What’s a movie that has a premise or trailer that’s so eye rolling you thought would be bad, but turned out good?

This is the one. The level of dunking we were all doing on that movie before it came out was an all time high. Then we all saw it and were like wait why was that actually a really good movie?!

Don't forget they made TWO movies that year based on a ride. The massively successful Pirates, and the total flop Haunted Mansion. Everyone's expectations were right about ONE of them.

I worked at a theater when that one came out, selling tickets at the box office, and I overheard another cashier responding to a patron's question of "is that Pirates of the Caribbean movie any good?" and my coworker responded with "have you ever been on the ride? It's exactly like that, it's so good." I don't remember if that answer sold the tickets, but I remember thinking "what the hell kind of response is that? This isn't a movie that is exactly like that ride, this has an actual story and characters and stuff." It just sticks with me as a really weird answer to that sort of question. Like, sure, it captures a good chunk of the atmosphere from the ride, but that's about where the similarities stop.

I was so pissed when i went to Disney in Orlando the year the 2nd movie came out and they didn't have the ride up and running because of remodeling it. To this day I've never been on it.

You mean the Monkey Island movie. You know, with the Ghost Pirates.

That’s the all timer for me. Thought it looked so dorky. One of the best movies in all of cinema. D’oh

The premise is so hilariously brilliant. Get two iconic, idiosyncratic actors. Make them play amped up versions of themselves. Then make them play those versions of each other. Then make them play versions of each other pretending to be versions of themselves. F****** sick, dude. 

I came here specifically to ensure that Face/Off was represented. With such a ridiculous premise, the film has no damned right to be as good as it is.

I'm gonna take his face  *OFF*

I could eat a peach for hours...

Cage eating all of the scenery ever was amazing.

This movie is so damn good 😂

There are so many little clever things in the movie that makes the entire movie. Emmet's scream as he falls into the Wild West, replacing the Indian cry for just mere seconds always makes me laugh.

That dad gut punch at the end still haunts me. That look on his face when he realizes who the villain in his kids story is hits hard.

The Lego Movie predates both Angry Birds and Emoji movies. Emoji movie specifically probably exists *because* of the success of Lego.

Barbie was a similar rug pull in its way. Both movies are good so far beyond what the premise even needed. 

I was amazed at the little subversive elements. I don't think the term "toxic positivity" was in circulation at the time, and naming the antagonist "President Business" was delightful

The trailers were pretty funny

Lord Miller are undefeated

It's such a fun movie. That Chris Pine is so damn charming and I did not know Michelle Rodriguez could be that funny.

Yep. I had zero interest in watching it, never been into D&D or other RPGs, not my realm. Two of my kids are into D&D In a big way and insisted on watching it, I just decided to hang out with them while it was on. If you’re going to adapt a movie from a property with a lot of lore, this is the way to do it. The kids enjoyed it as an original story faithfully within the world they knew so much about…I didn’t know anything about it at all and still enjoyed it. They just caught a lot more of the references than I did.

The illusion failing may be the hardest I have laughed in a theater

I think in 10-20 years when the MCU style action-comedy films have long disappeared from the mainstream, people will look back at them all and pick out the best ones to rewatch. Honor Among Thieves is one of them.

I cannot believe how lore accurate the movie actually is

Watched it on a flight and while I don't have any relationship with D&D I really enjoyed it. It was funny and clever

This movie had the most generic trailer and the most straight to DVD movie poster I've ever seen. But it was "the best Marvel movie of that year"

My wife stopped watching Drive about 15 minutes in "because nobody talks" and I was on the edge of my seat. It's a great movie.

Drive might be the pick tbh. “Ok Ryan gosling legit just drives around? Skip.” Yes Ryan gosling legit just drives around. But holy hell is it good

I remember watching it in theaters as a kid & it was crazy (and very impressive in retrospect) to see how it had pretty much all of the adults at my showing either crying or struggling not to cry

Kids stories used to be like that. Go back and watch old Pixar or Disney movies and you realize they've definitely become more light hearted

Depressing montages are TIGHT!

One of the best animated movies of the last 15-20 years

A legend so large it left room for no one else.

I was sold on the film when it got to the part where Shaun's routine trip to the convenience store is so boring and repetitive, that he didn't even notice the apocalypse around him until after he got back to his house. Now *that's* some top tier British comedy.

Turns out it was John wick but with words

Truly wonderful film

Nic Cage was casted perfectly in this movie because the set up has you just waiting for him to get all Nic Cagey and then he just doesn't. But he still brings a remarkable amount of intensity and pathos despite being way more subdued than you'd expect. I feel like he was perfect for both this role and for Mandy but for opposite reasons, like Mandy gives you the Nic Cage you want, but Pig gives you the Nic Cage you didn't know you needed.

