Disney

It’s safe to say that a new Star Wars movie unleashes a lot of opinions. The films have been so deeply intertwined with so many people’s pop culture education and appreciation, it can often be hard to be objective when a new one comes around. With The Last Jedi barrelling into theaters (with what is sure to be a box office record-breaking run), critics have been overwhelmingly positive in their reviews, including ours.

However, the early fan response has been mixed. While the audiences at Thursday night and Friday morning showings were likely hardcore fans, the audience score is surprisingly low. Like, lower than Justice League low. According to Rotten Tomatoes, despite a critics score of 93%, the audience score has plunged to 56%. To compare, Justice League is at 40%/80%.

To keep things vague and appropriately spoiler-free for an opening night, The Last Jedi does feature some changes to the franchise that fans probably did not anticipate. To quote Luke Skywalker, “this is not going to go the way that you think.” If you take a quick gander through Twitter, these changes are not sitting well with many fans. How many of these angry Twitter users also called The Force Awakens “A New Hope retread” back in 2015?

#LastJedi the closing minutes of Rogue One with Vader in the hallway is a million times better than this entire movie. — Will Hickey (@AmIWilliam) December 15, 2017

If Star Wars was your childhood, you’ll hate the new movie. If you’re new to Star Wars, you’ll have no idea what’s going on and love the movie #LastJedi — Matt Van Dam (@vandamage9) December 15, 2017

Story continues

During a dramatic moment of silence in #LastJedi, a man in the theater said “this is absolutely ridiculous” and that’s all I have to say — Stacy M. Rodriguez (@StacyM_90) December 15, 2017

I didn't hate 'The last jedi' but for the first time in 40 years I left the cinema not loving a Star Wars film, & that's what has upset me!! #LastJedi — Carl Jackson (@Timelord68) December 15, 2017

If failure is truly the best teacher, then school is in session #LastJedi — Jason King (@JBK20SMK) December 15, 2017

TFA gave us “who are Rey’s parents”, “who is Snoke”, and “what happened to Luke”. #LastJedi gave us “Do I even want to see episode 9?” — GoonTendy88 (@GoonTendy) December 15, 2017

Who won you ask? The light side? The dark side? The first order? The resistance? Answer: Disney. Disney won and the hardcore fans lost. #LastJedi#starwars — Michael Bowers (@Mbow902) December 15, 2017

I'll be starting a #LastJedi support group for all the people that had their lifelong fandom ruined by this new installment. #YoureNotAlone — Christopher Buchko (@BuchkonianLaw) December 15, 2017

Maybe the good parts of #LastJedi are in a loot box — Jim (@Jimmatthes) December 15, 2017

The #lastjedi was incredibly disappointing. The story telling was horrible and ruined the originals. It raised my appreciation for the prequels. — ethan semmel (@ethansemmel) December 15, 2017

I would like to know what those reviewers were smoking when they watched #LastJedi and thought it was a great movie. — Nat (@Rogue_061) December 15, 2017

Me before #LastJedi OMG this is going to be amazing. Me after #TheLastJedi Meh! pic.twitter.com/ee0XToqttV — Harper Stone (@helpmeobi1) December 15, 2017

There were certainly plenty of positive voices as well among the frustrated hashtag users, but the apparent backlash is worth investigating. If the status quo of a galaxy far, far away is changing, will fans be willing to change with it? Still, whether you’re hoping The Last Jedi pushes the franchise in a new direction or if it will be rife with the particular kind of nostalgia that fans have come to expect in Star Wars, it’s safe to say that you’ll be buying a ticket at some point this weekend.

(Via ComicBook)

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