Critics snapping their pens, casuals throwing their arms up in confusion, but the one's in the know are giving the screen a standing ovation. Is fan service a bad thing? Movies that are based on popular books or games are always stuck with an interesting dilemma. These already existing properties have their own fanbase and obviously the movie wouldn't go through if they didn't.
When producing a film, there are three inherent groups you will be offering this film too: The critics, the casuals and the fans. The critics want a film with good structure, well written dialogue and strong themes. The casuals want a film that has enough exposition(not too much) and a lesser amount of what the critics want. The fans are always going to be easier to please. They want their franchise to be well represented and to generally have a good time seeing their infatuation brought to life on the big screen. So how do we please all sides?
I think it takes an absolute genius to balance all three audiences. I think it's nearly impossible to please everyone on the same level or so. The previously mentioned adaptations, the likes of FNAF, Sonic and Super Mario, are usually casualties to critic scores. Need I say, the reviewers are full grown adults with all types of movie tastes. Super Mario got a 59% from critics, Sonic 1 got a 64%, FNAF 1 got a 33% and at the moment FNAF is sitting on a 12%. There's an evident difference between the FNAF movies and the rest. The FNAF movies made the bold choice to pander only to the fans, even moreso in FNAF 2.
What's even more different is that it hasn't shyed away from advertising itself as a film for the fans. These types of adaptions are commonly accused of being full or fan service and nostalgia bait, as if it's a bad thing, but can it be a bad thing if its intentional. The movie industry is a business at the end of the day, if a movie makes a good profit it will probably get a sequal, it's as simple as that. If the fanbase can carry ticket sales then who cares what the critics and casuals think. I loved FNAF 2 but I admit it's a poor piece of film.
I think it's only a problem when a movie advertises itself as an intelligent film or tries to take itself too seriously with no actual depth. In those cases, the fan service and nostalgia bait will stick out like a sore thumb. If films are upfront with who they're catering for, then as long as they deliver that, then it should be all good. Sonic 3 is one of the best examples of a game adaption catering to all three audiences. It got an 86% critic score and a 95% audience score. So it's definitely possible...
To rap things up, I think a movie is a success as long as one audience type is catered for and the movie is makes a profit. You are not forced to watch a film that isn't catered to you. Bring on FNAF 3!!!
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