Sometimes, it takes time for the appeal of a movie to truly click, and there are several fantastic releases that I only learned to love some time after they were released. Whether it was coming to the theater with different expectations about the film or just simply not taking in the depth of its themes on first viewing, I’m glad I took the time to appreciate these movies because they now stand as some of my absolute favorites. Whether it was major franchise releases or underappreciated cult classics, not every movie reveals its power on the first watch.

Even some of the best movies ever made weren’t appreciated upon release, as truly challenging cinema can often struggle to find an audience in its own time. While it’s easy to quickly dismiss movies you don’t connect with right away, I’ve learned over the years that it is important to be willing to change your mind and open yourself up to loving a movie you didn’t initially “get.”

10

Onward (2020)

Directed by Dan Scanlon

The late 2010s saw Pixar embrace sequels in a way they hadn’t previously through releases like Finding Dory, Cars 3, The Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4, which saw many bemoan that the studio had run out of original ideas. Among so many returning popular IPs, it was easy to forget about Onward, Pixar’s fantasy adventure set in a world inhabited by mythical creatures. While I saw Onward upon release and enjoyed it, I think the back-to-back release of Soul the same year far overshadowed my appreciation of this unique fantasy world.

At first glance, Onward looks like a run-of-the-mill kids’ fantasy story, and this was a major reason I didn’t immediately recognize just how good it was. However, under the surface was a deeply personal story inspired by director Dan Scanlon’s own father’s death. While the pandemic restrictions meant Onward underperformed at the box office, I’m glad I could rediscover it on Disney+ and take the time to enjoy its unique blend of suburban life and high-fantasy tropes in an emotionally powerful narrative.

9

Fast Five (2011)

Directed by Justin Lin

It’s easy to criticize the Fast & Furious franchise for just how ridiculous its sequels have become over the years. What started as a street racing story grounded in realism soon turned into a de facto superhero series where Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto defied the laws of gravity through outrageous stunt work that left viewers’ jaws on the floor. This embracement of sheer spectacle was a prime reason I didn’t get Fast Five when it was first released, although looking back, I can see it was the moment the franchise decided to go all in regarding its bombastic style.

In Fast Five, the franchise abandoned its street racing premise in favor of heist action and saw Dom and his crew rob a police station vault in Rio de Janeiro. The sheer, over-the-top absurdity of witnessing two Dodge Chargers drag a mᴀssive bank vault through the streets was almost too ridiculous to believe, yet in hindsight, it marks a high point in the series. I didn’t get Fast Five when it was released because I still viewed the series in terms of its origin, although now I see this represents a new beginning for Dom and his found family.

8

Babylon (2022)

Directed by Damien Chazelle

I first discovered Damien Chazelle after seeing Whiplash in the theater, and, as a lover of musical theater, La La Land truly blew me away. With this in mind, I was excited to see what Chazelle would do next and was left disappointed by his Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man, and was ecstatic to hear he was returning to music for Babylon. This three-plus-hour epic looked set to be Chazelle’s magnum opus, and as a homage to Hollywood’s transition from silent movies into sound, it looked like a highly ambitious swing for the fences.

Then, when I finally saw Babylon, I was left feeling conflicted, and I wasn’t the only one, as it bombed at the box office. With a convoluted and overly artful style, Babylon was alienating upon first viewing and did not have the immediate hit factor of a movie like La La Land. Instead, this was a challenging piece of cinema that only fully revealed itself to me upon repeated viewings. Babylon was not a mainstream movie, and despite the star power of Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, it needed to be viewed through the lens of non-linear, almost avant-garde-style cinema.

7

Beau Is Afraid (2023)

Directed by Ari Aster

Through recent movies like Hereditary and Midsommar, director Ari Aster has revealed himself as one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. While audiences have come to expect a certain type of eerie storytelling from him, nothing could have prepared me for the epic odyssey of Beau Is Afraid. This surreal saga starring Joaquin Phoenix was a powerful film, although I must admit I don’t think I fully got it when it was released and needed some time to mull over what I had witnessed before it all truly clicked.

As a psychological horror about a paranoia-ridden man embarking on a quest to get home for his mother’s funeral, Phoenix’s performance as a pᴀssive, neurotic mess paired with its challenging 179-minute runtime meant it was a hard movie to take in all at once. Beau Is Afraid was a great movie, but it was also severely anxiety-inducing, and the emotions that Aster forced me to feel caught me off guard. As a Kafkaesque nightmare that brought to mind works by David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman, I just wasn’t expecting Beau Is Afraid to be so relentlessly overwhelming.

6

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Directed by Charlie Kaufman

I remember first watching Synecdoche, New York not long after it was released and being totally unsure of what to make of it. As a teenage film fan, I was immersing myself in classic cinema at the time and had already gained an appreciation of Kaufman’s writing through movies like Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. While those movies were deeply creative and thematically rich, it was not as easy to immediately connect with this sprawling saga of a theater director played by Philip Seymour Hoffman attempting to stage an elaborate production of his entire life.

