“J.J. Abrams Is Over Party” Trends On Twitter Amidst Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Backlash

Given the mixed response to the much hyped Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it would be an understatement to say this last week probably hasn’t gone the way Disney and Lucasfilm had hoped. In fact, as just one of many signs of the movie’s iffy reception, you may have noticed the hashtag “JJ Abrams Is Over Party” recently trending on Twitter.

Abrams’ latest film serves as the final installment of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy – a trio of movies that each proved divisive in notably different ways. While the director’s 2015 feature The Force Awakens garnered strong reviews, many viewers felt the flick repeated too much from 1977’s A New Hope. After that, Rian Johnson’s 2017 film The Last Jedi set out to challenge our assumptions of what a Star Wars movie can and should be, and the results were met with heavy online backlash, as well as much acclaim.

For The Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, Abrams once more plays it relatively safe, only this time, the critics aren’t on his side, with many decrying the film as a messy, overstuffed picture that tries too hard to please The Last Jedi’s detractors.

As for the fans, while some have responded well to Abrams’ film, others are blaming the director for ending the Skywalker Saga on a disappointing note:

#jjabramsisoverparty i’ll see you in hell bitch https://t.co/Ljajx6Qcls

— isabella (@DILFNANDOR) December 17, 2019

stan anakin #jjabramsisoverparty https://t.co/kCNWjYPMOp

— dorothy (@slashinpeaches) December 17, 2019

https://twitter.com/anarchosorcerer/status/1207072232289296384

https://twitter.com/totominya/status/1207072344847650816

https://twitter.com/freyasolo/status/1207054019367227397

https://twitter.com/Capt_Crappy/status/1207085184035835904

Interestingly, despite the many negative takes, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker still holds an audience approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting that the online backlash may not reflect the general attitudes of the filmgoing public.

Either way, it seems the time is probably right for the Star Wars franchise to take a break from the big screen. And while Disney already has another film scheduled for 2022, it’s hard not to have at least a little pity for whichever poor director will be charged with steering the series next.