"Better TV/Movies Than They Have Any Right To Be"

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

This was mentioned in the Wandavision thread by @Umbran when the Despicable Me movies came up, stating that they are "better movies than they have any right to be". This got me thinking about other movies and/or TV shows that would fit into this category. This thread is to discuss/(possibly debate) other examples, talk about what makes a movie/show qualify for this designation, and so on. A lot of examples that come to mind seem to be animated, but there are a few examples that I can think of that aren't animated.

Here are some examples that I believe qualify (if you disagree with any of these examples, let me know why below):

• Despicable Me (the example that started this discussion)
• Megamind
• Kung Fu Panda
• Shrek
• Phineas and Ferb
• Napoleon Dynamite
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Parks and Recreation
• I feel like quite a few Pixar movies qualify, but I can't seem to think of specific ones. Possibly Toy Story (or some of the sequels), Cars, or Monsters Inc (maybe Onward or Finding Dory).

Any thoughts?

 

[TwoSix]

I'd be looking at things where the initial concept sounds either flat-out bad, or deeply unoriginal. Bonus points if the actual title is laughably bad.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - probably the Ur-text of weird concept and terrible title becoming a pantheon show.

Breaking Bad - high school teacher gets cancer and cooks meth, starring the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, didn't seem like a candidate for all-time great show.

The Office (American) - remake of an all-time British comedy, but adapted to American broadcast standards and starring the guy from 40-Year-Old Virgin seems primed to fail, instead becomes comedy classic.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - CW show with terrible title, but is actually brutally dark musical comedy about mental illness and one of the best shows of the last decade.

 

[payn]

Pitch Black

 

[TwoSix]

[*]I feel like quite a few Pixar movies qualify, but I can't seem to think of specific ones. Possibly Toy Story (or some of the sequels), Cars, or Monsters Inc (maybe Onward or Finding Dory).

I'd say Pixar's critically acclaimed run in the mid-late '00s all qualify. Ratatouille has a talking rat who cooks? Up is a really old guy who makes his house fly with balloons?! Wall-E is a robot who shovels garbage on post-apocalyptic Earth and doesn't talk?!?

 

[Umbran]

The Orville. Because, really, Seth MacFarlane does a decent sci-fi show? Who saw that coming?

Santa Clarita Diet. Because "my mom's a suburbanite zombie" shouldn't work any more than cheerleader vampire hunter.

Currently, I'd say Syfy's Resident Alien fits the bill as well.

As a by-the-way, Shrek and Legally Blond also make better Broadway musicals than you'd expect.

 

[Nebulous]

The original Robocop. I remember seeing the trailer in the 1980s and thinking, what a stupid stupid name for a movie. Turns out it is one of the best sci fi action movies ever and is still fun to watch today. It has aged extremely well and has a very nuanced story about what it means to be a human.

 

[billd91]

I can't help but feel there's a little bit of ageism at work in some of the examples. "Stuff made for kids" doesn't have to be bad from an adult perspective. Kids' programming isn't all Disney sitcoms (which generally are terrible). Disney animated features, for example, tend to be relatively high quality even for adults - much better than their aforementioned sitcoms on the Disney Channel. And as far as Pixar goes, I think they've made enough of a reputation for themselves that the opposite expectation is probably more appropriate - that the default Pixar movie is expected to be excellent - simply because it's being done by Pixar.

 

[payn]

The original Robocop. I remember seeing the trailer in the 1980s and thinking, what a stupid stupid name for a movie. Turns out it is one of the best sci fi action movies ever and is still fun to watch today. It has aged extremely well and has a very nuanced story about what it means to be a human.

Thats the Paul Verhoeven magic!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Besides the aforementioned Pitch Black, Robocop and The Orville:

Kung Fu Hustle
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose
Evil
Prodigal Son
The Terminator
The Shining (TV adaptation)

 

[Umbran]

Oh... Galavant. But only if you like musicals in the first place.

The Good Place shouldn't have worked. A comedy... about moral philosophy?