Sorry, trolls: Rotten Tomatoes will no longer let users review a movie before its release

By Randall Colburn | February 26, 2019 | 4:04pm

Aux Features Film

Nothing gets a troll’s juices flowing more than bagging on a blockbuster movie with a lady in it, so much so that the internet’s best and brightest have taken to crying about movies like The Last Jedi and Captain Marvel before they’ve even seen them. This sort of behavior’s been facilitated by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which allows users to review and comment on films prior to their release date. Now, since this function has often led to coordinated downvoting campaigns by 4chan chuds, Rotten Tomatoes is making some charges in order to improve the overall user experience.

Noting, in the understatement of the year, that it’s “seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling,” the company is disabling the comment function prior to a movie’s release date. Per Rotten Tomatoes, the change will “accurately and authentically represent the voice of fans, while protecting our data and public forums from bad actors.” Audiences will be able to leave a user rating and comment once the movie officially opens, when trolls will no longer have the power to dictate a film’s narrative.