What is a movie that "looks like" it would suck, but actually is well written and acted and a good time?
Original question by @Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
The live action Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers remake on Disney+ is SOOOOOO much better than it has any right to be.
It should be terrible, unwatchable, irredeemable garbage.
It is probably one of the best "kids" movies I've seen in the last decade.
Nacho Libre
Napoleon Dynamite
Brain Candy
Alita: Battle Angel.
The film looks stupid because they gave the main character giant anime eyes.
In the context of the film it makes sense and I think the look is meant to mirror the anime it is from... but for the film it still makes the film look stupid. Now the film itself is far from perfect, there is at least one storyline that is utter dogshit. However! The film ultimately was solid.
Sadly it ends setting up future films that will never happen, but I think it's still enjoyable overall.
Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time 🤷🏿♀️
The Lost City with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, and Daniel Radcliffe. It seems like a tropey romance-action flick, but is more a parody of genre clichés. The writing, acting, and humour are pretty good.
We were having a movie night in our neighborhood a few years back where we got a bedsheet and a cheap projector. We hooked it up to a laptop to project a movie on someone's garage for the neighborhood kids.
We ended up projecting The Lego Movie and most of the kids lost interest about half an hour in - and were falling asleep and ready to go home.
I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. I sent my wife home with our youngest just so I could stay and finish the movie.
Everything is awesome.
Edit to add: both 1 and 2 have great soundtracks.
Lego movie is brilliant. It's not a kid's movie. It's so good.
Real steel. Its about boxing robots
I watched it yesterday for the 2nd time (first time with my son). We laugh, we cried, we danced, we were shouting out loud and watched final battle standing on our feet. I unironically think it's an excellent sport movie.
Alien vs. Predator... Lance Henrickson and a cast of nobodies with an intersting plot. I went in expecting full-on crap and got a real banger instead.
Last year's The Beekeper starring Jason Statham was honestly the best action movie I've seen in years. Phenomenal movie
Honestly, princess bride. I'm usually not all that into rom com type movies, but princess bride is a masterpiece
Hey, that's the metaplot of the movie!
Barbie (2023)
I thought it would be a parody of Barbie but its actually a parody of Mattel and shows how men can be confused in this world. It's a real movie for all the bros out there. Its the kind of movie I'll watch again later because its good.
Swiss Army Man - Daniel Redcliffe with farting as a superpower. Sounds ridiculous but really fun to watch.
Daniel Radcliffe while dead the entire movie flexes his ass cheeks as a superpower.
A Knight's Tale. Not only is it a good movie but it was my introduction to Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk and they were brilliant in it.
It didn't click until I'd finished watching it that they'd tricked me into loving a sports underdog movie.
I just can't get past the dance scene.
I love it. Starts off cringe but then once the Golden Years kicks in it's magical.
Alan Tudyk is a gem! There's a scene that I love from a doc about the voice acting on Moana. Cuts to Tudyk doing chicken sounds (he played the chicken), when he slyly looks into the camera and says "I went to Julliard".
Danny Boyd wrote an excellent video essay on A Knight's Tale. I too always wonder why there's always someone cutting onions when I choose to watch.
Because you have been judged, and likely not found wanting if you don't suppress feelings.
And it left its mark on renaissance jousts everywhere. Always hear We Will Rock You at so many different ren fairs.
Thank you for posting this so I didn't have to.
Just a gem of a movie.
That movie has perfect casting. Everyone in it is exactly right for their parts. There is a B movie feel that I can't quite put my finger on but it is an outright excellent film, one of my personal favorites.
Mean Girls (2004) a masterpiece
Dude, Where's My Car?
I thought it was gonna be a dumb stoner movie, but it is actually amazing and hilarious.
While simultaneously being a dumb stoner movie. Don't tell me it wasn't, cause I still am!
The recent Dungeons and Dragons.
'Upgrade' is an excellent sifi B movie.
Upgrade was not a "B" movie by any stretch. Low budget doesn't mean B. Upgrade was more well done than much of the "A" stuff that's put out.
But obviously this is opinion and depends how you define B movies.
I totally thought Upgrade would suck. I've watched it 10 times now, and every time it gets better. Just stellar work.
The question was does it look like it would suck, at face value. I think Upgrade qualifies.
The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen, it's like a Monty Python movie but with American actors and an evil Robin Williams.
Clue - A movie based on a board game sounds terrible, but it's really funny.
For more of a movie that visually looks bad.
Primer - Very low budget time travel movie that gets better every time you watch it.
After the second watch, you should read the hours and hours of content covering the time loops and paradoxes, and then watch it three or four more times to begin to grasp what you read.
Clue didn't work in the theater because they did this gimmick where they made three versions with three different endings. So because it had to be consistent with three contradictory endings, you CAN'T solve it as you go; it doesn't function as a mystery movie. And, it was kind of short.
The TV cut crammed all three endings at the end with the "Here's what REALLY happened" cards inserted, so one ending is now canonical while the others are plausible alternatives, it runs longer, especially the frantic, energetic ending plays longer, so while it still doesn't function as a mystery movie, it is now an excellent farce.