It’s Orpheus and Eurydice. For me it was a great experience to watch the movie, then see Hadestown the musical, then rewatch the movie. If I remember, the restaurant is even called Eurydice.

Great film.

Karl Urban was so good. For a character who emotes exclusively with his jaw, he nailed it.

The best way I can describe Dredd is that it feels like the logical conclusion to 00s style action movies. The tone, the camera work, the choreography, etc., all feel taken out of the 00s and done really well with just a bit of early 2010s sheen added into the mix.

Ya I skipped this one in theaters which I regretted after seeing it

I actually watched the first half and turned it off thinking it was c*** but came back to it again. Dunno what I was thinking but what a great movie

My brother and I watched this movie ripped to bejeesus on pot brownies he'd made. Every now and then one of us will shout "DA MAMA CLAN!" when we rarely get to see each other and instantly crack us up.

A bonus for me was that Rhys Darby (Murray in Flight Of The Conchords) was also in it.

I loved it, but I'm also grateful that it has one of the few comedy sequels that is just as good as it's predecessor (22 Jump Street)

This guy two straps it.

One thing you can be sure of is that the movie is successful on its own merits. Because, while I haven't seen the original show, I'm pretty sure the tone was not a comedy. So, being an adaptation of the series minimally affected its success.

Great White Buffalo...

It's gotta be Hot Tub Time Machine. I mean it's a movie about a hot tub that's a time machine! Wicked dumb concept, but boy oh boy did they just lean into the absurdity and kick out a really funny film.

I love how the premise of this movie is even stupid to the characters in the movie.

Lou's exclamation of "Whaaaat the effin' f***?!" made it into my vocabulary after I saw it.

John Lennon gets shot! Shit, wait, did that already happen?

The moment when John Leguizamo says, "he stole John Wick's car, sir, and, uh, killed his dog," and the response was "oh," was perfect. It was the sort of reaction you never get in action movies, and it perfectly summarized what was about to happen.

Wholeheartedly agree. The first act set up the world so beautifully and made you realize just who exactly John Wick was.

I have never seen this and just looked up the premise....wtf.

I'll admit I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

Damn that movie is great. 

It really had no right to be as engaging as it was. I'm almost verging on it being better than the first but I'm undecided

You must have lived under a rock for the few years before and after it came out. Its production issues were front page entertainment news for years, and everything written about it when it was finally released was overwhelmingly positive.

It had great trailers i dont get this, the rhythm, the music, the great action is all there in the marketing.

That was my feeling too. And the thing is Fury Road *is* just as stupid as it looks on paper but the details and the craft and dedication that went in to it elevate it so far above what it was in danger of being. The guitar guy on the amp truck makes no logical sense and it is just awesome. 

I get it. I was not super interested in it. Went to watch age of ultron with friends and we ended up doing a double feature and watched mad max. Had 0 expectations thought the trailer looked kinda meh and my friends were Interested because of road warrior and being fans. Came out of that theater thinking it was probably the best action movie I will ever see.

I remember when Apple TV launched, they announced all their shows, and Ted Lasso was literally dead last to me of shows I wanted to watch, just because the premise was so lame, and it was based on a Commercial on top of that. The brief for it started with something like "Based on the well-liked NBC commercials for the EPL, it's Ted Lasso!" or something equally as lame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8

Great choice. I remember first hearing about this thinking “wtf they are making a full show about a literal gag from a commercial/skit?” Binged the entire first season on a long flight. Teared up a few times.

Trent and Atticus did such an amazing job scoring that movie

It really was a nice surprise. The interplay between each actor's typecast role and the teen they had to pretend to act like worked much better than it should have. And the playful scripting of video gamisms was fun. I caught it on a plane expecting nothing and had no regrets.

Honestly this is a good answer. Movie looked like absolute slop money grab shit and maybe it is but it’s much better than it had any right to be

It's a testament to the writeing that even though everyone knows Jordan signs with Nike, you still feel the suspense and anticipation as they prepare for the pitch. Great movie.

> I just wish they didn’t tie it to an IP nobody cared about. Except the people that made the film absolutely cared about the IP.

I would like to know more.

Yeah, The Empty Man is incredible, especially the first 15 minutes.

This movie is how I found out Jason Statham could do comedy. McCarthy and Statham killed it every scene they were in together. When he was intensely describing his previous missions to her and she's staring at him like he's deranged I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

Severely underrated.

same first thought. Also, Speed.

It had a good scene. Too bad it was the first one and it was pretty much downhill after.

Ohhhh the opposite is good too. Maybe I’ll go Black Panther 2 for that. It’s definitely not bad, but the trailer had me thinking it’s going to be one of the best movies I’ll ever see, particularly with the first one being goddamn incredible. It was average to maybe above average.