Posted on 12/16/2017 4:32:19 PM PST by EdnaMode
Well, it's hard to say anyone saw this coming. Star Wars: The Last Jedi has finally arrived in theaters and fans are super excited about it. Or, at least they were. There was a ton of hype leading up to the release and, deservedly so, considering all of the questions Star Wars fans had after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens two years ago. However, things are not going according to plan, as The Last Jedi now has a shockingly low audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. How low? Believe it or not, it's even lower than the score Justice League currently has.
This likely comes as a huge surprise to anyone who was following the news leading up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Following the movie's world premiere, the social media reactions were almost universally positive. That led to an incredibly positive first wave of reviews from critics. The movie currently holds a 93 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is great and ranks among the highest in the entire franchise. However, audiences don't seem to agree with critics on this one, as the audience rating is at an abysmal 56 percent.
To say the least, this is not what Disney, Lucasfilm or director Rian Johnson had in mind. To put that in perspective, Justice League, a movie that isn't what one would call a critical darling, currently boasting a 40 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, actually has a much better audience rating. As of this writing, Warner Bros. latest DC movie has an 80 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This is just one example, but in both cases, we see that audiences can dramatically disagree with critics. Though, in the case of Star Wars, this is pretty unprecedented.
As hard as it may be to believe, as of this writing, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is actually the lowest-rated movie, in terms of audience rating, in the entire Star Wars franchise on Rotten Tomatoes. It's close, but Star Wars: Attack of the Clones barely edges it out at 57 percent. The Phantom Menace is next, with 59 percent. Considering how much Star Wars fans seem to hate those movies, it's pretty amazing that The Last Jedi is ranked so low by those who have seen it. But it's also worth noting that critics were much closer in alignment with fans on the prequels, as Attack of the Clones has a 66 percent Tomatometer score and The Phantom Menace has a 55 percent.
So what does this mean? The audience score could change as more people see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but at the very least, this is a divisive movie. That could be problematic, as Lucasfilm has already handed Rian Johnson control of a brand new Star Wars trilogy, which he's going to plan out and will direct at least the first installment of. Given Lucasfilm's rough history with directors, having fired Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the Han Solo movie and Josh Trank from Boba Fett, not to mention this issues with Rogue One, can they really afford to have another director kicked off of a project?
That's not to say audience reaction will ensure that's going to happen. But Disney and Lucasfilm will have to take that into account, even if Star Wars: The Last Jedi dominates at the box office, which it looks like it's going to. In any case, this Rotten Tomatoes score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is very interesting, as pretty much everyone expected this movie to be a home run for the franchise. There are no sure things in this business.
It wasn’t bad, generally a good movie, however there is a new character that is insanely poorly written and acted... and a subplot in the film involving that same character that is also poorly written and executed.... it comes across as forced.. in fact it’s almost like watching one of the prequels during these scenes...
But overall a good film... but it sadly does seem to generally suffer from trying to push shades of gray rather than absolute and good and evil in the larger context... and that’s just not Star Wars, and probably why it’s not gotten great reception.
The last Jedi?
dead is Yoda?
Yeah I think you’re right. Empire Strikes Back is my all time favorite movie. :D
Yes the space vegas scene was just forced, poorly written, poorly executed and just there to offer some of preachiness...the new character is absurdly badly written and the actress is terrible... that sub plot and the new character are like watching one of the prequels...
The big donors own the manufacturer, and insist they keeping taking them — even though the space navy says they don’t want them.
Was it sad, seeing Carrie Fischer?
Does Rey turn to the dark side?
Because this is a remake of the Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi, you have every reason to expect that those questions would be important. The reveal that Vader was Luke's father was one of the great twists in Hollywood.
This movie leads you to the point where you think "now I know where we are going," then veers off in a completely different direction. Which is original and irritating at the same time. If they wanted to go in a different direction, why lead me right up to the edge and then turn around? Just start in a different direction and keep going.
I saw Conan the Barbarian about that age. I was saying "Crommmmm" for years. Conan gets it on with a witch in the movie, and also lots of stabbing and slashing.
My kids (10 / 14 ) and I really enjoyed it.
My son said he got annoyed at one point because it seemed like it was a retelling of the same plot from the originals, then it deviates enough to satisfy him.
I kept thinking: this must be the end, so much has happened. Then way more happened.
It was a movie packed with plots, subplots and character development, IMO
One good thing was Benicio Del Toro, who in his own way, reinforced Luke's point that the Jedi should end.
It was very sad to see Carrie look so old and frail. There was no spark or life in her Princess Leia, who in her younger years was a FEISTY little thing and a sarcasm virtuoso.
It also seemed she had ill-fitting dentures which made her look even older.
Whenever a drunk or hungover character is needed, Benicio del Toro always fits the bill LOL.
Proudly stating that I haven’t seen a ‘Star Wars ANYTHING’ yet, and don’t intend to.
“This time FOR SURE!”
I saw the movie yesterday. Like many Star Wars fans I was really looking forward to it, but I’ve had this increasing sense of disappointment since The Force Awakens and Rogue One came out. All of the movies are visually superb - the special effects are amazing, flawless. I just am not really enjoying the stories that much.
As much as I like Daisy Ridley the actress (she seems like a sweetheard), I just don’t care much about what happens to her character Rey. I’m far more interested in Ben Solo as a character and I’m not exactly impressed by him either.
The Space Vegas sequence was useless and annoying.
I don’t like the character Finn much. I feel no attachment to him at all.
I care nothing for Rose. Her character is nothing but a politically correct affirmative action addition anyway.
Laura Dern was a vice admiral but apparently has an evening gown for a uniform.
The whole “running out of fuel” angle was insipid.
We learned NOTHING about Snoke when he was the only character with any real mystery about him (Rey’s only mystery was the identity of her parents). I realize we learned almost nothing about Emperor Palpatine in the original trilogy but Snoke obviously had even more history to him and we learned none of it! We weren’t even given any hints.
I loved Carrie Fisher but she could barely make it through her scenes it seemed. Drugs, alcohol and cigarettes had devastated her. She was 58/59 and looked 15 years older.
Benicio Del Toro was good but it would have been great if he had not turned out to be a betrayer. He could have been a wonderful addition to the series as a con man type pulling together some of the character traits of Lando Calrissian and Han Solo. But they just made him a bad guy for a segment that was terribly contrived and unnecessary. It was as if they were trying to fill time. Oh, and I guess they needed another Hispanic. Maybe Oscar Isaac isn’t enough these days.
And ENOUGH of the endless “girl power” crap. Please! Enough!
I did enjoy the scenes that were clearly made for fans of the original trilogy: Luke meeting with Leia and R2, etc.
Then there are the really big issues in the Star Wars universe. Everyone thought that the series was movie away from Jedi vs Sith, Light vs. Dark and heading toward the “gray” and “balanced” view of The Force that has been part of Star Wars books since about 2000. But now that Rey is a Jedi - rather than Luke being the “Last Jedi” - I’m not sure where the series is going.
One of mine, too. One of the major criticisms of Force Awakens was that it was basically a remake of a New Hope...which was fair. I think people were expecting Last Jedi to be a complete rehash of Empire; and at first, it was. However, I think this was a false flag to pull the rug out from under Star Wars fans for an unexpected final act.
(Spoiler warning)
Luke’s last confrontation with Kylo Ren, followed by his vanishing into the force Kenobi-style, was almost like a showdown from a classic Western. Excellent film-making.
Jar Jar Binks will join The Justice League.
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