'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' is getting the worst reviews since 'Phantom Menace'

Hannah Yasharoff | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' gets 57% Rotten Tomatoes rating Reviews are out for the 'Star Wars' franchise finale, 'The Rise of Skywalker,' and its facing a 57% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a lot of criticism.

As reviews hit Wednesday morning, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is facing a 58% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating and a deluge of criticism.

It's probably not the greatest news for Disney or Lucasfilm as "Skywalker," one of the year's most highly anticipated movies, marks the worst reviews for a "Star Wars" film since George Lucas' much-maligned 1999 prequel "The Phantom Menace" (53% positive).

USA TODAY film critic Brian Truitt called the "Star Wars" finale a "too-safe landing of a massive pop-culture starship, and a spectacular finale that misses a chance to forge something special."

Several critics took issue with director J.J. Abrams attempting to do too much with one story, resulting in a movie that jumps too quickly between too many ideas.

"The story doesn't require (Abrams) to toss in as many ingredients from earlier films in the saga as he does here, but he dumps them all (callbacks, references, echoes, events, characters) into the mix anyway," writes NPR's Glen Weldon. "The result leaves you feeling not so much bloated – the film moves too quickly and is too much fun for that – but certainly overstuffed."

Not everything was met with disapproval: "Some of the action is well-executed, there are strong performances throughout" and you can't go wrong with nostalgic references to "Star Wars" films of the past, Brian Tallerico wrote for RogerEbert.com. Visuals were praised as well: Technology for lightsaber effects has come a long way since 1977.

Others weren't so generous. Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson dubbed it "the worst 'Star Wars' movie ever," slamming the film as a "miserable finale that serves no purpose other than (to) reassure adult fans of the original 'Star Wars' that they are still the 'chosen ones' of the pop culture galaxy."

"The struggle of good against evil feels less like a cosmic battle than a longstanding sports rivalry between teams whose glory days are receding," wrote New York Times critic A.O. Scott.

" 'The Rise of Skywalker' is another of those zillion-dollar franchise films where I felt embarrassed for the actors but pleased for them, too, because the money is no doubt amazing and will presumably free them to do things they care about," wrote Vulture critic David Edelstein.

Ultimately, critics lamented, it wasn't a properly groundbreaking conclusion to a franchise that forged its way into becoming one of the most beloved, widely known pieces of pop-culture history.

"'Rise of Skywalker' simply feels like a shrug of the shoulders and a march into the expected," Detroit News film critic Adam Graham wrote.

"The more accurate way to describe it, I think, is as an epic failure of nerve," wrote Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang.

Fans are so far being kinder, awarding "Skywalker" with an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On Friday, Disney reported the film began its opening weekend with a hefty $40 million in early Thursday shows, the fifth-highest Thursday preview in U.S. cinematic history.

Which means the reviews just may not matter when it comes to the power of "Star Wars."

"Great reviews would be gravy for 'Skywalker,' but the fans (of which there are millions) will not opt out because of some less-than stellar responses from critics," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker Comscore, predicting a $175 million haul for the first weekend.

Contributing: Brian Truitt and Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY