Rise Of Skywalker's Rotten Tomatoes Score Suggests I'm Being Too Hard On The Latest Star Wars Film

I wasn't a big fan of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerbut the Rotten Tomatoes audience score for the final Star Wars The sequel trilogy film makes me wonder if I'm wrong. The sequel trilogy quickly became controversial among Star Wars movies and TV shows, and many still consider them some of the Star Wars worst films. The Rise of Skywalker It easily received the biggest reaction of all three films, largely because of unpopular plot twists like the minimally explained return of Emperor Palpatine.

There were also a number of complaints about The Rise of Skywalker which I didn't agree with, including Rey choosing the surname Skywalker, which I thought was perfect revenge for Anakin Skywalker. It is true, however, The Rise of Skywalker is my least favorite film of the nine films in the Skywalker Saga. Although I have always felt confident in this stance, the shockingly high Rotten Tomatoes audience score for The Rise of Skywalker It's making me question if I'm missing something.

Why I Didn't Like Rise Of Skywalker

My complaints go beyond Palpatine's twist

Like many (if not most) viewers, I wasn't satisfied with the twist that it was actually Palpatine behind the events of the sequel trilogy after all. This seemed to be a last-ditch effort to make the sequels 'work' after the trilogy changing hands several times left the narrative confusing and disconnected. Ultimately, instead of bringing the films together, this only served to undermine what had come before and reuse old ideas rather than introducing anything innovative.

That being said, my problems with The Rise of Skywalker go beyond the reveal that Palpatine was resurrected. One of the biggest complaints I had with the film was the handling of the Ben Solo/Kylo Ren story arc. Kylo Ren was, in my opinion, the most interesting new character in the sequel films, not only because he was a full-blooded Skywalker, but also because I found him compelling as a villain, especially with the added context of canon. Star Wars comics The Rise of Kylo Renwritten by Charles Soule.

I was also prepared to The Rise of Skywalker be largely its story, which the title suggested would be the case. This made it all the more disappointing when not only did Ben die, but he died without anyone appearing to him as a Force ghost – but Luke and Leia showed up on Tatooine to watch Rey bury Leia and Anakin's lightsabers. I would almost have found this excusable if the focus had also been split between other characters, but that wasn't the case. Poe Dameron, Finn and Rose Tico were all sidelined The Rise of Skywalker.

A much greater concern that I had with The Rise of Skywalker That's how Carrie Fisher implemented it. Fisher tragically passed away before The Rise of Skywalkerand this evidently left Star Wars trapped in terms of the story they could tell in the final sequence of the trilogy film. As a workaround, they incorporated unused footage from the previous films, as well as some visual and story tricks. It seemed morbid and, to me, a bit ethically ambiguous to use Fisher in this way.and I still feel uneasy when I watch The Rise of Skywalker and see it on the screen.

The Rotten Tomatoes audience score for Rise Of Skywalker is much better than I expected

The Rise Of Skywalker's audience score is currently higher than all prequels and other sequels

Despite my own complaints and the many complaints The Rise of Skywalker received from viewers, The Rise of Skywalker Rotten Tomatoes audience score is shockingly high. At the moment, The Rise of Skywalker has an audience score of 86% on the site. This puts it disconcertingly The Rise of Skywalker superior to all three previous films and the other two films in the sequel trilogy in terms of audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

This rather high score for The Rise of Skywalker would be a surprise enough in itself, but the fact that The Rise of Skywalker rivals Rogue One: A Star Wars Storya very popular Star Wars film, in terms of audience score is really surprising. While I won't entirely change my opinion of the film based on the Rotten Tomatoes soundtrack, this revelation has made me re-evaluate my understanding of the film's reception and whether I'm being overly critical.

Am I being too harsh on The Rise of Skywalker?

Audiences are clearly seeing something promising in the Rise of Skywalker

Although I think many of the issues mentioned above The Rise of Skywalker be true, it's interesting to see what the film's positive reviews entail. Among the 5-star reviews, the public pointed to the relationship between Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey, the return of the three original heroes, the action and the plot twists. Interestingly, these are some of the things that many viewers complained about.

Notably, many enjoyed the relationship that Kylo Ren and Rey had, leading to an entire section of the fanbase referring to themselves as 'Reylos'. There were compelling aspects to their dynamic, including the introduction of the Force dyad, an entirely new concept in Star Wars which continues to have a lot of potential. However, it's doubtful that the Reylos are enough to entirely explain this Rotten Tomatoes score.

It is also worth mentioning that there are many people who will always love what Star Wars exposes, although again, given that The Rise of Skywalker the score is high even compared to others Star Wars films, this does not explain this audience score well. In fact, I'm still a little confused by the revelation that The Rise of Skywalker is the second best rated Star Wars film outside of the original trilogy in terms of Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Although I maintain my opinion on Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerThis shocking score suggests the Star Wars film deserves another look.