The Acolyte Sets New Record-Low Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes for Star Wars Franchise

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

https://movieweb.com/the-acolyte-sets-s ... -tomatoes/

There is no group harder to please than the Star Wars fandom, and The Acolyte has proven that once again with its Rotten Tomatoes audience score delivering a new low for the franchise. Prior to the debut of the series’ opening episodes on Disney+, critics lauded the series as one of the best of the entire franchise, with its Tomatometer score currently sitting on a lofty 93%. For audiences, though, it is a much different story.

While there have been many differences of opinion when it comes to exactly what the story of the galaxy far, far away should be about and how its tales should be told, The Acolyte seems to be landing on the dark side of the fandom based on its opening run of over 1000 reviews. While there are those who are happy with Leslye Headland’s High Republic era show, the majority have panned the series as the worst Star Wars release ever.

At the time of writing, the resulting approval rate from audiences is a lowly 39%, which, for now, puts it 1% below The Clone Wars movie from 2008, and 2% below the incredibly divisive The Last Jedi as the lowest audience-rated Star Wars project of the entire franchise. This continues the trend set by many of the recent Disney+ Star Wars series, which have failed to completely capture the imagination of fans.

It is hard to predict how any new movie or TV show in a big franchise like Star Wars is going to be received by fans or critics. The Acolyte has continued to defy expectations and has been a huge hit with critics, but the backlash from the Star Wars fandom – well-documented as one of the most ruthless when it comes to airing their grievances – began even before a single episode was available to view on Disney+.

For every strong review, which there are a reasonable number of, there are three terrible ones. As is common with Rotten Tomatoes’ contributors, there is an inability for most people to do anything other than adore or despise the series. One-star and five-star reviews are the order of the day with a few rare two, three and four stars thrown in for a very small amount of variation. However, complaints of “awful writing,” “boring action,” “dull dialogue,” and “lore inconsistencies,” are abundant in the garden of public opinion, but that probably won’t stop The Acolyte delivering some strong viewership volumes.

With the Star Wars franchise soon looking to move slightly away from the world of TV shows to concentrate more on big screen adventures, there is a real question of whether the franchise will ever be able to please anyone fully ever again. In 2022, Andor became a huge hit with Star Wars fans, and seemed to suggest that finally the barrage of hate hurled at the saga over the last several years was coming to an end. Now, that kind of universally loved utopia is still waiting to be discovered in a galaxy even farther away.

While it is unfortunate to see the state if the franchise, as a Star Wars prequels fan I'm grateful to the slop Disney is shoveling out because it keeps making those look better by comparison. Jar Jar will be an unironic favorite in a few years at this rate lmao.

Interestingly, the games are in arguably worse condition now, which is surprising because those have historically been pretty well received, even fairly recently until some real stinkers. I'll make a thread on that too, I guess.

[Booyakasha]

"There is no group harder to please than the Star Wars fandom"------------screw off. I was an Eagle Scout and NRA-certified range instructor. If you think Star Wars fans are harder to please than the BSA and NRA, cool, whatever, except shut up. My work with the BSA actually mattered, and was mentor- and peer-reviewed. I wasn't making stupid-ass sequels to dumb kids' movies, I was teaching children how to handle long guns and explosives in a responsible fashion. I have probably prevented quite a few kids from accidentally shooting their siblings or blowing their hands off---------------has George Lucas done anything in the last thirty years that made people want to not shoot themselves?

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

"There is no group harder to please than the Star Wars fandom"------------screw off. I was an Eagle Scout and NRA-certified camp counselor. If you think Star Wars fans are harder to please than the BSA and NRA, cool, whatever. My work with the BSA actually mattered, and was mentor- and peer-reviewed. I wasn't making stupid-ass sequels to dumb kids' movies, I was teaching children how to handle long guns and explosives in a responsible fashion. I have probably prevented quite a few kids from accidentally shooting their siblings or blowing their hands off---------------has George Lucas done anything in the last thirty years that made people want to not shoot themselves?

Yeah, Star Wars fans really aren't that picky imo. Even as a fan of the prequels I readily admit they're flawed, and fabs were right to criticize them. Some people just think of criticism as an inherently bad thing or something but it ain't, especially if it's listened to (fat chance from Disney, but yeah).

So you taught that kind of stuff huh? I don't think I remember you talking about it. That's pretty cool and worthwhile to learn.

I just assumed Lucas retired, if he did anything after he sold Lucas Arts then I'm completely unfamiliar with it. I figure he's probably still got a decent story or two in him, but maybe not. Some people are one hit wonders, you know.

