Judge declares Star Wars: The Last Jedi & Rise of Skywalker are mediocre

June 4th 2021, 9:00am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Some fans may have been looking for an official ruling on this matter and they finally have one. Ninth Circuit Judge, Kenneth K. Lee called Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker "mediocre and schlocky" in an official court ruling.

Judge Lee was writing an opinion on a case involving ConAgra Foods Inc. and Wesson Oil when he made the Star Wars comparison Lee says "That is like George Lucas promising no more mediocre and schlocky Star Wars sequels shortly after selling the franchise to Disney. Such a promise would be illusory." Lee then adds this jab/footnote that states "As evident by Disney's production of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker." You can check out an excerpt from Lee's opinion below coming to us courtesy of Ted Frank on Twitter:

#appellatetwitter Also, the Ninth Circuit makes it official, holding that, as a matter of law, Disney’s THE LAST JEDI was “mediocre and schlocky.” https://t.co/G0RE56hPXP pic.twitter.com/Cxkstoy6Ji

— tedfrank ???? (@tedfrank) June 1, 2021

Alright, so the legal matter isn't over The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and more about ConAgra and Wesson Oil but it's still pretty funny that Judge Lee threw the Star Wars in there. Honestly, Judge Lee just seems like a big fan of pop culture because he also makes a reference to the Final Rose ceremony on The Bachelor so I'd love to see his other rulings to maybe see if we get a Marvel or DC reference in another case.

At the end of the day, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker will be the subject of pop culture debate, praise, and ridicule in equal measure for years to come. On the one, you have Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi which was praised by critics but was met with a polarizing response from diehard Star Wars fans. In the case of The Rise of Skywalker, many critics that praised The Last Jedi were of the opinion that director J.J. Abrams ignored much of what Johnson had established in the previous film and tried to make The Rise of Skywalker a more fan-friendly experience. Hardcore fans seemed to enjoy the conclusion of the sequel trilogy more than The Last Jedi but I'd still say the overall reaction was a bit more mixed in the end.

Do YOU agree with Judge Lee's ruling singling out The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker?