Reviewers haven’t been kind on the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga. Following today’s embargo lift, critics have called “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” a “galactic disappointment” (Gamespot), a “piece of junk” (Collider), a “defeat” (Polygon), and a “Force ghost version of a movie” (EW).
Some have gone as far as calling it the “worst ‘Star Wars’ movie ever” (Forbes), one that’s “so bad it actually makes the trilogy worse” (Slate). Ironically, most of these critics hate Episode IX because it retcons parts of The Last Jedi. “The Rise of Skywalker” is currently rotten with a tomatometer score of 58%.
Instead of continuing down the path that Johnson set, Abrams swerves the franchise into yet another hard u-turn, cramming enough story for two movies into one, and largely acting like the previous film never happened–or actively retconning it. The result is a movie that feels less like the conclusion to a Star Wars trilogy, and more like the casualty of a behind-the-scenes battle between the visions of two diametrically opposed directors.