The Rise of Skywalker is worst-reviewed Star Wars film since The Phantom Menace

Episode IX is the worst-rated film in the sequel trilogy

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has become the lowest-rated Star Wars film since The Phantom Menace on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film, which is being released in cinemas on 19 December in the UK and 20 December in the US, currently has a 58% score stemming from critics’ reviews on the platform.

That is slightly above the 53% achieved by The Phantom Menace, which remains the lowest critics rating attributed to any Star Wars film on the website.

The Rise of Skywalker has also become the lowest-rated film in the sequel trilogy on Rotten Tomatoes. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were rated 93% and 91% respectively.

An audience score will be added once the film comes out and viewers start leaving their impressions online. The film is being released in cinemas on 19 December in the UK and 20 December in the US.

Attack of the Clones, which was released after The Phantom Menace and is the second chapter in the prequel trilogy, was previously the second worst-rated Star Wars film on Rotten Tomatoes with a critics rating of 65%.

Revenge of the Sith, the instalment, achieved a better score of 80%.

A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were rated 93, 94 and 82 per cent respectively.

Audience scores sometimes differ significantly from critics’ impressions. The Last Jedi, for example, currently has a 43% audience score – less than half its critics rating of 91%.

First reactions shared after The Rise of Skywalker‘s premiere in Los Angeles indicate that the movie did win over some viewers, who went on to praise it on social media.

The Independent gave the film three out of five stars, calling it “gleefully chaotic” and “thematically rich”.