Both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic have revealed their Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker critic scores.
Rotten Tomatoes
As opening night approaches for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the J.J. Abrams film is sitting at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It has an average rating of 6.46 out of 10. There are 65 Fresh scores and 46 Rotten scores from a 111 total reviews.
The only Star Wars movie to field a lower score is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which comes in at 53%.
Here are the scores of all other Star Wars movies and television series:
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – 53%
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones – 65%
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith – 80%
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – 93%
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back – 94%
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi – 82%
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – 93%
- Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi – 91%
- Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker – 59%
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – 83%
- Solo: A Star Wars Story – 70%
- Star Wars: Rebels – 100%
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 94%
- Star Wars: Resistance – 92%
- The Mandalorian – 93%
Related: Initial Critic Reaction to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Revealed
The critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are mixed. Here are some of the more notable ones:
Brian Truitt at USA Today gave the film a 2.5 out of 4. He writes, “After paying homage to everything that came before, this Star Wars ending is a too-safe landing of a massive pop-culture starship, and a spectacular finale that misses a chance to forge something special.”
Dan Murrell at Screen Junkies gives the film a Rotten 5 out of 10. He writes, “There seems to have been absolutely no road map as to what these movies were going to be and it shows.”
Sam Adams at Slate gives the film a Rotten score. He writes, “Rather than making a movie some people might love, Abrams tried to make a movie no one would hate, and as a result, you don’t feel much of anything at all.”
A.O. Scott at the New York Times gives the film a Rotten score. He writes, “”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.”
Helen O’Hara at Empire Magazine gives the film a 3 out of 5 with a Fresh rating. She writes, “It looks gorgeous and offers strong performances from Driver and Ridley in particular, but ultimately the saga ends with neither a bang nor a whimper but something inbetween.”
Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune gives the film a 3 out of 4 with a Fresh rating. He writes, “It wraps up the trio of trilogies begun in 1977 in a confident, soothingly predictable way, doing all that cinematically possible to avoid poking the bear otherwise known as tradition-minded quadrants of the “Star Wars” fan base.”
Metacritic
Metacritic also released their Metascore for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film currently has a 54 from 40 reviews.
There are 14 positive, 24 mixed, and 2 negative.
Here’s what the critics on Metacritic are saying:
Jordan Hoffman at The Guardian gives the film a 100. He writes, “The movie snaps together like a jigsaw puzzle, a series of concluding beats that seem inevitable and perfect, and designed to please all parties, so long as you don’t dwell on the logic too much.”
Soren Andersen gives the film a 100 at The Seattle Times. He writes, “The Rise of Skywalker rates right up there with the 1977 original, “A New Hope,” and 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Michael Roffman at Consequence of Sound gives the film an 83. He writes, “It’s a breakneck conclusion to what’s been a breakneck restart.”
Robbie Collin at The Telegraph gives the film an 80. He writes, “The Rise of Skywalker completes a saga no one sane screenwriter would have dreamt up from scratch, but does so with such pluck and showmanship that the result feels strangely precious: a busked epic whose every individual move comes straight from the heart.”
Eric Kohn at IndieWire gives the film a 58. He writes, “With emerging rebel leader Rey (Daisy Ridley) providing a sturdy emotional foundation, and billions of Disney dollars fueling an obviously stunning array of special effects, Rise of Skywalker doesn’t squander every opportunity to dial up the thrilling nature of the epic at hand, but all that razzle-dazzle can’t obscure a hollow core.”
Alonso Duralde at TheWrap gives the film a 55. He writes, “Abrams certainly knows how to manipulate, but when he does it, you can see the strings. How much or little you enjoy The Rise of Skywalker will rely almost entirely on whether or not you mind that every laugh and tear and jolt feels like it’s coming right off a spreadsheet.”
Russ Fischer at The Playlist gives the film a 50. He writes, “The Rise of Skywalker; is as much metafiction as Johnson’s film was. Rather than asking questions about what we really want from a series like “Star Wars,” and whether we’re ready to allow our childhood fictions to grow with us, J.J. Abrams and crew decide to lean on the emotional warmth of reunions, friendships, redemptions, and goodbyes. There is some heartfelt value here, or at least, some of it does admittedly produce some anthemic feels, but it doesn’t hold much weight.”
Alissa Wilkinson at Vox gives the film a 30. She writes, “The Rise of Skywalker falls somewhere between an overstuffed fan-service finale and a yawnfest. If The Force Awakens kicked off a new cycle in the franchise and The Last Jedi set it up to push beyond its familiar patterns, The Rise of Skywalker for the most part runs screaming in the other direction.”
Related: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Long Range Box Office Predictions Revealed
Current tracking has the The Rise of Skywalker opening similar to The Last Jedi, which opened globally to around $450 million.
Most projections have Episode 9 grossing around 1.4 billion worldwide.
It appears that The Rise Of Skywalker will be a very contentious end to a legendary saga.
One thing is for certain, this film will be a source of debate for years to come.
What are your thoughts on the Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores and critic reviews?
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