better than you expected?

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

Ever go to see a movie with low expectations and get better than you thought you would?  I just did that with the live action ''ghost in the shell '' movie and was curious what movies other people got better than they were expecting from.

Last time I got better than I expected I paid to do it at the theater when I saw 'rogue one'.

It's nice to get a pleasant surprise once in a while.

[indianasmith]

I rented a movie called RAT RACE a few years ago with zero expectations, and was treated to one of the funniest films I have ever seen.
It's become a perennial favorite.

[Trevor]

Uncle Uwe Boll's Tunnel Rats - made in South Africa - was quite a surprise indeed. 

[ralfy]

T-Bird and Me (1982)

https://mubi.com/films/the-t-bird-and-me

I was expecting a regular melodrama, and it actually is one, but I was surprised by the excellent pacing and character development stemming from it. Everything they needed to get right in the writing they did, and it came up much better than expected.

[ralfy]

The Reluctant Saint (1962)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reluctant_Saint

I was expecting a religious movie, and it is, but not something that's not only very funny but ably combines that with seriousness. The cast is perfect, including Montalban as the antagonist-foil, but kudos to Schell and Padovani, who plays Guiseppe's hilarious mom. And as usual the writing's perfect.

Schell starred in impressive fare like Judgment at Nuremberg, but according to the trivia this is his favorite movie.

[ralfy]

Brasilia: Contradictions of a New City (1968)

https://mubi.com/films/brasilia-contradictions-of-a-new-city

It's supposed to be just a regular documentary about a new, utopian city in Brazil, but there's something eerily notable about it, and I can't pin it down.

[ralfy]

The Naked Island (1960)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Island

I was expecting something artsy and bewildering. Instead, I got something simple and bewildering. And there's only one line of dialogue in the film.

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

Patlabor 2 the movie.

An anime film featuring large robots called labors used by police. Very mature plot and dialog surrounding terrorist incidents in Japan. I recommend the English dub. Not a kid show, very complex issues social abd political are handled in long dialog scenes. Excellent animation.

[Allhallowsday]

DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971) turned out to be more interesting than expected. 

[zombie no.one]

MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D

expected yet another pointless cookie-cutter 80s horror remake, but got something that was actually better than the original. (and that was without seeing it in 3D)

[Alex]

Below.

I put this on having never heard of it before, expecting a fairly standard low-budget horror. It was much better than I was expecting. Turned out there were some unexpectedly big names behind it.

[ER]

The Lego Movie.

[The Burgomaster]

I rented a movie called RAT RACE a few years ago with zero expectations, and was treated to one of the funniest films I have ever seen.
It's become a perennial favorite.

My wife and I saw it in the theater and I thought it was full of crazy energy. Much better than I expected (I think the main reason we went to see it was for Rowan Atkinson . . . and he wasn't even the funniest character). I have it on DVD now.