Rottentomatoes: Shutter Island - 67%? Green Zone - 49%??

Now I know you're not supposed to take much stock in rottentomatoes ratings or imdb ratings, but I'm quite surprised at the total critical consensus of both Shutter Island and Green Zone. Both films are very entertaining genre flicks that accomplish pretty much everything that they set out to do. It seems, however, that since both films aren't perfect, critics appear to be jumping and pointing their fingers over at their imperfections.

Is Shutter Island nowhere near Scorsese's best film? Of course not, but it was a very brilliant film in its own right. So just because it's not his best film, that means it's awful? I don't really understand. I mean, the RT consensus is right there at the top of its page: "It may not rank with Scorsese's best work, but Shutter Island's gleefully unapologetic genre thrills represent the director at his most unrestrained." C'mon critics, a 67% overall? I just feel like it could give people the wrong idea, fortunately, the moviegoing public largely ignored the critics' mixed feelings on the film and Scorsese had his biggest opening weekend gross yet.

Green Zone seems to be getting even harsher treatment. Really, it would make more sense to me if it had the 67% rating. I can understand critics not liking the clear, unapologetic anti-war message in the film, but it's still a very solid action film. It definitely is a more accomplished film than Alice in Wonderland, that's for sure.

It should be interesting how this sets the tone for films to come out for the remainder of the year. I never thought to check, but perhaps critics are just worn out from awards season? Or maybe I'm just wrong about these movies... no, that can't be it! Roger Ebert gave both films great reviews and while he's not necessarily the most reliable critic these days, other places like The Playlist and James Berardinelli seem to agree with his assessments. So, it can't be just me that's crazy. Even though Green Zone may get lost in the shuffle of the upcoming slate of 2010 films, I know Shutter Island will be right up there when I start looking back at this year in film. We'll see if the critical consensus is the same then as it is now. Repeated viewings should help Shutter Island; however, it might take longer before more people start accepting Green Zone as a very good film despite its political agenda.