Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Reviews Are In
The Rotten Tomatoes Reviews are in for Star Wars:
- Margaret A. McGurk of the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, “Falls short of the high standards set by the opening chapters.”
- Patrick Gibbs of the Daily Telegraph penned, “The appeal, perhaps, will be strongest to the young.”
- Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader added, “With its feints at horror and pathos, the third Star Wars film is the most Disney-esque in its emotional outline, yet that outline is buried beneath an obnoxiously hyped-up pace that reduces the emotions to rubble.”
- Rex Reed of the New York Post exclaimed, “Let’s not pretend we’re watching art!”
Any way you slice it, kids, some critics simply did not like…. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Looking At The Tomatometer
Yes, those reviews were for the third of the nearly universally beloved “Original Trilogy.”
Oh, and did you ever see the New Yorker review of 1977’s Star Wars?
The loudness, the smash-and-grab editing, the relentless pacing drive every idea from your head; for young audiences “Star Wars” is like getting a box of Cracker Jack which is all prizes.”
Pauline Kael
And lastly, how about this one about Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in The Wall Street Journal (a film some consider among the best ever):
A Star Wars that has not only lost much of its humor and charm but more important a good deal of its innocence, traveling in the process light years away from the shiny first magnitude of its original world.”
Joy Gould Boyum
Ignoring the Critics
So wheres my point? I really don’t have one.
However, and in terms of Star Wars, if I listened to any level of reviews — particularly from Rotten Tomatoes — I would have never gone to see:
- The Last Jedi (audience score 43%)
- The Clone Wars (Tomatometer 18%)
- Attack of The Clones (audience score 56%)
Furthermore, if I listened to “the buzz” I would have avoided Galaxy’s Edge. I think about “Star Wars Land” every day.
And, in terms of Disney on Rotten Tomatoes, I would have skipped:
- Tomorrowland (Tomatometer 50%)
- The Black Hole (Tomatometer 40%)
- Tron: Legacy (Tomatometer 51%)
Never mind missing out on the wonder that is “The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.” Seriously, I love it.
I Don’t Care About Rotten Tomatoes
So, right out of the box, even as I consider Rotten Tomatoes out of the box 59% Tomatometer score, I will openly admit I don’t care.
As Obi-Wan said in Return of the Jedi, “[Y]ou’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
As such, even if the movie is not everything I want in my head, I am going to enjoy J.J. Abrams’ interpretation of my favorite fairy tale. Call me a shill. Call me biased. Whatever. I work for a site called Mickeyblog.com, so my own point of view is formed while wearing mouse ears. So, sue me if I go into the film expecting and wanting to be happy. I’ll watch the news if I want to be bummed out.
By the way, I like kitty cats and ice cream, too.
Anyway, here are two of the top critic’s thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker.
OK, the final episode isn’t perfect. You’ll nitpick it forever with your friends. But that’s the point. Star Wars isn’t a movie, it’s family. We’re that close to it. And the in-fighting about what it does right and wrong is as crucial as the love.”
Peter Travers, Rolling StonePanders wildly, closing out this last chapter of the nine films that have come to be known as the Skywalker Saga with a story that delivers to the faithful exactly the movie they wanted.”
Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
Either way, I’ll see you at the cineplex, tomorrow night. #MTFBWY
