Last Jedi Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Is Lower Than Justice League

Movieweb ^ | December 15, 2017 | Ryan Scott

[EdnaMode]

Well, it's hard to say anyone saw this coming. Star Wars: The Last Jedi has finally arrived in theaters and fans are super excited about it. Or, at least they were. There was a ton of hype leading up to the release and, deservedly so, considering all of the questions Star Wars fans had after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens two years ago. However, things are not going according to plan, as The Last Jedi now has a shockingly low audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. How low? Believe it or not, it's even lower than the score Justice League currently has.

This likely comes as a huge surprise to anyone who was following the news leading up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Following the movie's world premiere, the social media reactions were almost universally positive. That led to an incredibly positive first wave of reviews from critics. The movie currently holds a 93 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is great and ranks among the highest in the entire franchise. However, audiences don't seem to agree with critics on this one, as the audience rating is at an abysmal 56 percent.

To say the least, this is not what Disney, Lucasfilm or director Rian Johnson had in mind. To put that in perspective, Justice League, a movie that isn't what one would call a critical darling, currently boasting a 40 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, actually has a much better audience rating. As of this writing, Warner Bros. latest DC movie has an 80 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This is just one example, but in both cases, we see that audiences can dramatically disagree with critics. Though, in the case of Star Wars, this is pretty unprecedented.

As hard as it may be to believe, as of this writing, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is actually the lowest-rated movie, in terms of audience rating, in the entire Star Wars franchise on Rotten Tomatoes. It's close, but Star Wars: Attack of the Clones barely edges it out at 57 percent. The Phantom Menace is next, with 59 percent. Considering how much Star Wars fans seem to hate those movies, it's pretty amazing that The Last Jedi is ranked so low by those who have seen it. But it's also worth noting that critics were much closer in alignment with fans on the prequels, as Attack of the Clones has a 66 percent Tomatometer score and The Phantom Menace has a 55 percent.

So what does this mean? The audience score could change as more people see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but at the very least, this is a divisive movie. That could be problematic, as Lucasfilm has already handed Rian Johnson control of a brand new Star Wars trilogy, which he's going to plan out and will direct at least the first installment of. Given Lucasfilm's rough history with directors, having fired Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the Han Solo movie and Josh Trank from Boba Fett, not to mention this issues with Rogue One, can they really afford to have another director kicked off of a project?

That's not to say audience reaction will ensure that's going to happen. But Disney and Lucasfilm will have to take that into account, even if Star Wars: The Last Jedi dominates at the box office, which it looks like it's going to. In any case, this Rotten Tomatoes score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is very interesting, as pretty much everyone expected this movie to be a home run for the franchise. There are no sure things in this business.

[Zathras]

Serious plot problems, pointless sequences, the muppets are back and poor acting.
Daisy and Hamel were probably the only highlight but the director nearly managed to break that too.

[Cronos]

I disliked the Star Wars: The last Jedi movie, I give it 2* out of 5.

The plot is terrible and there are too many things that are beyond belief, even for a space opera:
1. Bombers in space? How the heck do you drop "down" bombs in space? What IS "down" in space? sheesh...
2. The vice-admiral wears a ball-room gown while in battle? -- note this isn;t anything to do with her being a woman, there was Leia in the original and Rogue one where the women fighters were dressed appropriately for battle, not a frigging ballroom gown
3. The rebel ship has enough fuel to stay ahead -- ahem, why do you need thrust? There's little to no friction out in space.
4. The space fleet doesn't have enough TIE fighters to hit that frigate instead of a boring slow-mo chase?
5. You have 9 hours, you jump hyperspace to find a hacker on some planet
6. Leia plays Mary Poppins.....
7. Yoda's cgi was terrible -- what was wrong with just getting the muppet guys to do it one more time -- muppet Yoda had more character and was more likeable. Also where is the charm? gone.
8. Finn - Rose romance: less believable than Padme - Anakin, and that's saying something...
9. Finn's character is barely developed here. There was so much potential, but pfft..
10. Poe is one-dimensional, hot headed flyboy without the charm of a Han Solo. This is no disrespect to the actor, it's just terrible writing.
11. Luke is tragically wasted - he becomes an old Ani - a whiner. Again, good actor let down by stinky writing
12. The First Order is led by a whiney 13 year old Hux who wouldn't be fit enough to clean Moff Tarkin's shoes.
13. Snope - why the golden ballroom gown and what terrible CGI
14. It drags on and on with no point - fight with bombers, run, silly scene, silly scene, ESB wannabe, etc. etc.

The good stuff is:
1. Superb acting by Rey and by Kylo Ren - Daisy Ridley brings sincerity and intensity to this role and builds on her character from the Force awakens; Adam Driver is superb in this role, he really is believable.
2. Good acting by Mark Hamill - he gets a really badly written character and daft lines, but he still shines through.

