X-Men: The Last Stand Director Says Rotten Tomatoes Is Destructive

Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner has had a hand in many successful films, both […]

September 5, 2017, 7:04pm

Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner has had a hand in many successful films, both critically and financially, including Rush Hour, Horrible Bosses, and the Revenant.

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And there are movies like X-Men: The Last Stand, which he directed. But despite putting out a few films that received harsh reviews, Ratner values the work of critics.

He just hates when they’re all compiled together and distilled down to a simple number, which is exactly what Rotten Tomatoes does.

Speaking at the Sun Valley Film Festival in Idaho, Ratner said the culture surrounding criticism has become non-existent because of the review aggregating site.

 ”The worst thing that we have in today’s movie culture is Rotten Tomatoes,” Ratner said. “I think it’s the destruction of our business. I have such respect and admiration for film criticism. When I was growing up film criticism was a real art. And there was intellect that went into that. And you would read Pauline’s Kael’s reviews, or some others, and that doesn’t exist anymore. Now it’s about a number. A compounded number of how many positives vs. negatives. Now it’s about, ‘What’s your Rotten Tomatoes score?’ And that’s sad, because the Rotten Tomatoes score was so low on Batman v Superman I think it put a cloud over a movie that was incredibly successful.”

Ratner’s production company RatPac Entertainment helped finance Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as other Warner Bros. films, and despite its dismal Rotten Tomatoes score (at 27%) the film still made about $900 million worldwide.

The director expressed frustration that it’s hard to fathom all of the work that goes into making a film like Batman v Superman, and how all of that can be reduced to a simple number.

“It’s mind-blowing. It’s just insane, it’s hurting the business, it’s getting people to not see a movie,” Ratner said. “In Middle America it’s, ‘Oh, it’s a low Rotten Tomatoes score so I’m not going to go see it because it must suck.’ But that number is an aggregate and one that nobody can figure out exactly what it means, and it’s not always correct. I’ve seen some great movies with really abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores. What’s sad is film criticism has disappeared. It’s really sad.”

While he does have a point reinforced by the examples of disparity between users and critics, especially in regards to superhero properties like Batman v Superman, review aggregations are unlikely to disappear soon. Fans love participating and using the scores to determine their own moviegoing habits.

Maybe, though, there should just be a bit more understanding into what film critics actually provide. They offer valuable interpretations that cannot simply be reduced into a number—it discounts their own work.   Ratner might not make films that critics love, despite his appreciation, but it’s easy to see why any filmmaker would get frustrated with the process.

Despite the low critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, Batman V Superman got some good ratings from our own users, where it currently sits as the #5 Best Film on our All-Time Ratings.