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Sidekick facing ‘review bombing’ exposed as 2008 film caught in hate misfire

Posted on by angelo

Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte is the newest addition to the Star Wars franchiseBefore when the series comes out he had created a huge buzz among fans because of the trailer and early positive reviews from critics. a spectacle. The series looked promising as some audiences loved the prequel series for its magnetic and compelling storyline, with an all-star cast.

Leslye Headland's The Acolyte is criticized
The Acolyte poster. Credits: Lucasfilm Ltd

However, It looks like the series fell victim to the review bombing campaign, as the series saw an increase in 1-star reviews. The fans are blind out of rage for the series because projects with similar names are caught in duds, lowering their scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Ardent fans of the sci-fi franchise have had enough when they point out how bombed reviews have turned a film’s music into a joke.

The Acolyte is the new victim of the campaign of attacks against critics

Set before George Lucas’s prequel trilogy, Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte was supposed to be a savior for the Star Wars franchise. When the trailer for the series was dropped, a ton of fans thought this could be everything Lucasfilm had been looking for for so long. This proved true when the series was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

The Sidekick fell victim to backlash from fans as the series saw an increase in 1-star reviews.
Dafne Keen in The Sidekick. Credits: Lucasfilm Ltd.

However, upon release, the show had surprisingly poor ratings from fans, as the show had an audience score of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the critics score was 84%. Although it seemed confusing, recent events have shown that the series has encounter fan reaction.

This issue was highlighted by a fan (@JordanMaison) on Xthey pointed out that haters bombed the magazine Acolytesa 2008 film. They mentioned that these so-called were unhappy with the series, as it had previously been complained about for being too woke and different from Lucas’s. Star Wars movies.

Sidekicks were bombarded with negative reviews
An image from Acolytes (2008). Credits: IMDb

True fans of the series were not happy to see the series receive unwanted backlash, especially projects with a similar name. They tweeted about X, criticizing the misleading campaign.

Even if Kathleen Kennedy expected their latest venture to pose a threat to critics, she never would have seen such an overwhelming bombardment of negative reviews coming.

Kathleen Kennedy talks about the dangers of working with giant franchises

Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte was already criticized by fans for being too woke and for the fact that the theme of her show is similar to that of the original Geoge Lucas films.

Kathleen Kennedy explains why fans are unhappy with Leslye Headland's The Sidekick
Lee Jung-jae in The Sidekick. Credits: Lucasfilm Ltd.

While sitting down with the Associated Press, Headland spoke about her idea of ​​having a political undertone that opposes fans’ demands. She says,

I actually brought it to them. I said, yeah, I had a general with Rayne Roberts, she’s one of the co-producers on the show, she said, “If you had the chance to work in Star Wars, what would you write about?” I said, “I would write about the Sith and I would love to take a story about the bad guys and turn it into underdogs against the institution, while still making it a family drama.” Hopefully we can achieve this.

This idea was opposed to fans’ requests, the public did not take it favorably and many of them criticized the showrunner on social networks.

Kathleen Kennedy understands the problem of working with a giant franchise like Star Wars and spoke about the fight to the New York Times. She says,

Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation, it’s terrifying. I think Leslye struggled with that a bit. I think a lot of women who get into Star Wars have a little more difficulty with that. Since the fanbase is very male dominated, they are sometimes attacked in quite personal ways.

Nevertheless, The Acolyte is a good watch because it has a sense of mystery with a ruthless killer on the loose, attacking or killing Jedis. Since the series is a prequel, the problem of neglecting the canonical events of the series is out of the question.

It is therefore a humble request addressed to the “critics” not to see the bomb again The Acolyte and share what they really think about the project, after watching it.

The Acolyte can be streamed on Disney+.