Overall, this is the first Star Wars movie I'm not going to go to the cinemas to see again.

[Vince Ferrer]

I have to see it again, soon. I thought I saw something at the end which MAY subtly set the theme for coming movies ... a sort of new Pentecost of the Force, to stand up to the power of Ren.

If you are referring to when Finn gets the blanket out of the drawer, or when the kid picked up the broom, then yes, the movie does set up interesting possibilities. Coupled with the fact that the entire "resistance" can now fit inside the Millennium Falcon, we're not going to be having any more giant space battles again soon. But that may set up a more contemplative movie like Yoda on the swamp planet, which would be good.

The resistance needs to take some time off and get their heads right, because let's face it, they stink. Luke gave them the keys to the galaxy at the end of Return of the Jedi. What did they accomplish? They recreated a republic, had part of it revolt and soon their competitors took over, and the republic was crushed, all within Luke's lifetime. The Empire/First Order went from being destroyed, to rebuilding to the point they could make planet sized super weapons, and took over the galaxy again. Its time people admit that the First Order is just plain better at governing than the Republic is.

[freepertoo]

He loves the character and he hates what they made Luke into.

[bushpilot2]

[freepertoo]

This film makes the struggle and joy of the first three movies pointless. The beautiful romance between the princess and the scoundrel winds up in separation and the spawn of satan...whiney spawn at that. The heroism of the wide eyed farm boy comes to nothing as all he fought for winds up as being completely pointless. And no grief at all for their beloved Han in this one...really? Fans are still taking that one hard. Chewie and Han were practically joined at the hip and the wookie is just fine. I’ll stick with the others and just tell Disney to get off my lawn.

[freepertoo]

Wrong ship.

[bushpilot2]

“…Warp speed.”

[bushpilot2]

“Let’s see what’s out there"

[otness_e]

This film and The Force Awakens. Don’t forget that it was The Force Awakens, aka “A New Hope 2.0” that started this whole mess.

[freepertoo]

Yep, they’re making a SW trilogy for another generation...but they’re leaving the fun and heart out of it.

[jdsteel]

“Was it sad, seeing Carrie Fischer?”

Yes, and she had a prominent role....and did it well.

[jdsteel]

“Only for fanboys...”

Yes, I am a fan. No, I am waaaay too old to be considered a “boy”. And Disney, though I dislike many things about the company, is going to make a billion dollars from this movie. They’ve got the Avengers Infinity war early May ‘18 and the Hans Solo story movie later in May. I am looking forward to enjoying each of them.

[Lazamataz]

Proudly stating that I haven’t seen a ‘Star Wars ANYTHING’ yet, and don’t intend to.

Wrong.

You saw this thread.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Star Wars was forever ruined in my mind after I saw The Phantom Menace. Utterly irredeemable after that.

[otness_e]

Honestly, I thought Star Wars ended up ruined forever when I learned that, since 1973, George Lucas based the Rebels on the Vietcong and the Empire on America in a clear anti-Vietnam War statement. Forced me to root for the villains as a result. Am not happy with Lucas as a result.

[otness_e]

Honestly, I thought Star Wars ended up ruined forever when I learned that, since 1973, George Lucas based the Rebels on the Vietcong and the Empire on America in a clear anti-Vietnam War statement. Forced me to root for the villains as a result. Am not happy with Lucas as a result.

[otness_e]

Sorry about the double post, the connection was slow.

[Carriage Hill]

I've read a lot of reviews, articles and even seen the odd trailer, but no movies.

[Mad Dawg]

Yeah.
The kid shazaaming the broom was the giveaway. They’re setting the stage.

There’s a philosophical conflict. Snoke says it. The rise of Ren evoked the rise of Rae. But if Snoke really believed that he wouldn’t try to destroy Rae and all hope.He’d see it was impossible.

Ren offers a third choice “beyond good and evil.” He and Rae together will establish order. Aside from his being one of the most disordered persons in the galaxy, he’s wanting the good of order while denying that there is a good. So neither he nor Snoke have worked out their thinking.

Rae is no philosopher. But she loves; she loves in particular. Ren will kill individuals for general order. Rae will save the people she loves, and bugger general order.

But whether it’s Taoist dualism — “balance,” or monotheism remains to be seen. But when that kid shazaaamed the broom, I figured the light side of the force was answering back at an unprecedented level.

So, I think, the narrative and philosophical pressure on the next movie is huge ... excuse me, yuge.

As an amateur Catholic philosophical theologian who has never stopped loving fairy tales, I am SO grateful to the Star Wars team. It’s not the LOTR, but it’s very good. And the issues raised in this movie while they were at the same time dealing with practical concerns ... like how to move to a new generation of heroes, are wonderful.

Even if this movie were “bad,” it would be like a sacrifice fly. It sets things up. I saw it for the second time, and I still don’t think it’s bad.