The Nastiest Things Critics Are Saying About Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is not having an easy debut. The premiere screening has resulted in a set of seriously mixed reviews flooding the Internet, with many of those reviews actually falling into the category of “scathing.” With that being the case, the Star Wars fandom is now in an uproar (surprising!), and the ‘fans vs critics’ backlash loop has already begun, before The Rise of Skywalker is even in theaters.

So what is it about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that has so many critics riled up? We’ve collected a roundup of some of the nastier commentary, so that fans can see for themselves:

Let It Die

The Atlantic‘s David Sims says: 

“The Rise of Skywalker is a fitting epitaph for the thrills and limits of repetition; may it be the last episode of a saga that should’ve ended long ago.”

Ouch. That’s basically saying the Skywalker Saga as a whole is a waste! 

Just One Bad Apple

Associated Press‘s Jake Coyle says: 

“For a movie predicated on satisfying fans, “The Rise of Skywalker” is a distinctly unsatisfying conclusion to what had been an imperfect but mostly good few films.”

That’s a little more level, citing The Rise of Skywalker as a singular disappointment in an overall good series. 

Gen OT Pandering

Forbes’ Scott Mendelson says: 

“The Rise of Skywalker’ is a bad movie and a miserable finale that serves no purpose other than the reassure (at least some) adult fans of the original ‘Star Wars’ that they are still the “chosen ones” of the pop culture galaxy.”

A fair number of reviews state that TROS does bring balance to the entire Skywalker Saga as much as it tries to make OT fans happy to the point of pandering. 

This. Is. Star Wars.

NYT‘s A.O. Scott Says: 

“”The Rise of Skywalker” isn’t a great “Star Wars” movie, but that may be because there is no such thing. That seems to be the way we like it.”

As time seems to consistently reveal, he’s not entirely wrong about Star Wars. The kitsch has always been half the fun. 

This Is What You Asked For

Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan says: 

“Panders wildly, closing out this last chapter of the nine films that have come to be known as the Skywalker Saga with a story that delivers to the faithful exactly the movie they wanted.”

After all the backlash to how Rian Johnson tried to redefine the Star Wars paradigm in The Last Jedi, what did you expect to happen? The pendulum swung just where we pushed it. 

FanFiction FAIL

Time Magazine‘s Stephanie Zacharek says: 

“In its anxiety not to offend, it comes off more like fanfiction than the creation of actual professional filmmakers. A bot would be able to pull off a more surprising movie.”

Remember when The Last Jedi haters were so glad that J.J. “Ambassador of Nostalgia” Abrams was brought back for this film? I ‘member… 

Skywalker Deserved Better

SlashFilm‘s Chris Evangelista Says: 

“There’s no spark; no joy; no life. If this truly is the end of the Skywalker Saga, what an ignoble end it is.”

When you take on a title like “Rise of Skywalker” you better deliver something worthy of the name. This film, it seems, does not. 

D.O.A.

Entertainment Weekly’s Darren Franich says: 

“Rise of the Skywalker isn’t an ending, a sequel, a reboot, or a remix. It’s a zombie.”

Wow. That’s a pretty succinct and damning condemnation of one of the biggest movies in history. Hopefully time agrees favorably with that opinion. 

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th. The Mandalorian streams new episodes every Friday on Disney+.