Russell Crowe's Rotten Tomatoes Streak
Respected actor Russell Crowe boasts a long and varied career. Even he, though, has had a run of bad Rotten Tomatoes reviews. Several of his films have received poor reviews in the past two years, but his latest war thriller, Land Of Bad, bucked the trend.
Movie Successes of Russell Crowe
Among some classic films Crowe starred in that have won praise from critics, L.A. Confidential (99%) A Beautiful Mind (74%), and Gladiator (80%).
Failures of Russell Crowe's Movies
Still, not every Crowe film has been a hit. His 2023 film, The Pope's Exorcist, scored 50%; his 2022 film, Poker Face, received a poor 9%. This latest run of negative reviews added to Crowe's "rotten" Rotten Tomatoes run.
Bad Land: Shattering the Rotten Tomatoes Streak
Russell Crowe leads Captain Eddie "Reaper" Grimm in the 2024 war film Land Of Bad. Both reviewers and viewers could relate to the riveting story of survival and bravery the movie tells. It broke Crowe's run of bad reviews with an audience score of 94% and a 65% critics' rating.
The movie centers on Air Force drone pilot Reaper supporting a special operations mission in the southern Philippines. The ground crew—including Sgt. Kinney and his squad—is ambushed and taken prisoner by insurgents when the mission fails. Reaper has 48 hours to, under heavy fighting, transform a failed operation into a daring rescue.
The Crowe Recent Film Trend
Land of Bad's success notwithstanding, Crowe's next two films, Sleeping Dogs (39%) and The Exorcism (28%), got low Rotten Tomatoes ratings. This raises the query: what made Land of Bad successful? Critics may not be connecting with Crowe's recent genre or script selections. On closer examination, though, the data shows an intriguing pattern. Although some critics would have been less than enthusiastic about his latest movies, viewers have constantly shown more respect.
Audience in contrast to Critics
Though critics have given Crowe's last seven films low marks, viewers have rated them far higher. For instance, audiences gave The Greatest Beer Run Ever a 91% while critics rated it just 43%. Critics gave The Pope's Exorcist a 50%; audiences gave it an 81%; Sleeping Dogs got a 39% from critics but an 85%. This implies that Crowe's films might not be as poor as some critics would have it. They could just not be satisfying expectations of critics. They are obviously entertaining viewers, though.
Will it help to save Crowe's Rotten Tomatoes reputation? Kraven the Hunter
Kraven The Hunter is Crowe's one more movie set scheduled for 2024 release. Star-studded cast of this Marvel property includes Christopher Abbott, Ariana Debose, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Crowe will be portraying Kraven's estranged father, Nikolai Kravinoff. This film could buck Crowe's present trend and help him to return into the good graces of both viewers and critics.
Crowe is a highly regarded actor with a long and successful career even though the past few years haven't been friendly for Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Kraven The Hunter, his next picture, presents an opportunity to right things. Still, his reputation is not likely to be much damaged even if it doesn't.
