The Rise of Skywalker Reactions to "Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker"

[jmc]

There's an air of indifference. I saw a youtube video review from a fan that I can't post due to language, but the last 2 minutes of the video was frankly one of the saddest two mins I've heard from someone, basically saying to Disney 'I hope it was worth it'.

 

[Agent Orange]

That's because this movie didn't do a lot to earn any toxicity. It was bad and a lot of people don't like. But it's not like the last one where you could feel the movie trolling the audience with its "subversion" and agenda pushing.

Hm. I'm seeing a lot of "I loved it!" and "Thank you JJ!" comments.

I'm ambivalent on that as I liked The Last Jedi, but to say that casuals aren't liking RoS is patently wrong.

 

[jmc]

These movies made me indifferent to the franchise too.

I remember after each of the prequels, even the one I didn't like, I would immediately rush home and read about all the new planets, vehicles, characters and lore. I wanted to discuss the story in forums with fellow fans.

After these new movies I've forgotten about them by the time I leave the theater.

I didn't care for Force Awakens since it was just a re-hash. But I was HUGELY hyped for Last Jedi because I thought they would finally get a real story going and we had a fresh new director. And well we all know how that turned out. I only went to see ep9 out of obligation rather than excitement.

Everyone was. For all the nonsense articles written about fans over the last few years the one thing that was always true was there was genuine excitement towards TLJ. All sorts of speculation about who Rey was, whether the concepts of the Grey Jedi would be looked at, why Luke abandoned everyone. That's part of the fun and build up to Star Wars. For this film though it was crickets, because there was nothing for people to latch onto other than good guys vs bad guys again. There was nothing to build up to for the fans or JJ. Obligation is the word I use as well. I did the same for the last of the Hobbit films.

 

[godisawesome]

That's because this movie didn't do a lot to earn any toxicity. It was bad and a lot of people don't like. But it's not like the last one where you could feel the movie trolling the audience with its "subversion" and agenda pushing.

“Didn’t do a lot to earn any toxicity?”

Eh, I know some people love it... but the shallow and abusive relationship between Rey and Kylo should qualify there.

TROS’s advantage is surface level enjoyment. Just don’t deep dive on *anything.*

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[BatLobster]

You're right about what Lucas did. What makes SW stand above the rest if he imbued these cheesy B serials with a real sophistication with excellent storytelling. It became a new mythology unto itself.

So the premise that they were never that good because of what they took from what they were inspired by was never that great is bullcrap.

We're not gonna start selling those films short because this film is terrible.

I just want to clarify, that wasn't the point of my post. I'm not trying to sell the originals short at all. I said they were genius. And I said that nothing can ever really live up to them. Mainly Star Wars and Empire. You're never going to top those. They changed cinema. They're the basis for all of this, and always will be.

But I think it's also fair to acknowledge that, yes, the originals do have some super convenient writing, particularly Return of the Jedi. And the moment Lucas decided Vader = Luke's father, it simultaneously made the story a Greek tragedy AND a family soap opera that narrowed the confines of what the episodic saga ever really could be. He doubled down on this by making Luke and Leia twins. Then he went and tripled down on all of that by turning Anakin into a chosen one virgin birth trope. I think it's fair to point out that ST had a tough challenge of trying to work around that while still being true to the core idea that ran through I-VI. For all his originality and cool ideas, George also really shrunk his universe the more films he made (although continued to expand it in cool ways with The Clone Wars).

This wasn't in relation to TROS as a whole, specifically about Rey's parentage in the last movie, while it's totally fair not to like it, I'm just saying it's in keeping with the tradition of Star Wars. "Certain point of view" and all that. I have my fair share of issues with the film, but Rey being a Palpatine definitely isn't one of them. I'm very on board with that and think it was the right story to tell for this final chapter.

 

[TheGDBatman]

Was the movie perfect?

Nope.

Did I enjoy the hell out of it?

YUP.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

Watching RLM destroy this thing is far more entertaining than the actual movie.

