The latest Star Wars series, The Acolyte, from showrunner Leslye Headland is getting destroyed by old-school Star Wars fans.
(L-R): Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) and Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
On Rotten Tomatoes the show has an abysmal 45% All Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 2.7 out of 5.
The Acolyte review scores via Rotten Tomatoes
READ: Leslye Headland Confirms ‘The Acolyte’ Is The “Gayest Star Wars,” And Claims That R2-D2 Is A Lesbian
Here’s what some of the reviewers are saying:
One wrote, “As a read of the high republic, this was disappointing. I’m sorry to say that Vernestra Rwoh is misunderstood. The costume, makeup, hair, and set designs were atrocious. Where did the 180 million dollars in budget go? The music is just terrible and tries to copy the prequels to improve. Props to them for creating new planets. However, are they fresh, new and inventive? No, not like Andor or the Mandalorian. The action and choreography was okay, there was no emotion behind any of it.”
Another posted, “Story doesn’t fit the timeline. 100 years before the Empire should have given us a story focused on the Muun Sith Lord Plagueis. I gave it a shot hoping it would be good anyway because it’s Star Wars. The Yord character was painful to watch and appears dense and not bright considering his rank in the order. The young Jecki seemed to outsmart him at times. The second Jedi Master’s death was…odd and didn’t make much sense. First Jedi Master that died had a great fighting scene and the deception in the fight was something a dark side user would do. I don’t understand the force vision/communication between the two sisters in the first episode and then the second one, Mae didn’t know her sister was alive. Who was she talking to then? I’m probably not going to finish this show.”
Reviews of The Acolyte on Rotten Tomatoes
One person wrote, “I don’t even know what they are trying to to accomplish with this show. It’s dry and boring. Loved Andor. Liked Ashoka. But this.. just no…”
Martin Z said, “”Star Wars: The Acolyte” falls short of expectations with its uneven pacing and superficial character development. Despite attempts to blend a murder mystery with classic Star Wars elements, the execution feels disjointed and lacks the darker tone required. Amandla Stenberg’s performance is inconsistent, and the fight scenes, though numerous, often feel out of place. While the practical effects and stunts are commendable, they can’t compensate for the show’s overall lackluster storytelling and forced world-building.”
Reviews of The Acolyte on Rotten Tomatoes
J H posted, “I just can’t stomach modern Sci-Fi anymore. Massive budget, mediocre actors and utterly abysmal writers. I’m just checking out at this point.”
“This is simply terrible! The writing and acting is woeful! I must say however it looks amazing and is a huge improvement on Kenobi. It’s also very slow and rather boring and doesn’t really feel like it relates to something I would consider a Star Wars universe. I do hope the next few episodes are better but I’m doubtful this will occur with what I’ve already watched,” Cameron O posted.
Reviews of The Acolyte on Rotten Tomatoes
On Metacritic, the series has a 3.2 User Score out of 10. It has 39 positive reviews, 7 mixed reviews, and 92 negative reviews.
The Acolyte User Score via Metacritic
Here’s what some of the users are saying:
Chipotle333 gave it a 0 and wrote, “No one wants this. Disney killed Star Wars and now they are desecrating its corpse. Extremely poor writing, poor choreography, pointless story (so far), there’s no reason to care about this series at all.”
Brainless rated it a 0 and posted, “Again an absolute disgrace for the Star Wars franchise. Bad dialogues, bad characters, bad writing. Any AI could generate a better story in seconds.”
(L-R): Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
READ: ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ Confirmed To Feature Lesbian Character
Lastridge also rated it a 0. He posted, “Poor acting, horrible script, bad characters, appalling direction, topped with an incessant need to f-o-r-c-e things that nobody wants. You couldn’t cobble together a worse bunch of showrunners if you tried.”
GrumpySarcasm gave it a 2. He wrote, “The writing is unfathomably bland. ChatGPT could write more creatively than this. Directing similarly awful.”
Jpnben85 gave it a 0. He wrote, “This is not Star Wars. Poor Millennial writing with no soul or artistic value. Just insufferable identity politics characters cosplaying as Jedi and destroying once beloved franchise.”
