The Rise of Skywalker Beats Tenet For Best Sci-Fi Movie At Saturn Awards
In a twist that might surprise some fans, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has beaten out Christopher Nolan's Tenet to win best sci-fi movie at the Saturn Awards. In many ways, The Rise of Skywalker was the perfect culmination of Disney's first Star Wars trilogy, in that it seemed to represent fans' overall feelings toward it. Though the trilogy started off positively with The Force Awakens in 2015, fan reception became very mixed with its sequel, The Last Jedi. Acting as the finale for both the sequel trilogy and the Skywalker saga as a whole, The Rise of Skywalker hoped to bridge the gap between fans of The Last Jedi and its critics.
Instead, it became another divisive franchise installment both among fans and critics. J.J. Abrams returned to direct after last helming The Force Awakens, and he has since admitted that the sequel trilogy wasn't exactly planned out, though it would have benefitted from it. The Rise of Skywalker's more controversial plot points included the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), making Rey (Daisy Ridley) a Palpatine, and the end scene where Rey declares herself a Skywalker instead.
Despite the polarized fan reactions, The Rise of Skywalker has come through to win best sci-fi movie at the 46th annual Saturn Awards, which honors the best in genre entertainment (via Deadline). This year's awards considered projects released from July 15, 2019 to November 15, 2020, hence why The Rise of Skywalker was competing against Tenet. Its other competitors were Ad Astra, Gemini Man, Lucy in the Sky, and Terminator: Dark Fate.
Fans might be surprised to learn Star Wars has beat out Nolan in this instance. Released last year as the first major movie to debut amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tenet wasn't without some mixed responses either. Some fans and critics praised it to the heavens, while others didn't much enjoy Nolan's time-bending narrative and sound design decisions. Nevertheless, Tenet still enjoyed a better reception than The Rise of Skywalker, which remains controversial to this day. Even Disney itself has mocked the overall reception to the sequel trilogy.
Lucasfilm has taken a step back from releasing new Star Wars movies for the moment, though there are several in the works. In addition to a trilogy from Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, there are movies on the way from Kevin Feige, Taika Waititi, and J.D. Dillard. The only one currently with a release date is Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, which comes from director Patty Jenkins. The new era of Star Wars films already feels different from the one that birthed The Rise of Skywalker, so here's hoping the movies do too.
Source: Deadline