 

[Detective Conan]

The cast and J.J. reacts to the mixed reviews.

 

[MadVillainy]

The cast and J.J. reacts to the mixed reviews.

Some corny bits in there.
Doing the classic defenses. Similar to when the reporter asked the cast of BvS about the negative reviews.

"We made it for fans" and by fans they mean stans who are gonna like whatever is put out in front of them
And then JJ trying say: "No matter what you do it's gonna be divisive." That's lame
"I never needed reviews to inform mine" Yeah you know if that was the case the most high grossing and publically well received movies of the year would be all the ones critics like.

But I did like Boyega saying: "If you didn't like it, you didn't like it. You can't take that from them it's their given right." I think this is loss on people.
And they generally seem more jovial about it then most people when asked about negative reviews.

 

[Daywalker89]

There's an air of indifference. I saw a youtube video review from a fan that I can't post due to language, but the last 2 minutes of the video was frankly one of the saddest two mins I've heard from someone, basically saying to Disney 'I hope it was worth it'.

Ahh yes the Critical Drinker. I was pretty much laughing throughout his part 2 review but as you mentioned that last few minutes was abit depressing.He will get over it he's got cats to review yet

 

[sueb1863]

Judging from the posts on Tumblr, Cats is quite the horror show. The reactions sound like ones that occurred during the original release of The Exorcist.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I just want to clarify, that wasn't the point of my post. I'm not trying to sell the originals short at all. I said they were genius. And I said that nothing can ever really live up to them. Mainly Star Wars and Empire. You're never going to top those. They changed cinema. They're the basis for all of this, and always will be.

But I think it's also fair to acknowledge that, yes, the originals do have some super convenient writing, particularly Return of the Jedi. And the moment Lucas decided Vader = Luke's father, it simultaneously made the story a Greek tragedy AND a family soap opera that narrowed the confines of what the episodic saga ever really could be. He doubled down on this by making Luke and Leia twins. Then he went and tripled down on all of that by turning Anakin into a chosen one virgin birth trope. I think it's fair to point out that ST had a tough challenge of trying to work around that while still being true to the core idea that ran through I-VI. For all his originality and cool ideas, George also really shrunk his universe the more films he made (although continued to expand it in cool ways with The Clone Wars).

This wasn't in relation to TROS as a whole, specifically about Rey's parentage in the last movie, while it's totally fair not to like it, I'm just saying it's in keeping with the tradition of Star Wars. "Certain point of view" and all that. I have my fair share of issues with the film, but Rey being a Palpatine definitely isn't one of them. I'm very on board with that and think it was the right story to tell for this final chapter.

I wasn't aiming my point at you in particular. Just being general because you raised good points. Oh, sure ROTJ is pretty flawed, but it delivers on the emotional core and Luke's arc. Is the Leia thing convenient? Yeah, but since they were going for the family thing and needed to wrap up the emotional arcs, plus the fact you were invested in the characters so much by that point, it works. It's no Vader twist, but you're willing to accept that because you're invested. Probably would have been better if you just created a new Skywalker character, hell, this would have made ROTJ better, but again, we accept it because you love those characters and were invested and it's not the most implausible thing. It doesn't feel overly hamfisted.

I can't say that for these movies. It doesn't help they're ripping off the same beats as the OT because they lack vision. These ideas just lack creativity because they're recycling beats from a greater franchise and it's a continued philosophy of just being a creatively conservative franchise. Maybe the Palpatine thing could have worked, but in this context, yet even before conception, with execution, instead of earning it in any way, it's just horribly executed and just cookie cutter from the "Star Wars is about family" belief in the most banal, corporate way. There's a few levels of bad to wade through.

 

[MadVillainy]

We’ve reached a point now where artists don’t accept any criticism. They just blame everything on the catch-all of "toxic fandom". No one is worse at this than Rian Johnson. The guy is still running around telling us there is nothing wrong with his movie.

Whats the stereotype of creatives? They're sensitive. I'm not surprised that any creative type Star Wars or not doesn't really deal with criticism well.
It is getting a bit tired tho

 

[MadVillainy]

Just look at the response to Charlie's Angels. Apparently male toxicity is why it failed.

