Him star Marlon Wayans claps back at bad reviews by pointing to his “classic” flops

Marlon Wayans has responded to criticism of his new film Him by highlighting that several of his most popular movies, despite low critic scores, went on to become cultural touchstones.

Him arrived with major buzz thanks to Jordan Peele’s involvement as producer. Peele’s horror films Get Out, Us, and Nope all earned critical acclaim and established him as one of the most innovative voices in the genre, raising expectations for Wayans’ latest project.

The actor and comedian, best known for White Chicks and the Scary Movie franchise, posted screenshots of Rotten Tomatoes pages for those films, many of which have critic scores under 40%. Alongside them was Him, which currently holds a 28% critic rating.

Wayans weighs in on Him critiques

Wayans’ Instagram post comes after a wave of reviews for Him, including Dexerto’s own two-star write-up. The film was described as “an ambitious celluloid experiment” with strong performances but ultimately one that “proves not all genres should be combined.”

In his Instagram caption, Wayans stressed that reviews are not the final word on a movie’s legacy.

“Just to be clear… I respect critics. Their job is to critique,” he wrote. “But an opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion. Some movies are ahead of the curve. Innovation is not always embraced and art is to be interpreted and it’s subjective. I’ve had a career of making classic movies that weren’t critically received and those movies went on to be classics. So don’t take anyone’s opinion just go see for yourself. Love to all. Him in theaters now.”

Wayans’ defense underscores the gap that can exist between critical reception and audience embrace, something that has followed his career since the early 2000s. That said, the films Wayans included in his post are all comedy films, which often score lower with critics. And Him, while having comedic moments, is far from a comedy.