The first social media reactions are in for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. With just a few days to go before the film hits theaters, Disney has done a top-notch job of keeping a lid on spoiler-y details for the conclusion to the Skywalker saga. Director J.J. Abrams and his Oscar-winning co-writer Chris Terrio (Argo, Batman V Superman) pulled from all corners of the Star Wars universe in order to ensure The Rise of Skywalker offers a satisfying ending to not only the sequel trilogy (which Abrams kicked off with The Force Awakens in 2015), but the last 42 years of storytelling in a galaxy far, far away. To say anticipation for the movie is high would be putting it mildly.
Equally anticipated, of course, is the climactic showdown between Rey and Kylo Ren in the film, along with the payoffs to her, Finn, and Poe Dameron's journeys so far, the late Carrie Fisher's final onscreen appearance as Leia, and whatever role Emperor Palpatine has to play in The Rise of Skywalker's story. With expectations being as high as they are, it's little wonder the movie's cast are already bracing for the inevitable backlash that happens whenever something as hyped as a Star Wars sequel makes its way to theaters. But before all that, those who were at the film's world premiere get to have their say.
With the social media embargo now up, journalists and writers are taking to Twitter to post their responses following The Rise of Skywalker's global debut. You can check out some of the spoiler-free reactions so far in the space below.
If there's a unifying thread to The Rise of Skywalker reactions so far, it's Abrams has made a massive Star Wars movie in terms of story payoffs, spectacle, and scale. It's not surprising, of course; as mentioned, the filmmaker is trying to provide a satisfying conclusion to forty years and nine movies' worth of narrative, themes, and character arcs here, while at the same time keeping the plot focused on the sequel trilogy's heroes and villains as much as possible. And judging by these early reactions, he and his many collaborators did a pretty rock-solid job of handling that monumental task. Naturally, the responses range from unbridled enthusiasm to disappointment, and many people have conflicting feelings (some more positive, some more negative), but no one seems to perceive The Rise of Skywalker as a flat-out failure.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the actual reviews and general fan responses to The Rise of Skywalker resemble and differ from these initial reactions. The Force Awakens and its followup, The Last Jedi, were both well-received by critics, yet the latter especially divided the larger fandom something fierce, and it sounds like there is just as much to discuss, deconstruct, and debate about The Rise of Skywalker as that film (hopefully, in a fun way this time around). Whatever happens from here, fans of a galaxy far, far away should have plenty to talk about for the next few weeks alone - not only in terms of The Rise of Skywalker, but the unavoidable question of what comes after for the franchise.
Source: Various [See the Above Links]
