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There are some folks who would have you believe that half of Star Wars fans thought The Last Jedi was the worst offense ever committed against the franchise. And those folks would have you believe they’re the reason why Solo: A Star Wars Story is doing so poorly at the box office, because they voted with their feet.
I’ve had a few people suggest that I’m ignoring this situation or not understanding its magnitude. So I’m going to address it head-on in today’s podcast. We’re going to talk about review-bombing and why the user scores on sites like Rotten Tomatoes can’t be trusted, even if you assumed that every review on there was true and unique. And we’re going to do the math to show why, even if you assumed the negative response was 10 times as large as Rotten Tomatoes says it is, it’s only a drop in the bucket compared to Solo‘s overall box office performance.
Check out The Cowen Insight, Deadline Hollywood, and Birth Movies Death for more supporting material.
The video below has the main topical content of the episode, and the audio version above has additional material!
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Your blaster fire certainly hit the mark, Allen. Some of the reviews I’ve heard from friends are based on the story telling and the fact that EP 7-8 felt like reboots because of the similarity of EP 4-5. Another thing I hear is where are the Jedi? where is Boba Fett? Is what I get from younger fans who are beginning to join “the Force”. I myself felt let down with the fact we didn’t get to see the original characters together at least in one scene and that chance is lost since losing Princess Carrie Fisher. Another thing I believe is “word of mouth”. When I see I movie I like I always tell people go see this movie it’s great – that may not be the case for Solo.
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Thanks for this comment, too, Wally. That same letdown you feel about not getting to see Han, Luke, and Leia together onscreen, I feel it too. The moment of Luke and Leia onscreen together in TLJ was super-special, though, and I’m supremely grateful for it.