“Star Wars is dead, this utter mess of a show is just on more nail in the coffin,” wrote Mikeuk81, who rated it a 1.
Exlee3000 rated it a 0. He wrote, “Another example of Disney destroying their IP by making it all about identity politics and DEI/ESG. They have no respect for past characters and the lore. This is the epitome of everything wrong with the industry! Disney deserves their self-inflicted destruction!”
Osha (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
On X numerous people roasted the series. Joel Berry of the Babylon Bee wrote:
The Acolyte is a queer, Marxist vandalization of the myth of Star Wars. In The Acolyte, the Force is a metaphor for cultural hegemonic power. The Jedi are a metaphor for cisgender white oppressors who hoard the power for themselves. Yes, it really is that obnoxious and stupid. pic.twitter.com/kUOV2CDX15
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) June 5, 2024
Matthew Kadish posted, “It’s confirmed. Leslie Headland is a terrible writer and director.”
It’s confirmed. Leslie Headland is a terrible writer and director. #TheAcolyte pic.twitter.com/TpZTdIUbnq
— Matt Kadish – SaltyNerd.com (@MatthewKadish) June 5, 2024
Kadish would add in a subsequent post, “After having a night to stew over it, I’m convinced, now more than ever, that The Acolyte is a total garbage show. It’s poorly written, poorly directed, poorly shot, and in many ways very unoriginal and boring. If it had been a murder mystery set in the Star Wars universe, that would have been one thing – a unique concept/idea – where we get to see Jedi investigate a crime that unfolds into a greater conspiracy and we get to see them experience the world of this time frame in a new and unique way. Instead, all mystery and tension is dismissed and we only get ‘Crouching Jedi Hidden Sith’ fight scenes.”
He continued, “This is such a step back from Andor, which managed to make the Star Wars universe feel gritty and real for the first time since the original trilogy.” Kadish also stated the agenda-driven choices of the show we unimportant compared to the lack of quality. “The fact that it fails so epically on such a basic level of storytelling and tradecraft (directing, cinematography, vfx, etc.) is so inexcusable it blows my mind.”
Also, Leslye Headland has no clue how to end an episode and make a proper cliffhanger,” he concluded. “This show is trash and the people responsible for making it are hacks, and everyone involved should be ashamed to be associated with it.”
After having a night to stew over it, I’m convinced, now more than ever, that #TheAcolyte is a total garbage show.
It’s poorly written, poorly directed, poorly shot, and in many ways very unoriginal and boring. If it had been a murder mystery set in the #StarWars universe, that… pic.twitter.com/1sRNMFMCYZ
— Matt Kadish – SaltyNerd.com (@MatthewKadish) June 5, 2024
YouTuber Endymion wrote, “I watched the first two episodes of STAR WARS THE ACOLYTE & I am not kidding you it is somehow worse than Book of Bobba Fett. The story is lame, the characters forgettable & features plenty of diversity & strong women. The make up is also horrible ( see first pic ) There are also fat Jedi ( second pic ) & the show doesn’t know how to do cliffhangers. The second episode ends with a Wookie Jedi walking into their house, I’m not kidding you. Disney has somehow made an even worse show than they have in the past, I have no idea who this is for but this is really bad. What the f**k man.”
I watched the first two episodes of STAR WARS THE ACOLYTE & I am not kidding you it is somehow worse than Book of Bobba Fett.
The story is lame, the characters forgettable & features plenty of diversity & strong women. The make up is also horrible ( see first pic )
There are… pic.twitter.com/KWC35wgRpw
— Endymion (@EndymionYT) June 5, 2024
YouTuber LaReinaCreole wrote, “The Acolyte is yet another stellar example of using diversity as a shield against lackluster writing and production quality. Disney should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Acolyte is yet another stellar example of using diversity as a shield against lackluster writing and production quality.
Disney should be ashamed of themselves.
— La Reina🇺🇸Creole🇩🇴🇯🇲🇵🇷🇹🇹🇨🇺🇭🇹🇲🇽🇨🇴 (@LaReinaCreole) June 5, 2024
Robert Meyer Burnett posted, “THE ACOLYTE is a massive misunderstanding of what the original STAR WARS was all about. I wonder…does the younger generation actually even understand what storytelling itself is supposed to be about?”