I think it also found its audience in young millennials on television; it was made for and by my parents' generation but they don't like it, while a lot of people my age love it.
There's a particular character arc twist in Clue that made me jump out of my seat.
Alien Resurrection is low key great and philosophically engaging movie.
The movie Battleship based on the board game is far better than I ever expected. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a solid action flick.
It was super dumb and full of action and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
Moon. Fantastic mostly 1 man show.
The effects of the rider are amateurish, but the story and acting are awesome.
I was surprised by how Mickey 17 used a similar plot point.
What we do in the shadows. The movie, not the show. If you like mockumentaries it's a must watch. Looks like garbage at times but it works very well for what they were going for.
The show is great too!
Yeah it's really good in its own right but it feels a lot more polished
OMG YES +100 for What We Do in the Shadows
I still need to watch the latest season of the show though lmao
I have nightmares about baby Colin Robinson. Great show though!
The Jumanji remake was FAR better than I expected
This was going to be my pick. I went in with very low expectations which may be the reason it ended up being enjoyable. It was better than it had any reason to be.
Jack black is obnoxious but really nailed the high school girl impression.
Probably not the answer you're looking for, but Puss In Boots 2. The second Shrek spinoff about the cat? Who honestly expected that to be such a banger
The only thing that put me off was the weird animation style. Otherwise it was a truly great film
Lol now that you mention it, I didn't see the first Puss in Boots, but took my kids to see the 2nd in the theater. I distinctly remember thinking "God damn, this movie is fucking good for a sequel to a spinoff to a movie that had two mediocre sequels."
Clueless.
As if!
Cocaine Bear (2023) is surprisingly good. You think it's gonna be one of those overly campy movies like Sharknado, but it's pretty well written. I mean, don't expect too much, it's still a very solid 7/10. But the thing it understands best is it actually takes enough time at the beginning of the film to develop extensive cast of weird characters so once they all get thrown into the blender (cocaine bear) you actually care enough about them and what's going on to care about the outcome.
So many movies these days forget you really need to care about those characters.
Fun time, give it a go some night when you're bored and got nothing else to do.
The honesty and realism that they wrote into the scene where that dude was trying to find a way to climb down from the roof of that gazebo was moving and inspiring.
Can I ask you an honest question. I got loose definition in my head of what "campy" means. But could you break it down without Google fucking it up for me?
Campy is all about exaggeration and being self-aware at how ridiculous it is. 1960s Batman TV show is the epitomy of camp. Classic comedy styles like slapstick also get thrown into camp.
Camp is when a movie maybe isn't good, but you still want to give it a gold star for trying. It's making a joke and you're laughing with it more than you're laughing at it (but you're still laughing at it). Even stuff like The Room by Tommy Wiseau which I think most people agree is a pretty bad movie; it still comes from a place of sincere vision.
This is in contrast to stuff like Epic Movie where it is trying so hard to be camp that it is just terrible instead. And this is all obviously subjective.
I'm gonna say Cruella. I'm sure lots of people always thought it was gonna be great, but not me. I absolutely expected it to be mediocre at best and I was so wrong. It's now one of my favorite movies.
I have to agree, the film is MUCH better than it looks, with one exception early on (see below) the rest of the film works well.
I didn't expect it to have such a compelling story arc. It's amazing how they show the creation of a "villain" that you then sympethise with.
I also love the whole 70s punk style.
I have heard that Speed Racer from the late 2000s kind of kicks ass but haven’t investigated myself
I recently saw it after thinking it was bad since release. Holy crap it’s literally live action anime. There’s not a lot (if any) depth of field so it takes a little bit to get used to but a few minutes into the movie and it feel normal. There’s shots are all bright or colorful and just ughhh… chefs kiss
I will vouch for Speed Racer. Don't get me wrong, it's corny as heck, but still also rad. The race scenes are fantastic! Kind of like a Godzilla movie though, you're not there for the dialogue.
Tank Girl. It may just be a guilty pleasure but I'll defend it.
I guess Starship Troopers is THE movie for this, although I'm always suprised to find out people used to like it unironically.
Due date, with Robert Downey Jr and Galifianakis is a surprisingly earnest soft remake of Planes, Trains and Automobiles and nobody remembers it exists.
Speaking of unexpectedly fun raunchy comedies, Booksmart.
I want to say The Long Kiss Goodnight, but man, the action in that is janky in exactly the ways modern action movies get right, so it can be a rough watch if you're not ready. It also reads worse now that there's a million John Wicks. Still, ahead of its time and actually well written.
Does Slither count? I feel like it's on that Tremors territory where everybody knows it's cool and ironically that thing, so it may not count. Somebody said Cabin in the Woods below, so... maybe it does count.
Oh, Ready or Not. It's actually really funny and kind of a looser take on Knives Out as a horror movie. Good stuff.
The original TMNT movie should have sucked. How they snuck that tone into a whole movie before they made them tone it down for censorship and toyetic tie-ins is anybody's guess.
