Alright! Today I'm listing out some of my picks for the most "underrated" movies of all time. You may ask yourself - why the quotation marks? Well, "underrated" generally means that the movie bombed, but it's of surprisingly good quality, like Ladyhawke or Treasure Planet, or arthouse movies that you didn't care to see when they were first released.
Well, here "underrated" means that you probably did see it, but you never think about it until you're reminded it exists and you just have to put it on your watch list. Probably like "YouTube recommended a random clip and now it's all I can think about." It's a subtly different underrated. They all have the same vibe of being enjoyable wastes of time or legitimately amazing but rarely talked about.
Cars 3
Cars 3 is the movie that inspired this list. I can never remember Cars 3 exists. It's not like I hate it or anything, it just wasn't that memorable. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's just not memorable. But then I see the excellent poster, a scene of Lightning crashing on YouTube, or the infinitely better alternate ending and I just have to watch the entire movie again. It's entertaining, but it's not particularly great.
Kong: Skull Island
The fun and surprisingly artistic return to Kong's home base is pretty fun and visually splendid. In the case of Skull Island, you'll probably just see the image of Kong silhouetted by the sun as the copters flyby. That's all the only thing you'll see or remember about the movie, but it's a cool enough shot and a good approximation of what the movie is to make you want to watch it
The Prince of Egypt
Not only do I believe that The Prince of Egypt is one of the greatest films ever made, but the fact that it is so rarely talked about is astounding. The Prince of Egypt has so many great moments, but the one most likely to get you to watch the movie is the Plagues scene. How can one dissuade the urge to watch after a scene like that?
The LEGO Ninjago Movie
I just like The LEGO Ninjago Movie. I'm one of the few who does, but it's a really fun and not half-bad animated adventure with a surprising amount of heart. What'll get you to pop in the underperforming flick? Well, the biggest reasons would be the tie-in song I Found My Place or the Everything Great About video. Anything that reminds you of the incredible vibe and animation the movie had.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
What gets you to watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Probably a rewatch of The Lord of the Rings, and then thinking the first Hobbit movie isn't half bad. It really isn't. A bit rough around the edges and unnecessarily long, but the first movie is of great entertainment value.
Madagascar 3
What gets you to watch the long-forgotten third Madagascar movie? Easy. The circus finale scene is a dazzling wonder. Set to the tune of Katy Perry's Firework and filled with enough eye-popping visuals to make iPhone adverts faint, that scene alone makes the movie. I remember staying up late watching the movies just for that scene.
The Lorax
The reception to the 2013 Lorax movie was mixed at best, but that didn’t stop the internet notoriety from bolstering the movie into unearned fame. Classic songs like “How Bad I Can I Be?” and the ever memable Aloysius O’Hare makes the rather average kids movie a mildly amusing movie movie. It’s a fun waste of time.
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Rio
The 2011 Rio is a fun flight of fancy about two blue macaws finding love in extraordinary circumstances, namely mating to save your species. It prides itself in the awkward premise and makes the most out of its musical gimmick. The scene most likely to inspire the rewatch is no doubt “I Wanna Party” scene. That’s some pure cinema right there.
Oz the Great and Powerful
Oz the Great and Powerful is classically underrated. A visual thrill and fun return to trip to the wonderful land of Oz bolstered by a charming lead and surprisingly dark beats. It’s in all honesty an incredible movie, but so heavily forgotten for reasons unbeknownst to all. There’s not anything to trigger wanting to watch it, either. It just pops up occasionally.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
The second Star Wars anthology film was the first box office disappointment from the franchise, earning less than even the unadjusted gross of A New Hope in 1977. But that doesn't make it a bad movie, for it is, in fact, a very good movie. Fantastic production design and entertainment value aside, the scene-stealing Donald Glover and a surprisingly fun Alden Ehrenreich make the movie work. It's nothing special, but there are worse ways to spend an evening. And the trailer is a masterclass.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
British humor is a favorite delicacy of the Americans, and the adaptation of the quite excellent novel by Douglas Adams is no less. In some ways exactly what one visualizes during a first read and in other ways an absolutely terrible mess (Zooey Deschanel is woefully miscast) that strays from the plot of the book, it's still a laughing riot. Mostly because the hilarious parts are taken verbatim from Adams' work. But Martin Freeman and Alan Rickman as a depressed robot make the whole thing a fun, if forgettable, romantic sci-fi comedy.
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