Tom Cruise has been present at the box office for several weeks since the release of Top Gun: Maverick, which has achieved as much of a critical success as its commercial popularity. Recently, The premiere of Minions: The Rise of Gru has shattered a Fourth of July record, likely putting it on the path to potentially reaching the $1 billion mark that its predecessor and Top Gun: Maverick have attained.
Several other films have been huge successes worldwide but have either split critical opinion on Rotten Tomatoes or have been lambasted altogether. These range from franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and Transformers, which goes to show that reviewers don’t always influence viewers.
Minions (2015) – 55%
While fans will flock to the sequel and continue to look for similar movies to Minions, the spin-off is the worst-reviewed film of the Despicable Me series. Minions’ premise is about the Minions serving the villainous Scarlet Overkill before they meet Gru, mainly making it about their cute shenanigans.
Minions grossed $1.159 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), comfortably placing it as the highest-grossing Despicable Me entry. It easily appealed to the target demographic of children, proving that the yellow creatures had enough selling power to go about without Gru’s presence.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – 53%
It can be quite the task to keep up with all the betrayals in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and the second entry features a whole lot of it. Many critics weren’t pleased with the pinball story style, in that Dead Man’s Chest features Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, and Will Turner jumping from one place to another in search of Davy Jones’ chest.
Regardless, the fan following of Johnny Depp’s and the brand image of the franchise enabled Dead Man’s Chest to gross $1.066 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), which made it one of just a handful of films to cross the $1 billion mark at the time.
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker (2019) – 52%
Although it ranks among J.J. Abrams’ highest-grossing movies, the final entry in the Skywalker Saga is the least-well received of the sequel trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker has protagonist Rey in a final showdown with series’ villain Palpatine, along with Kylo Ren turning to the light to become the redeemed Ben Solo.
The Rise of Skywalker was generally considered to be too formulaic and retconned quite a bit of previous material, such as turning Rey into Palpatine’s granddaughter. It still ended up collecting $1.074 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), as nothing could stop the power of the Star Wars brand name.
The Lion King (2019) – 52%
While the 1994 original usually tops the list of Disney movies guaranteed to make fans cry, the 2019 remake of the classic animated film didn’t set critical opinions alight. The Lion King’s primary criticism was over the lack of expressions on the characters, with everyone emoting the same way no matter what the tone of a scene was.
That didn’t hinder Simba’s story of ascending to the king of Pride Rock by any means, with The Lion King raking in a massive $1.663 billion (according to Box Office Mojo). Nostalgia for the original, the soundtrack, and the gorgeous landscape to behold were all selling points that ensured the divided critical reception didn’t matter.
Alice In Wonderland (2010) – 51%
Many tend to overlook Alice in Wonderland’s place among the top-grossing films. But, the fact is that it was released at a time when 3D pictures were on the rise. Alice in Wonderland is a sequel to the classic tale, featuring the titular protagonist returning to Underland to free its populace.
Quite a few critics appreciated Tim Burton’s visual style that translated well to 3D effects, while others didn’t enjoy the overly kooky characters. Alice in Wonderland still became the top-ranked film of 2010, grossing $1.025 million and furthering the use of 3D effects for blockbuster releases in the industry (according to Box Office Mojo).
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) – 51%
At the time of The Phantom Menace’s release, the Star Wars series had been dormant for almost two decades. Its return carried a lot of anticipation, with the film grossing $924 million – a 2013 re-release pushed the figure to $1.027 billion (according to Box Office Mojo).
Its reception remains much maligned by the fans and by some critics. Many didn’t appreciate the story focusing too much on the Trade Federation and the involvement of comic relief Jar Jar Binks. The remaining enjoyed the superb lightsaber duels and chemistry between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) – 47%
The second entry in the Jurassic World trilogy proved to be a hit like its predecessor, pulling in $1.310 billion (according to Box Office Mojo). The story saw a shift into the action primarily taking place at a mansion where the Indoraptor wreaks havoc as Claire Dearing and Owen Grady attempt to curb the situation.
There was criticism toward the plotline regarding the cloning of dinosaurs and humans, as well as the lack of pacing between the action set on the island and the mansion. However, fans didn’t appear to care since Jurassic World: Dominion became one of the highest-grossing films of all time and continued the dominance of the franchise.
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011) – 35%
Michael Bay’s Transformers films are largely similar, with each entry featuring a returning threat to the Autobots on Earth and the heroes having to lay low until they hit back in the climax. Dark of the Moon plays out just the same but was released at a time when the series reached its peak popularity.
Dark of the Moon grossed $1.123 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), easily placing it among the top 5 films at the time. Critics weren’t impressed by all the explosions and robots fighting around the world, although audiences veered the other direction to make the third entry such a huge success.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) – 33%
The Pirates of the Caribbean series curiously went on a four-year hiatus despite its popularity, although the gap didn’t matter when On Stranger Tides was released. Though Will and Elizabeth didn’t return, Jack’s exploits to find the Fountain of Youth proved to be gold among audiences.
On Stranger Tides went on to gross $1.045 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), which showed that critical opinion wasn’t a factor in determining its success. Reviewers felt the excessive action sequences and lack of originality from the previous three didn’t make it all too entertaining; this sentiment clearly wasn’t shared by fans worldwide.
Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014) – 17%
It’s difficult to see critics being impressed by a robot riding a dinosaur robot into battle with many other evil robots. Transformers: Age of Extinction was a predictable flop with reviewers, with most deeming it to be purely about explosions, over-the-top flashiness, and slapstick comedy.
Since the Transformers series was still at its commercial peak, Age of Extinction grossed a mighty $1.104 billion (according to Box Office Mojo) and was even the only $1 billion grosser of the year. Viewers flocked to cinemas worldwide to see Optimus Prime befriend Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager for another entry that saw the heroes jump from one location to another.
