Marlon Wayans reacted to negative reviews of his new film Him, by encouraging fans to ignore critics and see the movie for themselves.
Wayans took the rare step — for a movie star — of responding to critics after Him received a disappointing 29% score out of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Of the 142 reviews posted to the site by verified film critics, most were negative. Reviewers tended to praise Wayans and co-star Tyriq Withers for turning in strong performances, but the overall consensus was Him “has style,” but “botches” the execution.
The fan score on the site was mixed as well, with people who saw the movie giving it a 58% score.
Related: ‘Him’ Falls Short of Championship Title at Box Office
Wayans shared negative reviews from some of his iconic films like White Chicks and Scary Movie in an Instagram post on Friday, Sept. 19, pointing out that critics didn’t like those movies either.
“Just to be clear… I respect critics. Their job is to Critique. I respect their work. It shapes our industry. But an opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion,” he began.
“Some movies are ahead of the curve. Innovation is not always embraced and art is to be interpreted and it’s subjective. I’ve had a career of making classic movies that weren’t critically received and those movies went on to be CLASSICS. So don’t take anyone’s opinion just go see for yourself. Love to all. Him in theaters now,” Wayans added.
The actor and comedian countered the criticism by re-sharing positive reactions from fans who tagged him in their posts after seeing Him.
Him tells the story of up-and-coming quarterback Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), who gets invited to train at the isolated compound of aging quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), taking the protégé on a twisted journey.
The thriller comes from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. Justin Tipping directed from a script he worked on with Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie.
Some of the reviews weren’t just bad, they were scathing.
As an example, Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com vented in his review that he gave several hours of his life (that he’ll never get back) to watch the film.
“I can’t believe I left the house to see HIM. I can’t believe I took the train for over an hour from the north side of Chicago to downtown to see this movie,” Daniels wrote. “And I especially can’t believe that I sat through the entirety of this thematically lost movie… and that I’m currently sitting on my couch writing about it.”
As previously reported, the thriller opened Friday and came in second place at the weekend box office after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, which took the top spot for a second weekend.
Final numbers from Comscore on Monday showed Him earned a 3-day total of $13.2 million, below analyst expectations of $15 million.
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