No one understands the 'grin' mark. Sigh....
Okay, here's my thoughts on this whole thing. True, no one complained about Jabba the Hutt or the other weird characters in Star Wars because it was presented in a fresh way for the time. Sure, there had been other alien-type flicks before but Star Wars set the bar. Anything which came after it really came out to be a pale imitation.
No, I didn't expect to see a disembodied head floating around. It wasn't in the novel and it would have looked ridiculous.
As for giving the audience credit, a lot of people--and I mean a LOT--did not recognize Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. No CGI, no smoke and mirrors, just makeup and terrifying good acting. (And I am not a Cruise fan at all). So some members of the audience are pretty damn stupid in my opinion.
My whole point is this: I didn't think JCM was a good movie. I thought the screenplay flat, the characters not very interesting, the chemistry between the leads non-existant, and the direction rather uninspiring. Yes, the special effects were good (and these days, it's expected) but if that's all you got then it isn't much. I don't know about the advertising campaign in North America but if the movie isn't good, I don't care how much money you toss at the public, they'll know on some level it ain't a good flick.
That's what the general public thought: it wasn't worth going to. Disney will probably make more money from the DVD sales and that's fine but to me, it still isn't a great movie or one even worth buying the DVD to. Avengers, yay, JCM, nay.
Pass the popcorn....