What rubbish!

This Is The End is released in UK cinemas today.