Brick doesn't count. Does Brick count? I think it doesn't look like it'd suck, it's just people don't know about it. I mean, if I tell you "film noir by way of high school drama" you may get the wrong impression, so... maybe?
And I mentioned it below, but 2001 Metropolis is awesome despite a lot of people not being able to get past the designs or even being aware of what it is.
Slither!! I love that movie. An early James Gunn flick
Gosh I remember watching Brick when it first came out and thought it was overrated and pretentious but I feel like I deserves another chance.
I guess it depends how you go into it? To me it always read trashy. Like a pulp detective novel by way of Degrassi.
I don't know that it has much to say beyond that pitch, but man, do I like it saying it. And if you slot it alongside the Knives Out movies as a detective trilogy it all kind of works.
I honestly thought Wonka was going to suck, but it turned out to be a pretty good film!
A movie made by a student of the film academy, and it was made with a ridiculously low budget of course, but still contains some wild special effects and a spaceship and an alien creature and a title song written especially for it. Looks quite a bit outdated (and I wonder if it looked that even then when it was new :)), but still a lot of fun, and even a message about artificial intelligence:
"Dark Star" by John Carpenter
Dark Star was fucking nuts but it was fun to watch with friends. Also the music won't be new to anyone who has ever seen a John Carpenter film. I think I remember the same music in They Live and Vampire$.
Man Bites Dog (C'est arrivé près de chez vous)
A mockumentary made by student filmmakers. The plot is that they are doing a documentary following the life of a serial killer.
The dark humor of this movie is incredibly disturbing but it's really a movie to watch.
The movie is available on archive.org : https://archive.org/details/man-bites-dog
I only know this movie because it showed up on some "the most messed up movies" list I remember seeing many years ago.
Whoa that’s a deep cut. Extremely jacked up satire.
I haven't thought about this movie in like 30 years. Deep cut indeed.
Lars and the Real Girl. Seems like a dumb boner comedy. Actually a weirdly wholesome film.
I was gonna say this one too. Especially for the time it was made, I really appreciate that it never punched down on the main character (or people experiencing mental illness), unlike a lot of its contemporaries.
Ryan Gosling has some fantastic early work in general actually. The United States of Leland was one of my favourites growing up, though I'm not sure if it's aged well.
This was the first time I saw Ryan Gosling in anything. Later, I kept hearing about how he was considered extremely attractive, and I had only seen him in that movie, and it confused the shit out of me. You think he's hot? Really?
I also thought that movie was going to be a stupid comedy. I don't think I was mature enough for it the time and I'd like to see it again with fresh eyes.
Dog Soldiers.
It is known as the British Predator. You can see the low budget on the screen, but my god it's excellent. Do not watch the trailer, it's shit and will give you a bad impression of the film.
One of the best werewolf movies of all time
There's a B movie that I really like but it's name is off putting to say the least. It's a solid movie, its funny and silly but most of the cast play serious characters just dealing with something absurd. It's a cat and mouse detective story and the film is free to watch on places like Tubi.
It's called Butt Boy
In the same b movie realm, I have a favorite that is so horrible, it's good.
Dead snow
Basically about Nazi zombies, but it's hilariously bad. And the best part? There's a sequel, dead snow 2, which is phenomenal! Like a total 180 from the first one.
In the same vein, Iron Sky is a movie about Nazis having secretly built a moon base and being accidentally discovered. The first one is dumb but actually an enjoyable movie. The second one is truly, truly awful and shouldn't even be watched out of curiosity.
Hey Dead Snow is amazing! Norwegians having fun with American teen-slashers tropes and nazi zombies, what not to love?
I watched Pig just recently almost as a joke. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"The Grey" is the first thing to pop into my head.
The stupid meme worthy part is the way wolves are presented as a threat in the movie is so over the top like old childrens folklore level omnipresent coked out superwolves with a 100 mile killing radius stripping the territory all threatening life larger than a squrrel and enough intelligence for tactical strategizing to pick an entire group of men 1 by 1.
The way everything else is executed is what turns it around. The cinematography and the emotional human story of the main character guys motivations and interactions with the res5 of the group is fun. It makes it a good watch to spend an hour or two of your life on. The cast has some bangers and the acting is great.
Turbo Kid
That movie look like it was made in the 80s and released in the 2000s. It was not my experience it was all that great but maybe I was looking at it wrong
Yea which is why i thought it would be terrible but liked it
Not sure it fits your criteria, but Sausage Party was a complete surprise for me. I never wanted to watch it because it seemed dumb and purile. And it is, but also somehow it blew my mind and became one of my favourite movies.
It's a funny movie as long as you skip the final scene. It's a funny bit but goes on for FAR too long, Imo.
The 2009 Astro Boy movie was surprisingly decent. Had no expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
And since we are on the subject of Tezuka adaptations that punch way above their first impressions, the 2001 Rintarou version of Metropolis got mixed reviews at the time but kicks all sorts of ass.
Metropolis is one of my favorite anime, I saw it in a theater, and I still dont understand how it didn't achieve cult status.
Alaska. SW prequels. There's also the Soviet movie "Until first blood", where kids play "Zarnitsa" and learn something.