[Booyakasha]

Yeah. My first year at camp I was in scoutcraft, where we were already teaching kids how to handle and sharpen axes, saws and knives without chopping themselves in half, how to tie knots without garroting their friends, how to start a campfire whilst avoiding self-immolation. Next year I was slotted into archery, where it is frowned upon to allow a tenderfoot to catch an arrow through his spinal column for some reason (we also had blowguns-------man, I could just see kids sticking the blowdarts into their eyeballs and screaming "myahh! how could you not foresee my lack of common sense?!?").

Few years later the guy who taught me BB gunnery in the Cubs and taught me the Rifle Shooting merit badge got hired as the shooting sports director. I still taught archery, but he was subtly training me in the care and feeding of .22 rifles, 20-gauge shottie-too-hotties, and 50-cal muzzle-loaders, maintaining the camp javelins and cannon (we never once set the cannon off, because it would have been far, far too funny dangerous illegal even in the drunken hillbilly part of Wisconsin). Teaching kids about the dangers of screwing around with ammunition and black powder, making sure they weren't pissing about with the clay pigeon launchers (those things could break a kid's arm easily).

On top of all that...I got to be the camp's general expert in tomahawk- and knife-throwing, the record-setter in soloing a two-man saw, and the tepee setting-upping guy (pro-tip----------if the guy trying to set up the tepees gets up and starts running the hell away, run in the same direction and keep up; probably a whole bunch of hundred-pound thirty-foot-long wooden poles are going to fall over, and you don't want one of them in your eye-socket or bum). And getting the Sunday-night campfires ready (loads of diesel), and songleading (loads of diesel fumes). It was a weird section of my life, loaded with twenty-hour workdays and hundred-dollar paychecks at the end of the week, but it's hard not to look back on it with nostalgia.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I knew you were something of an outdoorsy type, but didn't know to that extent. If there's ever an apocalypse let me crash in your teepee, I'd be helpless out there.

It's especially cool you know weapon stuff. I am a big Second Amendment guy, but guns kinda spook me tbh, I don't think I could hold one or mess with it. Yeah, I'm a wuss. I kinda like the idea of going hunting though, so it's a bit conflicting. Plus times aren't getting any safer either.

That all does sound pretty nostalgic, I don't have any cool stories like that because I'm boring. It sounds like a bunch of wholesome stuff, I really like it. Sometimes I regret just playing video games, collecting cards, or whatever instead of getting experience outdoors like that.

[Booyakasha]

Lived in a wall tent my first two years. I woke up to find a bear dog in my tent one morning second season. He was a handsome boy, no mistake-------------utter mutt, but well-built. He kind of got lost from his fringe-legal operators, probably just wanted a cool place to sleep (it had been a couple hot ones---------he woke me up, licking my arm through the mosquito netting. Dogs like salt).

Northern Scon probably sounds safe as houses, but it's kind of the Wild West up there----------------moonshiners, doomsday/militia freaks, bear-hunters, the BSA, the DNR and all the little First Nations enclaves. Plus most of the towns are unincorporated hamlets---------the 'mayor' is just the local saloon-keeper's stepmom. Good luck finding a notary, or some paper tax-forms. Man, it must be a logistical nightmare.

[EDIT: Shane and I met up at camp. We're both city kids, but still Eagle Scouts. So we're just cruising around the backroads and county boulevards one Saturday for relaxation, and we saw a sign on a house that read simply 'KIDNAPED'. Big bold letters, written on a sheet in shoe-polish or something, stretched across the upper portion of a decrepit farmhouse's front face.

...we still wonder about that sometimes. Should we have stopped and approached the house and knocked on the door with knives and hatchets? Should we have called the coppers and waited four hours for them to show up? Is the person who put that sign up okay? Was that the first step into Silent Hill? It's a weird thing we'll probably both still be pondering another couple decades hence.]

[Booyakasha]

I just assumed Lucas retired, if he did anything after he sold Lucas Arts then I'm completely unfamiliar with it. I figure he's probably still got a decent story or two in him, but maybe not. Some people are one hit wonders, you know.

If Lucas has a decent story left to tell, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

He made 'Red Tails'. After he made the prequels. Man. If you haven't seen 'Red Tails', do yourself the favour of not seeing 'Red Tails'. The prequels were a bit of a botch job, but at least they weren't 'Red Tails'.

He's too out-of-touch and incompetent to make a decent Star Wars flick anymore, so he decides next to try and make a movie honouring the Tuskegee Airmen. George, honey, stop and think about what you're doing. Have you ever heard the word 'hubris' before? Because there's Han Solo, and then there's Oedipus, and then you're on the far side of that.

He had the balls to go on teevee and claim 'Red Tails' was the first major Hollywood production with a mostly-black cast and a black director, and people were lauding him for it, and here I am like, "uhhh, what? Have you heard of Spike Lee, Lucas? Thou condescending ass-clown? He's been in the business almost as long as you, and 'Do the Right Thing' is better than anything you've ever done, even the original Star Wars. Eat sh*t." Jokes and clownshoes, man.

