35 Movies That Were The Victim Of Bad Marketing, And Actually Turned Out To Be Reaaaalllly Good

Sometimes you go into a movie expecting the worst, but are pleasantly surprised instead. So, when Reddit user Ok-Meat4184 recently posed the question, "What movie did you expect to be 'meh' but turned out to be really good?" to the fine people of r/movies they came back with some very surprising responses. Check it out:

Note: spoilers ahead...but also most of these have been out for A WHILE. 

1."The first Pirates of the Caribbean. For a movie based on a theme park ride, it surpassed a lot of expectations."

2."The LEGO Movie had no right being as good as it was. It's a movie adaptation of fucking colorful bricks."

3."I was 100% expecting the Dungeons & Dragons movie to basically be a discount fantasy Marvel flick but I enjoyed it far more than I have any recent Marvel movie. It felt like it had a certain sincerity, a charm I've often found missing in other similar movies."

4."Fifteen minutes into Puss in Boots: The Last Wish I said 'Wait, is this amazing?'"

5."I got dragged to the first Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie because I do not typically care for superhero flicks. But when the second one came out, I was the one insisting that we see it in theaters."

6."Stardust. Streamed it randomly with my girlfriend one night cuz we thought it looked lame, enjoyed every second of it, and was surprised at how many familiar faces were in it."

7."District 9, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. (Consequently, I was shocked by how little I liked Elysium. I guess the former got my hopes too high for the latter.)"

8."Galaxy Quest. I expected a mid-level sci-fi comedy. Instead, I saw what could be the best Star Trek film ever."

9."Dredd. The tragic part about this is, while it's still really good, nobody now will see it in 3D like it was intended. The slow-mo, the drops, and my god the Gatling gun scene, all made that brief 3D fad worth it."

10."The Cabin in the Woods, the trailers made it seem like a generic horror film. Which my wife is fond of but I’m not really, so when we sat down to watch it only to find out it was a fun subversive comedy it was a great surprise."

11.Prey, the Predator movie. Honestly just watched it because we were tired and didn't have the brainpower for anything other than what looked like mindless action. It was sooooo much better than I imagined, and totally engrossing."

12."Edge of Tomorrow. I was meh on Oblivion and expected similar but it ended up being one of my favorite Cruise films of his career."

13."Predestination. I expected a generic sci-fi thriller but, I was definitely mistaken. I love movies with good plot twists and this was one of the better ones."

14."Palm Springs. It is probably my most-watched movie since it dropped. Pure entertainment."

15."The Jumanji sequel with the Rock, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I watched it a while after it came out on Netflix because I didn’t have high expectations, but honestly, I loved it. It was like the perfect fun movie to me."

16."Mine is 21 Jump Street. Expected it to be a mildly amusing but standard action flick. Instead, it was effing hilarious."

17."Game Night was way better than it should have been."

18."Guardians of the Galaxy. I went into it not expecting very much, having not read the comics, just knowing that the guardians were 'B'list' at Marvel. My challenge to the movie going in was I dare you to make me care about a CGI raccoon and tree. I ended up loving the movie – it was funny and had endearing characters."

19."My Cousin Vinny. A friend recommended it, and recommendations usually don’t end well for me, but this movie was so freaking good! It really is one of those chilled movies you can watch over and over again."

20."Ready or Not had absolutely no business being as good as it was."

21."I didn't like the Scott Pilgrim comics and I didn't have much faith in anyone, even Edgar Wright, to make a good movie out of them. I saw it four times. Always have faith in Edgar Wright."

22."Grandma’s Boy. Horrible trailers, but a friend insisted we watched it and it’s hysterical."

23."Pitch Black. It was advertised as a quasi-horror film, that ended up being an amazing sci-fi flick!"

24."Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That entire trilogy is fucking great. Koba may be one of the greatest non-human antagonists in the last decade."

25."Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is an impeccable action film, from someone who very much dislikes Tom Cruise."

26."Detective Pikachu. Thought it was just gonna be a dumb cash grab Pokémon movie, but I saw it because the VFX looked great and because of Pokémon nostalgia… But then was fully engrossed and really enjoyed it."

27."The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is the greatest version of A Christmas Carol. My wife loves this movie and when we first met and she wanted to watch this I just rolled my eyes. Ten years later and we have a DVD copy, a digital copy, and it’s on Disney+. It’s a must-watch every Christmas."

28."The Princess Bride. And I've seen that cycle repeat time and time again. So many people see the title or the summary and basically become Fred Savage. But when you watch the movie, it converts you. When I was a kid, I didn't want to watch some sappy movie with princess and bride in the title. No way. And then I saw it. And when I would try and get other friends to watch it, same thing."

29."I threw on Contact about five years ago expecting nothing more than a fun little first contact flick. Did not expect to have my mind blown by what’s basically the father and mother of Interstellar and Arrival and it’s every bit as epic as both of those. And I consider myself quite the film geek. I had heard nothing about it. And it continues to fall through the cracks."

30."John Wick. Grabbed it from a Redbox while I was out of town for work and didn’t have anything to do on a Sunday. Obviously, I was pleasantly surprised."

31."Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. How could a movie about an 18th-century naval vessel be exciting? Boy, was I WRONG."

32."Mad Max: Fury Road. I expected it to be enjoyable, but not the absolute masterpiece it is."

33."My family and I only watched Knives Out because it was the only thing we could all agree on watching one night during lockdown. None of us knew anything about it beyond seeing the poster for it in a theater earlier and reading the plot synopsis, so we had no/low expectations for it. Turns out it’s one of my favorite pieces of cinema."

34."Drive. I remember the trailer making it look like a knockoff Fast & Furious and I was very surprised at how good it was."

35.Finally, "Surely, Paddington 2 is the ultimate answer here."

How about you? Is there a movie you walked into thinking, eh, but walked out like, "OMG I LOVE THIS?" Tell us in the comments below or use this anonymous form here, and who knows, maybe there will be a sequel to this post!