It's easy to remember the names of the great actors, directors, and titles of their movies. I can't remember the names of any "great" critics. Critics don't carry their legacies into the future in spite of the way they can sway people in the present.
I can think of a few - H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan (theater critic) from the 1920s-1930s. Susan Sontag (a beanie-headed liberal but wrote good essays about science fiction and camp.) Pauline Kael was an entertaining movie critic. I agree that most aren't worth reading.