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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker recently slipped down below The Phantom Menace on Rotten Tomatoes, into the slot of the worst-reviewed Star Wars movie ever created. However, in many ways, critics should have known this was going to happen all along. Let’s take a look at why The Rise of Skywalker was always going to be the worst of the nine-film Skywalker saga, according to the critics, anyway. 

Daisy Ridley and John Boyega
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega | Gary Mitchell / Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ was brilliant following three dull-prequels

While The Force Awakens is a great movie, some say that part of its high ranking with critics and fans alike is that it followed three terrible films. Many critics describe the prequel trilogy as dull with terrible writing.

Fans worried when George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney. However, the debut of the first film in the sequel trilogy proved that fans were in capable hands. 

It symbolized a passing of the torch to the next generation of heroes—Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac). Yet, it also brought back many fan-favorites—including Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). 

The film has the highest rating on Rotten Tomatoes (93%), second only to The Empire Strikes Back from the original trilogy. Critics feel the movie is action-packed and brings fresh new energy while restoring the former glory of the original trilogy. 

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ served the critics, but not the fans

“The future of the Force, it would seem, lies in the ending of suffering, rather than in answering the call to violence, or, as Rose puts it, ‘Not fighting what we hate. Saving what we love,'” wrote one critic on Rotten Tomatoes.

Critics gave The Last Jedi a rating of 91%. However, fans hated the film, giving it an overall score of 43%. Star Wars fans often criticize director Rian Johnson for ruining the franchise with The Last Jedi. In reviews, some fans indicate that he disrupted everything they thought they knew about Star Wars. 

Fans rejoiced when they heard that Director J. J. Abrams was going to be back to direct the last installment of the trilogy.

Here’s why the critics should have known ‘Rise of Skywalker’ was always going to be the worst-rated ‘Star Wars’ movie

After the divisive movie that was The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm brought back Abrams to rectify things with the Star Wars fandom.

“With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy told the NY Times.

However, what that meant was that Lucasfilm and Disney wanted to course-correct The Last Jedi while serving the fans above all else. However, there was no way they were going to please everyone. Although The Rise of Skywalker gets an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, not all fans were pleased. 

The most common critic complaint is that the movie adds too much nostalgia. It also attempts to repeat the original trilogy finale, Return of the Jedi. However, it seems that this was precisely what Lucasfilm intended to do all along. They brought Abrams back to make the fans happy, throwing the critic-rating out the window. 

The result is the lowest critic rating of all of the Star Wars films, 52% on the Tomatometer. 

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