[Booyakasha]

I knew you were something of an outdoorsy type, but didn't know to that extent. If there's ever an apocalypse let me crash in your teepee, I'd be helpless out there.

It's especially cool you know weapon stuff. I am a big Second Amendment guy, but guns kinda spook me tbh, I don't think I could hold one or mess with it. Yeah, I'm a wuss. I kinda like the idea of going hunting though, so it's a bit conflicting. Plus times aren't getting any safer either.

That all does sound pretty nostalgic, I don't have any cool stories like that because I'm boring. It sounds like a bunch of wholesome stuff, I really like it. Sometimes I regret just playing video games, collecting cards, or whatever instead of getting experience outdoors like that.

Well, I'm an NRA guy, but...it's complicated. I favour gun control to an extent, but on the flipside, like, the NRA was founded by Union Army vets who couldn't believe how terrible their recruits were at shooting. The NRA's original purpose was to teach clueless Brooklynites and Phillies one end of a gun from the other, not so Uncle Fred up in the UP could own a howitzer for rabbit-hunting. I'm in favour of that. Whatever one thinks about all the Second Amendment blather, it is indisputable fact that the NRA works hand-in-glove with the BSA to teach kids safe, responsible gun-handling. Our dear USA needs more Alvin Yorks, fewer garbagey doomsday preppers. It all comes down to good parenting; sadly, that is lacking.

Hunting's big in my family, but more because my grandpa was trying to raise eight kids on a teacher's salary, he wanted to put food on the table and sell hides and furs. My ma once commented that he sure seemed to love hunting and fishing, he went out so much, and he looked at her a little misty-eyed, and said, "To be honest, Hol, there's times when I feel like I'll never be able to scrub the stink of blood off my hands. I do it because I love you guys." Don't think he ever shared that with anyone else, because...I mean, it helped him bond with hunting friends and his sons and all. But still. I have no end of respect for that man. The sacrifices he endured for his family.

He played pro basketball for a year after college, and he loved it, but he gave it up, because he had three kids at that point-----------he couldn't support his family on a pro basketball player's salary in the fifties. So he became a teacher. Ain't that a backflip? Man.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Lived in a wall tent my first two years. I woke up to find a bear dog in my tent one morning second season. He was a handsome boy, no mistake-------------utter mutt, but well-built. He kind of got lost from his fringe-legal operators, probably just wanted a cool place to sleep (it had been a couple hot ones---------he woke me up, licking my arm through the mosquito netting. Dogs like salt).

Northern Scon probably sounds safe as houses, but it's kind of the Wild West up there----------------moonshiners, doomsday/militia freaks, bear-hunters, the BSA, the DNR and all the little First Nations enclaves. Plus most of the towns are unincorporated hamlets---------the 'mayor' is just the local saloon-keeper's stepmom. Good luck finding a notary, or some paper tax-forms. Man, it must be a logistical nightmare.

[EDIT: Shane and I met up at camp. We're both city kids, but still Eagle Scouts. So we're just cruising around the backroads and county boulevards one Saturday for relaxation, and we saw a sign on a house that read simply 'KIDNAPED'. Big bold letters, written on a sheet in shoe-polish or something, stretched across the upper portion of a decrepit farmhouse's front face.

...we still wonder about that sometimes. Should we have stopped and approached the house and knocked on the door with knives and hatchets? Should we have called the coppers and waited four hours for them to show up? Is the person who put that sign up okay? Was that the first step into Silent Hill? It's a weird thing we'll probably both still be pondering another couple decades hence.]

Never heard of a bear dog. I'm guessing it's not the greatest thing to unexpectedly wake to though.

Jeez, that's horrific. Is that a true story about the sign?

I just assumed Lucas retired, if he did anything after he sold Lucas Arts then I'm completely unfamiliar with it. I figure he's probably still got a decent story or two in him, but maybe not. Some people are one hit wonders, you know.

If Lucas has a decent story left to tell, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

He made 'Red Tails'. After he made the prequels. Man. If you haven't seen 'Red Tails', do yourself the favour of not seeing 'Red Tails'. The prequels were a bit of a botch job, but at least they weren't 'Red Tails'.

He's too out-of-touch and incompetent to make a decent Star Wars flick anymore, so he decides next to try and make a movie honouring the Tuskegee Airmen. George, honey, stop and think about what you're doing. Have you ever heard the word 'hubris' before? Because there's Han Solo, and then there's Oedipus, and then you're on the far side of that.

He had the balls to go on teevee and claim 'Red Tails' was the first major Hollywood production with a mostly-black cast and a black director, and people were lauding him for it, and here I am like, "uhhh, what? Have you heard of Spike Lee, Lucas? Thou condescending ass-clown? He's been in the business almost as long as you, and 'Do the Right Thing' is better than anything you've ever done, even the original Star Wars. Eat sh*t." Jokes and clownshoes, man.

