Does a bad review ruin the film chances?

A film review is done to provide the public with an analysis and evaluation of a particular motion picture. In general they can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass media outlets. Film reviews can also appear online, for example 'Rotten Tomatoes' and 'Metacritic' which are both popular film review websites. 

Filmgoers use reviews to help them determine whether to view a particular film. It has been claimed that positive reviews have been known to spark some interest in films, however negative criticism can also do the opposite and push people away from seeing a particular film. I believe that certain types of people listen to reviews, whereas others, mainly in my age group would decide to see a film depending on the advertising. I think the main type of people who really take in a review are the true film buffs, however this usually wouldn't change their attitude on seeing a film, as they like to make there own critical opinion on it. I think the majority of people go to see a film based on 'word of mouth' from their friends. This could also be seen as a review, through the case of somebody giving a film a positive or negative feedback to their peers, which again could determine whether people would view a film or not, I also believe this has more of an impact than maybe a review you read in a magazine, as a magazine is more general, and less personal, whereas if it is a review coming from your friend, it's more likely to be personal.  I personally don't usually read reviews of films before i see them, however if I do read a review, it never really puts me off seeing the film, as if it's a film I really want to see, then i will see it no matter what. The only time a review effects my opinions on a film, is if the review is really good, in which case just makes me more eager to see that film. So i believe the majority of people will watch a film whether it has a bad or good review, simply because they want to see it, and judge it themselves.