Owen Gleiberman, Variety:
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” might just brush the bad-faith squabbling away. It’s the ninth and final chapter of the saga that Lucas started, and though it’s likely to be a record-shattering hit, I can’t predict for sure if “the fans” will embrace it. (The very notion that “Star Wars” fans are a definable demographic is, in a way, outmoded.) What I can say is that “The Rise of Skywalker” is, to me, the most elegant, emotionally rounded, and gratifying “Star Wars” adventure since the glory days of “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’: Film Review
Sam Adams, Slate, sees Rise of the Skywalker as an apology to fans angry about Rian Johnson’s treatment of the franchise in The Last Jedi:
The Rise of Skywalker gives people what they go to Star Wars for, but that’s all it does—and worse, all it sets out to do. It’s frenzied, briefly infuriating, and eventually, grudgingly, satisfying, but it’s like being force-fed fandom: Your belly is filled, but there’s no pleasure in the meal.
The Rise of Skywalker Is So Bad It Actually Makes the Trilogy Worse
Matt Goldberg, Collider:
He got away with it before with the charming-yet-safe The Force Awakens, but with The Rise of Skywalker, his weaknesses get the better of him resulting in a film with poor plotting, shallow character development, and underwhelming revelations.
I don’t hate The Rise of Skywalker as much as I’m consistently disappointed by it. There are the occasional bright spots like what the film does with the character of Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) as well as a couple other nice surprises, but even here, it feels like Abrams doesn’t want to challenge his audiences as much as provide a constant stream of fan service.
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Review: What a Piece of Junk
AO Scott, NY Times:
If I had to come up with a definitive ranking of all the “Star Wars” episodes — leaving out sidebars like the animated “Clone Wars,” the young Han Solo movie and the latest “Mandalorian” Baby Yoda memes — the result could only be a nine-way tie for fourth place…“The Rise of Skywalker” isn’t a great “Star Wars” movie, but that may be because there is no such thing.