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Critics Angered “Burlesque” isn’t the next “Showgirls”

“Not the (Show)Girls we’d hoped for”: Are Critics Bitter Over A Lost Chance To Bash “Burlesque”?

From the first trailer, movie critics were all a-snark about Christina Aguilera’s debut movie possibly being the next “Showgirls”, “Glitter” or “Crossroads.” One could practically feel the anticipation to trash what they were sure would be a wonderfully horrible movie.

Now as reviews have rolled in, critics are grumbling that the movie isn’t the over-the-top disaster that they would have hoped. Unable to use their pre-prepared takedown puns and witticisms, or trash Aguilera’s first debut in acting as anywhere near Carey’s “Glitter” or Spear’s “Crossroads”, they nevertheless determined not to be denied.

Invoking the aforementioned critically panned movies in any way they could, they have invested themselves in dismantling the cliche plot: not stopping to wonder that perhaps it was a purposeful satire on such “A Star Is Born” stories, considering that a classic burlesque was an over-the-top ribbing of popular plays and literature.

The critics unhappiness in being unable to pan the movie in the way they’d hoped is evident in how many of them invoked “not as bad as Showgirls” as something against the film, while generally skipping over the movie’s staged song and dance numbers. Even in negative reviews most critics had to admit that Aguilera showed promise as an actress, even if it was begrudgingly. One reviewer seemed particularly frustrated at how Aguilera had succeeded where another pop superstar who tried her hand at acting, Beyonce, failed, writing that Hollywood “doesn’t know what to do with the most talented and joyful performer of our time” Beyonce, while Aguilera “fits right in with the industry’s phoniness.”

A case of sour grapes perhaps?

But while official critical reviews have been mostly unfavorable, the general public has embraced “Burlesque” with open arms. The movie scored record high’s in audience approval ratings for Screen Gems at test screenings, and the comments of viewers have been overwhelmingly positive, with the movie holding an A- user rating on Yahoo.

Such a disconnect between critics and viewers is interesting. Sometimes it means the movie is truly bad, a guilty pleasure that the crowd wants and doesn’t care to analyze. But the constant bitterness of critics at the movie not being bad enough for them, as well as many of the personal attacks on Aguilera in a number of professional reviews leads one to wonder if critics may be more interested in having a chance to gleefully trash a movie and have the reader snicker at their wit, rather than taking a movie as is and judging it with the public’s interest in mind.

Written by Aubrey Coletti, AfterLD Reviews

This strikes me as an accurate analysis, based on some of the Burlesque reviews I’ve read. One reason I find such critics useless is that their primary interest is in showing off how elite, witty and snarky they think they are at the expense of genuinely reviewing the movie.

Cher’s biggest opening week ever!

One of the biggest opening weeks for an original musical (not off of Broadway)!

Other opening numbers for musicals:

Mama Mia! - $27,476,745
Dreamgirls - $14,100,050
Moulin Rouge! - $13,718,306
Evita - $8,381,055
Chicago - $9,241,533
The Phantom of the Opera - $4,001,890
Glitter - $2,414,596

Source: Box Office Mojo