The Rise of Skywalker is now the lowest-rated Star Wars movie on Rotten Tomatoes

In some iffy news for JJ Abrams and The Rise of Skywalker, Rotten Tomatoes now scores the movie as the lowest-rated by critics in the whole Star Wars franchise.

Released last month, the trilogy closer has amassed over $1 billion at the global box office, but naturally this isn't a reflection of a movie's quality.

Digital Spy gave it 4 stars in our review, but the trusted aggregator website has now rated Rise of Skywalker a bruising 52%.

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Even the much-maligned Phantom Menace scores higher on Rotten Tomatoes, but only just, with 53%.

Although extremely divisive among the Star Wars faithful, Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi soared to a 91% rating, so what went wrong for The Rise of Skywalker?

The critics' consensus reads: "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker suffers from a frustrating lack of imagination, but concludes this beloved saga with fan-focused devotion."

Disney will no doubt view Abrams' movie in a different light – via revenue results we'd assume – yet there's no denying that this is a kick in the teeth for a movie that created such high levels of anticipation.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is out now.

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Dan Seddon

Reporter, Digital Spy 

Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment. 

In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.