The poor reception of 'The Acolyte'

Again, critics and audiences disagree, but rarely in such a bad way.

Almost every ‘Star Wars’ series has been controversial. With the exception of the first season of ‘The Mandalorian’, the franchise’s recent series have drawn criticism, not always related to the fiction, on par with the latest trilogy of films. Of course, ‘The Acolyte’ has repeated the phenomenon, but this time the series’ issues aren’t solely due to ghosts only die-hard fans see.

Low-rated series. Disney+ series since ‘The Mandalorian’ have received mixed reviews from critics and viewers. All of them have received these scores: critics’ first, audience second.

The first two seasons of ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Andor’ received unanimous positive reviews, while ‘The Book of Bobba Fett’ received lower ratings. In the other cases, critics and audiences have different opinions, but ‘The Acolyte’ is extreme and may not be due to what it seems.

Unrealised review bombing. No matter how we look at it, it exists. Small groups of fans organise on 4chan, Reddit, or Discord servers to review a product they dislike, sometimes for political reasons, sometimes because the product betrays a franchise or brand.

Although there are many ways to spot them (sudden increase in negative reviews, short reviews, very polarised ratings), the imbalance between public and critical opinions always points in an interesting direction.

‘Star Wars’ fails. Disney has a ‘Star Wars’ problem. In March of last year, the Kevin Feige and Patty Jenkins projects were cancelled despite their massive box office success.

The series were a chance to revive the trilogy, but many fans’ anti-woke policies haven’t gone well with them: the female lead in ‘The Mandalorian’ S3 and ‘Ahsoka’ didn’t please the most politicised fandom, and the franchise hasn’t quite clicked with Generation X males, according to a Nielsen study.

‘The Acolyte’, another nail. As our colleagues at Vida Extra note, ‘The Acolyte’ is set in the High Republic, a time before the Skywalker Saga in which most of the films take place and which has been little explored. This is its biggest drawback. The series fails to capitalise on its blank canvas due to a poorly written script centred on a murder whose interest ebbs and flows.

The mystery of ignorance. The series’ creator, Leslye Headland, stated that not all scriptwriters knew ‘Star Wars’ and that some did not even know the franchise, which made many fans tear their hair out. Do the series’ biggest issues—stumblings with classic lore and contradicting facts—come from there? In fiction, is that the most important factor or just an intransigent fandom’s whims?

Time bomb. Disney is increasingly facing a time bomb: a 13% fan rating is unprecedented in the franchise. Works with audiences—should Disney care only about that? For now, a new twist: the fifth episode has been released, and fans have praised the lightsabre fight between Dafne Keen and Manny Jacinto as “The best in the series since ‘The Phantom Menace'”. Which may be refreshing or a happy detail that won’t change the perspective.

The poor reception of ‘The Acolyte’

Again, critics and audiences disagree, but rarely in such a bad way.

By knl9j

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