There are two massive Star Wars series entertaining fans right now. First, of course, there’s The Rise of Skywalker, the final movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy that took in a worldwide haul of $374 million this past weekend. Then there’s The Mandalorian, the Disney+ series the internet has fallen in love with.
What happens when the creatives behind these two shows come into conflict? That’s the question on people’s minds as actor Jake Cannavale, who played the would-be bounty hunter Toro Calican in The Mandalorian’s fifth episode, completely trashed The Rise of Skywalker in his Instagram Stories. “Rise of Skywalker was hands down the worst Star Wars movie,” he wrote. “An absolute f***ing failure. Went to see it last night and I woke up still mad. Like… it rendered the entire new trilogy completely useless.”
"There were more plot holes than there was plot. The amount of ‘by the ways’ was absolutely infuriating. Rise of Skywalker (btw dumbass title) was worse than Phantom Menace AND Last Jedi combined. Fight me."
Yikes, sounds like someone needs a nap. “Personally, I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a kid,” he continued. “And I felt pretty let down by the overall laziness of this new trilogy, and also a bit angry at the entitlement of it for pretty much seizing control of the franchise as a whole by basically , ‘Nah we don’t like the ending that everybody’s been cool with for decades, let’s change it!'”
To be fair, Cannavale qualified that he’s if someone loves the new Star Wars movies, he’s glad for him. But as is obvious, he is not on board.
And he’s far from alone. The movie has been getting mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike. At a screening in Los Angeles, director J.J. Abrams gamely responded to criticism:
What does Abrams think of the people coming down on the movie? “I would say that they’re right,” he said. “ the people who love it more than anything are also right. I was asked … ‘So, how do you go about pleasing everyone?’ I was like: ‘What … ?’ Not to say that that’s what anyone should try to do anyway, but how would one even go about it? Especially with Star Wars?”
"I don’t need to tell anybody here, we live in a moment where everything immediately seems to default to outrage. There’s a kind of M.O. of just either ‘It’s either exactly as I see it or you’re my enemy.’ … It’s a crazy thing that there is such a norm that seems to be devoid of nuance and compassion — and this is not about Star Wars, this is about everything. Compassion and acceptance … We knew, starting this, any decision we made—a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision—would please someone and infuriate someone else. And they’re all right."
I think he’s right about people defaulting to outrage, especially online. On the other hand, the “You can’t please everyone” defense is never satisfying, even if it’s technically true. I mean, surely he hoped to please more people than this. But back on the first hand, I like that he’s out there defending the movie at all.
CAUTION: RISE OF SKYWALKER SPOILERS BELOW!
And Abrams did directly address the criticism that The Rise of Skywalker walked back too many of the developments of The Last Jedi, in particular that Rey’s parents were nobodies, just junkies who sold her for drug money. In Rise, Abrams reveals that Rey is actually the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine…who’s alive, by the way. “I think one of the ideas, one of the themes of the movie is that anyone can be anything, regardless of where you’re from,” Abrams said. “I don’t know if it resonates for everyone, but I think there are quite a few people who appreciate that idea of not coming from a place that you’re not particularly excited about … or proud of and though I completely understand you’re nobody is a devastating thing—to me, the more painful, the more shocking thing, was the idea that you’re from the worst possible place.”
We’ll leave it to the ages to decide whether he made the right call there, although personally I thought the idea of Rey being someone of no particular importance was very refreshing. Not everything has to tie back to the Star Wars mythos, does it? But that’s a debate for another time.
The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now. The season finale of The Mandalorian airs this Friday. Can the two fandoms coexist? Are they even separate? It’s gonna be an interesting holiday break.
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h/t Digital Spy