I'm with Jimbo on critics, I have watched and enjoyed many many film which have been panned by the critics and equally been bored silly by some films critically acclaimed as masterpieces.
I would guess that the critics can have a bigger influence on the success of live theatre launches, as the theatre going public are more likely to read their reviews.
I do find very often that critical reviews are padded out with confusing psuedo intellectual twaddle, a little like the early NME concert or album reviews. There were times when I would be confused as to what the writer and his thesaurus was trying to say as he became wrapped up in his extreme cleverness and whether indeed, he liked it or not.