Movies you only liked after giving a second chance - ⛺︎ ∙ Cinema

What are some movies that you hated the first time you watched them, but grew to appreciate on subsequent viewings?

Most recently, I rewatched Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Not long before, I mentioned in another thread about how much I disliked this movie. Everything leading up to its release made me think it would be the spiritual successor to The Fifth Element, which is one of my favourite movies of all time. It definitely isn't that, but I think that now that I'm quite a few years removed from that initial disappointment and I don't have any expectations of what I want it to be, I was able to appreciate it for what it actually is.

The acting of the main characters is still stiff and mostly bad, but the visuals are amazing and the story is actually pretty good. Most of all, the world created around the story is brilliant, even if it isn't always shown in the best way.

Rewatching it reminded me of the first time I was excited for a movie only to be disappointed, and then years later learned to love it. That was The Chronicles of Riddick. Pitch Black is another of my all-time favourite movies, so my expectations were astronomical going into the theatre. It was nothing like Pitch Black, and unlike comparing Valerian to The Fifth Element, this was a direct sequel! It wasn't until years later when I rewatched it on DVD that I grew to like it, and now I genuinely love it as a great popcorn flick.

Ironically the next sequel, Riddick, tried to basically recreate Pitch Black and I ended up not liking it as much.