More often than not, the reviews will help people avoid bad movies but the mainstream audience is far more forgiving than movie critics.

On Metacritic, FF4 is a 47

In this year's box office

#3: At World's End =50
#4: 300 = 51
#5: Wild Hogs = 27
#7: Ghost Rider = 35

Technically, this was in last year's box office but:
Night at the Museum = 48
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I can't fault someone who doesn't agree with film critics. They might just have a lower standards than your typical film critic.