After that first viewing, I found Synecdoche, New York clever and moving, but the true depth of its exploration of idenтιтy went over my head. This was a film about a man reckoning with his mortality, legacy, anxieties, and deepest fears, and it takes some extra life experience to truly take in everything Kaufman was trying to say with this film. Now, I recognize it as a high point in Kaufman’s career, and I wouldn’t argue with famed film critic Roger Ebert’s decision to rank it as the best film of the decade.

5

The Irishman (2019)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

The Irishman was a long-standing pᴀssion project from Martin Scorsese that he first considered making as far back as the 1980s and really came to fruition after he discovered the non-fiction work I Heard You Paint Houses, which explored the true crime story of Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa. With a stacked cast that included Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and a rare late-career role from Joe Pesci, it was impossible not to feel like The Irishman had the potential to match classic Scorsese gangster movies like Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Casino.

The result was a challenging 209-minute movie whose de-aging technology distracted from its narrative power. I remember there was so much hype surrounding The Irishman’s appearance on Netflix in 2019 that it felt like the production details of the movie were in danger of taking over from the actual quality of the film. It’s only now that the dust has settled that I can look back on The Irishman and appreciate it as one of Scorsese’s finest films and the thoughtful culmination of his work in the gangster genre.

4

Hulk (2003)

Directed by Ang Lee

Ang Lee’s Hulk is a truly strange movie that’s hard to categorize within the history of the superhero genre. Released years before the superhero boom of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and with a far more nuanced narrative than the tongue-in-cheek heroics of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies, I just didn’t know what to make of Hulk when it was released. As an introspective character study on the trauma of Bruce Banner, Hulk’s serious approach had more in common with a Shakespearean tragedy than it did with the action-packed X-Men movies of that era.

The slow and introspective style of Hulk was not what I was expecting when it was released, although revisiting it today, I absolutely love it. Hulk represents the path not taken within superhero cinema, and its psychological depth and willingness to trade action for more mindful pacing must be admired. The success of later introspective superhero movies like Logan hints that there is a place for these types of films within the modern movie landscape; it was just that Lee was ahead of the curve and already experimenting with the form before audiences were ready for it.

3

The Last Duel (2021)

Directed by Ridley Scott

In a career filled with several hit movies, it’s a real shame that Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel wasn’t one of them and was so underappreciated at the time of its release. I must admit that the marketing of this film had convinced me it would be a generic medieval action movie, and I was shocked to discover a thoughtful and layered drama about power, gender, and justice. With incredible performances from Matt Damon, Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, and Ben Affleck, The Last Duel was a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic and sadly underperformed at the box office.

While I was not expecting much from The Last Duel, what I found was a fascinating exploration of feminism and power depicted through a multiview Rashomon-style structure. With an unconventional and demanding structure that told the same story from three different perspectives, The Last Duel required patience and close attention to appreciate its urgent themes of violence against women. While many may have dismissed The Last Duel upon release, if you revisit it, you’ll be pleased to discover one of Scott’s best movies in recent years.

2

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino is a director who is very careful about his legacy, and the release of a new movie always feels like a cinematic event. From the classic status of Pulp Fiction to the non-stop kung fu action of Kill Bill, the cinematic universe of Tarantino is always a genre-bending glimpse into the best aspects of film history. It was with this mindset that I first saw The Hateful Eight and was left disappointed by its more slow-paced, almost theatrical presentation of criminals stuck together in a snowy layover.

As the follow-up to the Wild West revenge Django Unchained, it took some time to fully appreciate the slow burn, dialogue-driven nature of The Hateful Eight. As a mostly single-room mystery, those expecting fast-paced action were blind to the expert writing and phenomenal performances on display. Now that I’ve had some time to digest what Tarantino was doing with The Hateful Eight, I absolutely love it, and the fact that it won the late film composer Ennio Morricone his sole Academy Award was just the cherry on top.

1

Prometheus (2012)

Directed by Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott risked serious alienating longtime fans when he opted to return to the Alien franchise for the prequel story, Prometheus. This was one of the most beloved properties of all time, and by exploring the origins of the Xenomorph as well as the backstory of Weyland Corporation, there was a worried feeling he could be tarnishing his own legacy if the movie was disappointing. The results were divisive, and I remember being left feeling like Prometheus brought up far more questions than it answered when it was first released.

However, Prometheus has grown on me over the years, and now I view it as a vital addition to the lore of the franchise. Through Michael Fᴀssbender’s astounding performance as the android David, I’m actually now more interested in seeing the franchise continue to expand on the mythos laid out in Prometheus and its sequel, Alien: Covenant, than I am in seeing Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley return to the series. It took a few years for me to truly appreciate Prometheus, but now I see it as a worthy and interesting addition to the franchise.

Source: Roger Ebert