Update on a Galaxy Far, Far, Away…

During the 2019-2020 school year, Star Wars has left a dominant impression in the media along with their fanbase.

In less than a year the franchise has pushed out the game, “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,” a movie, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and the most recently, a hit show exclusively on Disney Plus, “The Mandalorian.”

The game “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” is rated T for teen and it’s based on Cal Kestis, a padawan survivor from Order 66 (the order that deemed all Jedi, traitors of the Galactic Republic; leading the massacre of the Jedi Order) that struck the galaxy 5 years ago. You play as Cal and experience his journey towards becoming a Jedi. The game received good reviews scoring 72% on PC Gamer and 9/10 on both IGN and Steam.

Ryan Gillespie the APUSH and AP Econ/Gov teacher at Rancho spoke positively saying, “I’ve only played a little bit of the game, but what I like about the game is that you have to block to survive. It’s not just an attack game and you actually need strategy to survive and progress through the game. I was more interested in this game than other Star Wars games because you actually play as a Jedi, swinging your lightsaber around.”

Having the most digital sales of any other Star Wars games, Jedi Fallen Order is easily enjoyed by Star Wars enthusiasts and casual fans.

The movie “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”, rated PG-13 received mixed reviews. It’s confirmed to be the finale of the Cinematic franchise so expectations were exceptionally high for this movie. It received 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.9/10 on IMDb and 2.5/4 on Roger Ebert. Many of the more hardcore fans were utterly disappointed at the execution of the story line, seeming out of place. Obvious loopholes throughout the movie left many walking out of the movie theater confused and disappointed at the writing crew.

Jacob Chavez, a junior, said , “I neither liked or hated it but Rise of Skywalker should have had a better ending, considering that it marked the end of the current Star Wars trilogy. It was a decent movie but the ending did not live up to the hype.”

On the other hand many of the casual fans, not strict on Star Wars lore, were more lenient and were overall more satisfied with the series’ conclusion. Not worked up on what makes sense in the Star Wars time-line; enjoying the movie for what it was; admiring the impressive special-effects and cinematography, musical score and action-packed sequences.

After watching the movie, junior Marvin Madamba said, “The movie received many disappointing reviews, but I would say that it was pretty good. I understand why people may have disliked it in the first half of the movie but towards the second half of the movie JJ Abrams redeemed himself, making the movie for the fans, including fan moments. Without spoiling anything, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ is a really good movie.”

The most recent installment of the Star Wars franchise is in Disney’s, The Mandolarian, rated TV-PG. The show takes place 5 years after the fall of the empire and 25 years before the rise of the first order. The Mandalorian (a race/creed of bounty hunters, culturally raised for combat) known as Din Djarin is caught up as a traitor to the bounty hunter’s guild as he refused to allow the death of one of his assignments. Receiving excellent reviews of 8.8/10 on IMDb and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes; Star Wars has taken the media by storm on the popularity of the show.

After watching The Mandalorian, junior Ty Coleman said, “I enjoyed the show and I believe that it lived up to the hype. It told the story of the Mandalorians well. The popularity of baby Yoda and the cool characters such as the Mandalorian have made the show interesting. I would recommend this show to anyone.”

The end of season one has left the people begging for more. Scheduled later this year by popular demand, a second season is under-way.

If this popular trend continues, who knows what more this franchise has to offer.