I don't even think its limited to artists. Everyone gets hyper defensive these days. Its hard to have a real conversation about anything.

I strangely was in the Charlie's Angels thread and followed the movies response around the interweb. That barely came up. A few people said that but the vast majority of a people didn't

I do agree though about your next point. You say you don't like something then someone or some people always try to paint a narrative on why you didn't like it.

 

[MadVillainy]

The director of the movie said it.

Ok...still barely came up. A majority of people didn't say that. Like I said

 

[Prison Mike]

We’ve reached a point now where artists don’t accept any criticism. They just blame everything on the catch-all of "toxic fandom". No one is worse at this than Rian Johnson. The guy is still running around telling us there is nothing wrong with his movie.

because it’s just opinions. I personally didn’t find anything wrong with TLJ. I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t much of a fan of TFA and TROS, but I’m not going to sit around and demand JJ to admit he was wrong. That’s stupid. You can accept criticism and still disagree with it.

 

[Spider-Fan]

because it’s just opinions. I personally didn’t find anything wrong with TLJ. I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t much of a fan of TFA and TROS, but I’m not going to sit around and demand JJ to admit he was wrong. That’s stupid. You can accept criticism and still disagree with it.

Agreed 100%. Rian Johnson has nothing to apologize for. But hurt Star Wars fans need to grow up and get over it. You're no owed an apology because he made a movie you may not have liked.

 

[Prison Mike]

I get more annoyed at the “purists” than any of the controversial choices JJ and Rian made in their movies

 

[Spider-Fan]

We’ve reached a point now where artists don’t accept any criticism. They just blame everything on the catch-all of "toxic fandom". No one is worse at this than Rian Johnson. The guy is still running around telling us there is nothing wrong with his movie.

Because he very well may think there isn't. Which is his right and his opinion. He has nothing to apologize to you for. So instead of focusing on whether or not a guy who made a movie that he may personally like himself apologize to you when really he doesn't feel anything to apologize for, why doesn't the Star Wars fanbase just move on and stop complaining to him. Quite frankly, the way the Star Wars fanbase has reacted to him is childish. And the fans need to grow up. That's the harsh reality.

 

[Iceman]

I’m not sure what an apology would do anyway. Are there many people who want one? It’s not going to change the film lol. Unless we’re talking a personalised quill on parchment apology as that might be kind of cool.

 

[Prison Mike]

When did I ask anybody to apologize to me? At least JJ gives a diplomatic response that he can’t please everyone. Johnson won’t even say that much. It’s his way or the high way.

I thought that was common sense though.

 

[Sithborg]

I get more annoyed at the “purists” than any of the controversial choices JJ and Rian made in their movies

Yeah, that always bothers me. I mean, now, we have three trilogies spanning multi-generations of people. And a ton of other media. Whatever brings someone into the fandom can easily be something different for someone else. The "true Scotsman" fallacy is idiotic, though emblematic of the issues of fans seeming to crave people to agree with them.

 

[Spider-Fan]

When did I ask anybody to apologize to me? At least JJ gives a diplomatic response that he can’t please everyone. Johnson won’t even say that much. It’s his way or the high way.

He's explain his creative decisions many times, and it's his movie. So in effect yes his way is the highway. He doesn't have to apologize for that or coddle people especially the rude ones who go on a send him death threats and crap.

I am sorry but Star Wars fans just need to move on and grow up.

 

[Limonade]

What's done is done.

I mean, people on all sides just want this chapter of Star Wars over with. What's left is people trying to figure out what went right and what went wrong.

Above all it's too soon to tell SW fans to move on and grow up. Especially when the movie is still in theaters.

Don't get me wrong @Spider-Fan--that's the right thing to say when every morsel of this movie's logic or grasps of straws have been aired for this movie. But by saying what you said this soon--makes it sound like you're just trying to shut down certain grievances before it goes through it's processes and they get vetted.