7 Huge Movies Everyone Pretends They Don’t Love

There are plenty of movies that people love to hate, from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on The Hobbit to Cats and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (and not just because of the latter’s largely nonsensical title). Often, the criticism is deserved—arguably that is true of all the aforementioned flicks, which have a spectrum of issues.

However, sometimes audiences love to hate on movies that either don’t deserve it or that, secretly, people love, yet they decide to jump on the bandwagon. There are no doubt countless titles that could fit that bill, but here’s a roundup of seven of the biggest movies that receive tons of hate, even if audiences actually like them.

The Incredible Hulk

There have been several iterations of Bruce Banner/Hulk on the big screen, the most recent of which is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s replacement Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo. Before the current Avengers franchise fully took the superhero movie genre by storm, though, there was The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton in the titular lead.

This movie gets hate for a variety of reasons, from its CGI to the tone of the movie allegedly not living up to its comic book origins. However, The Incredible Hulk is entirely over-hated, and many people, despite their protestations to the contrary, actually love it. Ruffalo’s Hulk deserves the love too, but this movie—the most recent standalone Hulk movie, notably—has a great cast (it has Liv Tyler, for crying out loud) and is a fun watch.

Twilight

One doesn’t need to scroll on TikTok for long to discover that the Twilight film franchise is meme fodder and continues to be mocked long after those movies were released. There’s also little getting around the fact that those movies really are goofy (the actors themselves seem willing to cop to that). Yet, the movies are also incredibly popular, which means that at least some of the hate is covering up fans’ actual love of the movies.

While not everyone is looking for a movie starring a sparkling vampire and his questionably aged teenage human girlfriend, these movies made an impact for the reason. Does that mean they’re brilliant cinema? No. But for as much as these movies are slammed, they clearly are loved by many, which has given them staying power.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Yet another movie that gets plenty of hate is the more recent Thor: Love and Thunder. The movie, which was released in 2022, in part suffers from the post-Avengers: Endgame frustrations that have now plagued the franchise for years. However, the movie also received scathing criticism for a range of other reasons, including its tone seeming too goofy for its predecessors.

Much of this hate seems overstated, though—arguably, by a wide margin. This is far from the MCU’s worst movie, and, when resentment over the current direction of the MCU’s movies and shows is set aside, it’s both funny and enjoyable to watch. Grievances over Marvel killing off another woman just as she becomes powerful are more than fair, but the loudest critiques of the movie have nothing to do with that and are covering up the fact that many people actually loved this movie.

Jurassic World & Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 

Although Jurassic Park is (rightfully) a cult classic, its sequels have struggled to have the same level of success, and the Jurassic World movies are included. While the most recent installment, Jurassic World Rebirth, fared a bit better, the first few movies in this branch of the franchise have received plenty of hate.

Yet, particularly Jurassic World & Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are secretly loved by many, despite the noise. These movies have all the things that a dinosaur film should: myriad types of dinosaurs, death-defying moments, intense action sequences, etc. The clip of the Brachiosaurus being left behind and meeting a brutal end in Fallen Kingdom also frequently circulates online, proving that this movie had an impact.

National Treasure

Twilight has been memed to high heaven, but National Treasure isn’t far behind. Despite the more than 20 years that have passed since the first installment in the franchise, the movie continues to get plenty of hate and is still mocked and parodied online. While it’s true that there are several completely illogical, goofy moments in these movies, that’s what makes them so fun—and it’s why people secretly love them.

Nicolas Cage running around and finding “clues” in the most random places and nonsensical ways is just good fun, and the movies have many genuinely funny moments. Not every film needs to be Oscar worthy, and while National Treasure certainly isn’t, many people (covertly) love to watch this movie and its sequel.

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Movies

Tom Holland is an absolutely brilliant Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and the fanfare over his portrayal of the character is completely deserved. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is undoubtedly about to prove that again. However, try as many 90s kids might to deny it, people who grew up with Tobey Maguire as their Spider-Man will always have a special place in their heart for his portrayal and those movies.

It was totally goofy when Maguire’s Peter Parker swiped his hair in front of his eye to demonstrate his new emo persona under the influence of Venom; it’s true. However, there’s a reason Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Spider-Man reunion was greeted with such excitement, and it’s due in large part to the fact that these movies actually are beloved, no matter how much Maguire’s portrayal is mocked these days.

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Finally, the Star Wars prequel trilogy continues to get a massive amount of hate. Although that’s shifted somewhat over the years, with some in the generation that grew up with these movies now being adults who openly express their love for the films and the actors, there’s still plenty of hate for the trilogy.

The truth is, though, these movies are secretly beloved by many—even beyond the adults who grew up with them. It’s hard to deny how excellent duels like the Mustafar battle and the Duel of the Fates are, and Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen’s recent returns to the franchise prove that the prequel trilogy, despite the hate, actually comes with plenty of nostalgia and love from audiences.

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