THE ACOLYTE is a massive misunderstanding of what the original STAR WARS was all about. I wonder…does the younger generation actually even understand what storytelling itself is supposed to be about?
— Robert Meyer Burnett, Viceroy of Verisimilitude (@RMBee) June 5, 2024
Lucas Star Wars Girl wrote, “If you liked The Rise of Skywalker, you’ll love The Acolyte. Yes, it’s that bad. Despite being set over a hundred years earlier, it somehow chooses to reference that movie over any other. This is a worse troll job than The Last Jedi.”
She added in another post, “Dumba** Headland thinks all she needs to do to make it feel like Star Wars is use transition wipes after every scene. The editing is awful, there’s no flow. The ‘jokes’ don’t land and it’s littered with redundant plot points which go nowhere. Amatuer hour. Verdict: Hot garbage.”
Dumbass Headland thinks all she needs to do to make it feel like Star Wars is use transition wipes after every scene.
The editing is awful, there’s no flow. The “jokes” don’t land and it’s littered with redundant plot points which go nowhere. Amatuer hour.
Verdict: Hot garbage. pic.twitter.com/aVEQhvPsMR
— Lucas Star Wars Girl (@LucasSWGirl) June 5, 2024
Gary Buechler of Nerdrotic simply wrote, “Those were ‘the good’ episodes? Holy s**t #Acolyte.”
And if rumors are to be believed the show will indeed get worse. Film Threat Publisher Chris Gore stated during an appearance on a Geeks + Gamers live stream, “These first two episodes are pretty basic. They get you into the story and the world. Episode three, I’m warning you now, it is going to completely lose everyone.”
He explained, “They completely redefine what the Force is. You’re going to see two mothers conceive twins. A bunch of witches that are-. Basically, the Jedi turn into cops and child protective services. It’s like the CPS of the galaxy.”
Gore elaborated, “Episode 1 and 2. Whatever. It’s fine. [Episodes] 3 and 4 get ready for pronouns in Star Wars. It’s happening,” he added. “But Episode 3, I’m literally considering having a funeral for Star Wars. Literally, get everyone to dress up, wear dark glasses, give eulogies, play organ church music in the background because after episode three of The Acolyte it will cause a lot of discussion aside from the fact that the show is cheap looking. For all the money they spent it looks cheap. The exterior scenes in forest [look] shot on a sound stage. It looks very, very obvious.”
Gore then stated, “It still lacks male energy. It lacks male energy.”
Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Later in the video he added, “It’ll change things forever. And I don’t think anyone’s going to like it. And we’ll get a lot of lesbians in space. Lesbian witches that conceive children. So get ready for episode three.”
He went on to add, “[Leslye Headland’s] effectively taken the corpse and skin of Star Wars like Buffalo Bill and just like put it on to tell her story. It’s grotesque. It’s filled with narcissism.”
Amandla Stenberg in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
What do you make of The Acolyte getting destroyed?
NEXT: Rumor: Leslye Headland’s ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ Will Change The Force Into Being A Female Entity
HOLLYWOOD where creativity and originality go to die.
Movies & TV have gone full circle and turned back into nothing but vehicles for propaganda.
BURN IT ALL DOWN !
This will be The Marvels of Star Was TV shows.
A light-on-experience writer has been given too much road and encouraged to write a personal story. Unwisely, modern personal stories focus on what makes the writer different from everyone else and not on their universal human experiences. That is to say, modern personal stories are INTENTIONALLY UNRELATABLE except for a razor thin percent of the general audience that is different in all the same ways as the writer.
Given this set up and 200 million dollars, anyone would crash and burn.
Crap like this, is why South Park was right, about Kathleen Kennedy. Especially the line, “Put a chick in it, make her lame and gay!”
Except you missed the point of that short.
Rating the show a 1 is just not being objective the same as rating the show a 10 is not being honest. People wanting to hate the show and refusing to be wrong is pretty dishonest.