Lol I'll be sure to avoid Red Tails, then. I never even heard of it so that can't be a good sign, considering it's from a name as big as Lucas... If he's selling it on race then there goes merit. I'll never like the emphasis on race we get so much. I remember we got a cool black Jedi, Mace Windu, and there was no big deal. He just existed and everyone accepted and liked him. That's the way to do it.

I knew you were something of an outdoorsy type, but didn't know to that extent. If there's ever an apocalypse let me crash in your teepee, I'd be helpless out there.

It's especially cool you know weapon stuff. I am a big Second Amendment guy, but guns kinda spook me tbh, I don't think I could hold one or mess with it. Yeah, I'm a wuss. I kinda like the idea of going hunting though, so it's a bit conflicting. Plus times aren't getting any safer either.

That all does sound pretty nostalgic, I don't have any cool stories like that because I'm boring. It sounds like a bunch of wholesome stuff, I really like it. Sometimes I regret just playing video games, collecting cards, or whatever instead of getting experience outdoors like that.

Well, I'm an NRA guy, but...it's complicated. I favour gun control to an extent, but on the flipside, like, the NRA was founded by Union Army vets who couldn't believe how terrible their recruits were at shooting. The NRA's original purpose was to teach clueless Brooklynites and Phillies one end of a gun from the other, not so Uncle Fred up in the UP could own a howitzer for rabbit-hunting. I'm in favour of that. Whatever one thinks about all the Second Amendment blather, it is indisputable fact that the NRA works hand-in-glove with the BSA to teach kids safe, responsible gun-handling. Our dear USA needs more Alvin Yorks, fewer garbagey doomsday preppers. It all comes down to good parenting; sadly, that is lacking.

Hunting's big in my family, but more because my grandpa was trying to raise eight kids on a teacher's salary, he wanted to put food on the table and sell hides and furs. My ma once commented that he sure seemed to love hunting and fishing, he went out so much, and he looked at her a little misty-eyed, and said, "To be honest, Hol, there's times when I feel like I'll never be able to scrub the stink of blood off my hands. I do it because I love you guys." Don't think he ever shared that with anyone else, because...I mean, it helped him bond with hunting friends and his sons and all. But still. I have no end of respect for that man. The sacrifices he endured for his family.

He played pro basketball for a year after college, and he loved it, but he gave it up, because he had three kids at that point-----------he couldn't support his family on a pro basketball player's salary in the fifties. So he became a teacher. Ain't that a backflip? Man.

I got nothing against doomsday preppers, and it's looking pretty smart nowadays, but I hear you. Common sense gun control (and I mean actual common sense, not liberal "common sense") is a necessity, otherwise we'd have even more violent lunatics easily armed.

Hm, yeah. Even though they're just animals it's probably not the easiest thing to kill them. Most of us have a degree of separation from our meat, we just see it in a package, ready to go.

Pro basketball player huh? Never had a pro anything in my family, that's amazing. I figure being a teacher might've been more fulfilling anyway though, so maybe it worked out. Teachers, especially further back, were pretty respectable. There's a badass anime called Great Teacher Onizuka that's really interesting. You think of anime and what probably comes to mind is Super Saiyans and stuff, but it's just about a flawed guy doing his best to help kids. It was the first one I saw that was less fantasy and more grounded, it's cool.

[Booyakasha]

Never heard of a bear dog. I'm guessing it's not the greatest thing to unexpectedly wake to though.

Jeez, that's horrific. Is that a true story about the sign?

Bear-hunters use huge mutt pitbull hybrids to hunt bears. Set 'em loose, tracking them with radio collars. They're actually really nice, sweet-hearted, subdued dogs, but not overly affectionate...probably because the bear-hunters brutalise the sh*t out of them. You can't expect poachers to give a red cent about animal welfare.

Them dirtbags chased one of our guys down the road and smashed his windshield in with a baton once, for no reason. And the local constabulary just laughed it off. It really is kind of Mad Max up there, man. Bear-hunters are the scum of the earth, says I, and the local Upper Scon folk aren't much better. Green Bay is nice (that's where my family originates and still somewhat resides!), Rhinelanderers and Iron Mountain-gang are alright, but once you hit the sticks, duck and cover-----------it's a patchwork of Amish, militias, meth and Cthulhu-worship.

The 'KIDNAPED' thing is true. Shane and me...we didn't acknowledge it in the moment. Like, two minutes later, we were both like, 'did you see that sign?', and we were both too chicken-sh*t to go back and do something. Some Eagle Scouts, huh. Our grandpas would've gone back and kicked the front door in, guns and sickles in their hands. They went toe-to-toe with the gorram ratzis, they wouldna been no cowards.