Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi is the best-reviewed science fiction movie of 2017, according to review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Anticipation for the second installment in Lucasfilm's Star Wars sequel trilogy was undoubtedly high prior to the film hitting theaters, especially following the release of J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, but the sequel hit a few snags along the way.

Although the movie received mixed reactions from audiences - some of whom disagreed with the choices Johnson made with the story and the characters - the vast majority of film critics enjoyed The Last Jedi. It currently ranks in third place on Rotten Tomatoes for the entire Star Wars saga. Irvin Kershner's The Empire Strikes Back leads the pack with a 94 percent rating, while George Lucas' A New Hope and Abrams' The Force Awakens are tied in second place with 93 percent. The Last Jedi, on the other hand, which started out quite strong, ultimately settled at 91 percent on Rotten Tomates. It may not have topped the Star Wars franchise, but it did take the top spot for the year.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi ranks as the best-reviewed science fiction movie of 2017 on Rotten Tomatoes with an adjusted score of 106.601 percent. What's interesting is that the film currently has the worst audience rating of any live-action Star Wars film, with 49 percent, something that has become a point of contention since the movie's release in mid-December. Rotten Tomatoes says Last Jedi's audience rating is accurate, despite some people saying the rating was maniuplated.

Matt Reeves' War for the Planet of the Apes - the third installment in 20th Century Fox's reboot Apes series - came in second place with 105.882 percent. Surprisingly, Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, which many people feel was snubbed for Best Picture, came in third place with 102.124 percent. Bong Joon Ho's Netflix action-adventure film, Okja, and Michael Almereyda's Marjorie Prime, based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play of the same name, rounded out the top 5 list with 94.016 percent and 92.673 percent, respectively.

With The Last Jedi, Disney now has three incredibly successful Star Wars films under their belt, both critically and commercially. They have at least two more films in active development: Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story and Abrams' Star Wars: Episode IX, with Johnson himself returning for an all-new, original Star Wars trilogy, though there's no telling when that trilogy will hit theaters. We'll just have to wait and see if these new movies are equally as successful as the ones that have already released.

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Source: Rotten Tomatoes

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