The eighth Star Wars film premiered in Hollywood at the weekend and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with the exception of online hate groups calling for a boycott.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story gained cheers and applause throughout its end credits at the Pantages Theatre premiere in Los Angeles on Saturday night (local time).
Although official reviews are still currently under embargo, some critics who saw the film have tweeted about it, calling it "intense", "so moving" and "gorgeous".
Celebrities invited to the premiere have also taken to Twitter to proclaim their love of the spin-off.
However, the Force is not strong with some internet users, as Rogue One has riled up many members of the alt-right.
The "alt-right" is a collective term for a loosely defined online group of neo-Nazis, anti-feminists and far right conservatives and some of its members are targeting the film for its racially diverse cast and female lead characters.
They also accuse it of promoting Judaism and the "anti-white movement".
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, like Ghostbusters and Star Wars: The Force Awakens before it, is facing a boycott from sub-Reddits and alt-right websites such as Return of Kings.
The first two IMDb user reviews were both illustrative of how the new Star Wars film is being politicised. Although the posts have since been taken down, images of them were taken and posted by New Zealand filmmaker Jason Lei Howden.
In an ironic twist, alt-right figurehead Steve Bannon was recently appointed a role as senior White House strategist by US President-elect Donald Trump, before mentioning Darth Vader in a seemingly positive way.
"Darkness is good," Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter.
"Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when [liberals and the media] get it wrong, when they're blind to who we are and what we're doing."
Whether or not the alt-right boycott will have any effect on the film remains to be seen and New Zealand fans will get to form their own opinions when it opens in cinemas here on Thursday.
Newshub.
