People Are Sharing The Movies That Totally Exceeding Their Expectations, And It's Going To Make You Want To Watch Them All

"This kids' movie was a troubled production that was originally meant to be something completely different. It's unbelievable that it became one of the funniest films of the 21st century."

Have you ever started a movie with low expectations, only to have your socks unexpectedly blown off by the end? Like, I didn't expect much from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, but it ended up being one of the best movies of 2022 to me.

Recently, redditor u/godofhorizons asked, "What movie was far better than it had any right to be?"

Here are 21 of the top answers:

1. Megamind (2010)

Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks Animation / Via youtube.com

"For my daughter, it was just a fun movie. For me? It's the bullied kid finally coming into his own. Letting all his anger melt away at how he was treated and letting people love him."

—u/jackfaire

"Plus, it called out incels way before people were aware at large."

—u/Bi_Aint_Shi

2. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. /Courtesy Everett Collection

—u/Limp_Distribution

"In particular, you expect this to be a horror show of racist tropes that were still acceptable in 1980s Hollywood, but it completely subverts any expectations. It makes the famous white action hero a clueless self-parody who's stumbling from one crisis into another and keeps failing to solve his problems with brute force, while the Chinese American characters are the level-headed problem-solvers with both self-awareness and agency. In a way, it's a hilarious satire, a parody of the kind of movie you expect it to be. I guess that's why it was a flop in 1986."

—u/Epistaxis

3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

"It was super funny and enjoyable. My husband and I saw it together on a whim, and we were both pleasantly surprised, as it was so much better than we were expecting."

—u/didneyprincess

4. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

"I was honestly blown away with how fun this movie was! I thought, 'Nic Cage playing Nic Cage? Sure, that'll be fun.' But holy shit! So much fun action, fun story, and a great cast, including Pedro Pascal, mi corazón."

—u/vonkeswick

5. Paddington 2 (2017)

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via youtube.com

—u/c4halo3

"It does make you want to be a better man."

—u/toolazytorelax

6. The Lego Movie (2014)

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via youtube.com

"It should have been total garbage, or at best, mediocre. The fact that it wasn't, and was actually pretty brilliant, still stuns me."

—u/BranWafr

"I remember after seeing it, I was desperately trying to convince everyone around me, like, 'No, seriously, it was amazing. No, stop raising your eyebrows at me. I'm serious.'"
—u/ApprehensiveLuck2325

7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Sony Pictures Entertainment / Via youtube.com

"I'm not familiar with the comics, but I just knew I'd die before seeing another Spider-Man (even animated) that wasn't Tom Holland.

I’m glad to have been proven so, so wrong, and I watch it every few months, it seems. Can't wait for the sequel!"

—u/tealth57

8. The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

The Filmgroup / American International Pictures Courtesy Everett Collection

"The original Little Shop of Horrors has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93% even though the interiors were shot in two days and the film had a budget of about $30,000."

—u/doublestitch

9. Blast from the Past (1999)

New Line Cinema / courtesy Everett Collection

"Such a ridiculous premise, but I love that movie."

—u/MediocreMina

10. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I went in thinking it would be a fun kids' movie and that my friends would make fun of me for dragging them to go see it, despite us all being in college at the time. But when we came out of the theater, all of us were in awe. Now at 30-something years old, we all still get excited if someone suggests to watch it."

—u/Daligheri

11. Zombieland (2009)

Sony Pictures Entertainment / Via youtube.com

"I thought it looked so goofy, and I'm really not a fan of zombie movies anyway. But my friends dragged me to see it one day, and I loved it."

—u/Johnmn12

12. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

DreamWorks Pictures / Via youtube.com

"It's based on a Bible story, but then, they gave the musical score to Hans Zimmer, and we ALL benefitted."

—u/NotAnotherBookworm

"Everything Hans Zimmer touches turns to gold. It's wild how much the right score can make something so epic."

—u/vonkeswick

13. Tremors (1990)

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

"It hits all the right notes for a monster movie without any of the annoying tropes."

—u/Oblee2002

14. Clue (1985)

Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection

"It's based on a board game, so how good can it really be? Turns out it's possibly one of the funniest movies from the '80s!"

—u/DavidD363

15. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Dan Power/ Maple Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

—u/Typical_Samaritan

"I recommend this movie all the time to people. No one's ever heard of it, and it's such a hilarious movie."

—u/danni__b

16. Office Space (1999)

20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtes: Everett Collection

—u/Lychanthropejumprope

"Gary Cole and Stephen Root deserved Oscar noms for this film."

—u/Wishart2016

17. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Via youtube.com

"There is absolutely no reason that it should have been as much of a comedy classic as it became.

It was a troubled production that was originally meant to be something completely different, and the end result was basically them trying to salvage something from all the effort, starring a guy known mostly for bad, dumb, low-brow junk. And the title is atrociously bad.

It's unbelievable that it became one of the funniest films of the 21st century."

—u/Samuel23KR

18. Starship Troopers (1997)

TriStar Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"Seriously! It's a really deep movie and actually entertaining as hell. The book is good, too — but nothing like the movie."

—u/gopher33j

19. Shrek 2 (2004)

DreamWorks Pictures / Via youtube.com

—u/Plumeriaas

"It's one of those rare movies where I believe the sequel is better than the original."

—u/Im_a_seaturtle

20. Galaxy Quest (1999)

DreamWorks / courtesy Everett Collection

"We woke up at our hotel to go to Disneyland, and as my wife and I were getting ready, I turned on the TV to kill a few minutes before we were to leave. This movie just pulled us in! 'OK, we really gotta go and catch the shuttle. ... Oh shit, is that Sigourney Weaver?' 

Yeah, we watched the whole movie and talked about it the rest of the afternoon. Awesome day!"

—u/Thin_Canary_7269

21. And finally, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Sony Pictures Entertainment / Via youtube.com

"I'm usually not a fan of remakes or sequels to such awesome classics, and then stepping in Robin Williams's footsteps, no less. But I should have known that Jack Black as a teenage girl would make any movie, period."

—u/Nayeliq1

Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.