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Will Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Matter In The Minds of Fans?

December 14, 2019 | Posted by Steve Gustafson
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens December 20th.Two things are guaranteed:

1) It’s performance at the  box office will be heavily analyzed while making a lot of money.
2) People will either love it or hate it.

That’s where we’re at when it comes to fandom. Nothing will change those two points. Lucasfilm even released a pretty heavy clip this past week that has some spoilers in it. It doesn’t matter to them at this point. Audiences are locked in and it’s just a matter of waiting till opening night. 

The Star Wars franchise isn’t going anywhere. Disney paid a ton of money for it and will be filling the movie theaters and TV screens with plenty of Star Wars projects for decades to come. 

But as fans draw lines on what they consider to be good or bad Star Wars movies and The Rise of Skywalker being the last chapter in the Skywalker ennealogy, will this last movie matter in the minds of audiences?

These series of movies have been broken up into three groups. You have the originals (chapters 4-6), the prequels (chapters 1-3), and the sequels (7-9). Each have their defenders and their detractors, with the originals usually having the most positive backing. Which makes sense since it was the trilogy that gave birth to the fandom we have today.

But the fandom is highly fractured. The first great rift came with the prequels. While plenty of apologists have come forward to point out the good in them, many would agree that it was the squandered potential that hurts the most.

That along with Anakin saying things like, “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth.” Yippee. 

Things became really messy with the release of the sequels. To the point of ridiculousness. In an interview with The New York Times, The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams addressed the polarizing nature of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi and touched on what the future might hold. 

Regarding Johnson’s decision to dismiss questions around Rey’s parents and framing Supreme Leader Snoke as unimportant, Abrams said that the movie was “full of surprises and subversion and all sorts of bold choices.”

“On the other hand,” he added, “it’s a bit of a meta approach to the story. I don’t think that people go to Star Wars to be told, ‘This doesn’t matter.’”

As for the future, Abrams hinted that the main Star Wars movie could continue. “Can it go on?” Abrams asked. “Of course it can go on. But there’s something bold about saying this is what the story should be.” He added: “Any great ending is a new beginning on some level.”

People love movies and people love to complain about movies. When it comes to Star War, where do you stand? Still a fan? If not, what drove you away? Excited for The Rise of Skywalker? Weigh in below!