Why ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ was hated

People could talk all day about the Star Wars' Skywalker saga and what their favorite parts were or what they hated about it. However, many fans now point to "The Rise of Skywalker" as the object of derision in the space opera’s lore.

Fans were very much divided when it came to The Last Jedi but now critics and audiences can mutually agree that The Rise of Skywalker was the final nail in the coffin.

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The origin of the hatred for Star Wars

Star Wars Sequels and Prequels had problems in the Skywalker Saga (Image via Hot Movies News)

Why was this ninth chapter of George Lucas’ beloved franchise so hated? What went wrong?

To answer all of that, it would require a nostalgic trip back to 2002, which was the year that Attack of the Clones was released in theaters. It was quickly maligned by critics and audiences for it’s lame dialogue, stilted romance between Anakin Skywalker and Padme and that “I don’t like sand” line that fans have mocked incessantly.

Since then, Attack of the Clones was considered to be the worst in its franchise. Then in 2012, fans got word that Disney was buying Star Wars from Lucas for $4 billion and produced its own trilogy and spinoffs to make up for any and all mistakes in the prequel trilogy.

However, it seems that the cure was a lot worse than the disease. The reception began positively with The Force Awakens, but two years later, The Last Jedi was released.

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While it was received well by critics, audiences were very disappointed in the film for being too politically correct and not making good use of its characters. This caused a divide among critics and audiences, leaving fans unsure of the Skywalker saga.

Two years after that, fans were greeted with the trailer for The Rise of Skywalker and there was a lot of hype around it, especially knowing that the emperor would return in the film.

But things quickly fell apart after it was released and fans realized that the emperor's return just meant that Darth Vader killing him in Return of the Jedi meant nothing.

Emperor Palpatine Returns to "The Rise of Skywalker". (Image via Small Screen)

What might be more of a slap to the face of hardcore Star Wars fans is the fact that the original idea was supposed to be vastly différent than what was released. The original project was to feature the world of the whills, who are a group of shamans that communicate with the midi-chlorians. In a sense, they are the force, according to George Lucas.

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The Rise of Skywalker omits important details in exchange for nostalgia

Early Concept Art for "The Rise of Skywalker" (Image via Pinterest)

Another thing that was cut from the film was Kylo Ren talking with a mystical oracle on the Sith planet Exegol, but was cut due to time constraints.

What seemed to be an obvious reason for the hate was its lack of character development. The Rise of Skywalker had so much potential but it seemed that it surrounded itself with characters that, honestly, nobody cared about.

Despite cameos from Lando Calrissian, Han Solo and Princess Leia, veterans of the franchise that do nothing to add to the plot of the film, The Rise of Skywalker, for the most part, lays waste to its cast, and the film is now just living in the shadow of the original trilogy and possibly the prequel trilogy.

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Mostly it sounds like it was Disney’s doing when you understand what each trilogy was made for. The original trilogy was made to launch the space opera and make science-fiction serious. The prequel trilogy was made to give Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker a back story.

The sequel trilogy sounds like it was only made so Disney could capitalize off of the success and make money. Either way, fans definitely didn’t get the movie that they deserved.