"The Rise of Skywalker" is a failure. 

The final film in the Disney Star Wars trilogy, and as they advertise it, the "finale" to the Skywalker Saga. *COUGH* Return of the Jedi.

There's no sugar coating it. Critics and audiences hate it. I have not seen it, and I have no interest in paying money to see it. What I am interested in, is discussing the journey that led to this "Game of Thrones" level failure. 

DISNEY'S ARROGANCE

George Lucas was very upset, after he sold Star Wars to Disney, and Disney abandoned his story drafts for the sequel trilogy. 

Disney wanted THEIR corporate vision of Star Wars. They thought they knew better than the man who created the franchise. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, admitted George felt "betrayed." 

There's even rumors George made a better cut of TRoS, but Disney and Lucasfilm didn't use it cause it made them look like asshats. Could this be why he wasn't invited to the premiere of TRoS? Was George betrayed once again?

They wanted to make their own original characters, replace and kill legacy characters, and abandon the lore of the EU ( Expanded Universe. ) The Disney trilogy was rushed to cash in; it was never planned out like the first two trilogies. 

But then, why would Disney care about taking their time and making good quality content? Disney makes billions from the parks, their movies, and the companies and franchises they absorb. They don't need to put effort. 

They think we will pay for whatever remake, reboot, or sequel they crap out, so long as it has Disney, Star Wars, or even Marvel in the name.

BAD LEADERSHIP

George Lucas entrusted Kathleen Kennedy to run Lucasfilm and "honor" the legacy of Star Wars. 

Instead of pushing for innovation and quality storytelling, Kennedy used Star Wars to push identity politics, social justice, and feminism. Leading to forgettable, safe, PC characters and stories for SJW's and the Chinese market. 

Star Wars always had diversity, but Kennedy likes to push this narrative that the franchise was never inclusive. Women get elevated at the expense of men, even men of color like Finn. It's an insult to so many characters that came before; especially in the EU. 

Kennedy hires directors to work on films, fires them half-way through production, then replace them with new directors to pick up the pieces. This caused elevated budgets and low quality productions that feel stitched together. The biggest loss in money from this incompetence being "Solo: A Star Wars Story".

On top of all that, Kennedy is either a liar, or an idiot. She said the Disney trilogy was difficult to make because they don't have “source material,” and they don't have “comic books” to pull material from. 

ATTACKING FANS

Instead of listening to fan criticism, especially for TLJ, Disney and Lucasfilm weaponized the news media to smear the Star Wars fandom. It's now become a common tactic by studios, actors, and filmmakers, to smear fans when they don't love their products. 

They fail to realize fans are customers. If you constantly call your customers toxic, sexist, racist, man-baby trolls, then guess what? They're not going to give you money anymore.

I work customer service. If I treated any customer, with the level of disrespect given by Disney and Lucasfilm, I would get fired.

And now? After two years of the shill media defending TLJ, Disney and Lucasfilm are badmouthing the movie to get old fans interested in TRoS. Not only did they abandon old fans, they've abandoned the woke critics and journalists as well. No wonder the Rotten Tomatoes critic score for TRoS is certified rotten. 

CONCLUSION

Disney needs to get humble and put effort into their products. Lucasfilm needs new leadership that actually cares and knows Star Wars. They need to stop weaponizing media; it just turns away old and new customers. 

Is it any wonder merch sales are down? Is it any wonder barely anyone visits Galaxy's Edge at Disney parks? Is it any wonder there was zero hype for TRoS?

Nobody was excited for this movie. People are more invested in Jedi Fallen Order and Baby Freaking Yoda than anything in the Disney trilogy. TRoS is the ultimate culmination of Disney and Lucasfilm's hubris, given unholy flesh. An average movie that tries to please everybody and it pleases nobody. 

Star Wars has fallen...and now it must learn to pick itself back up.