The latest installment of the series has received positive reviews from 57% of critics tracked by aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Only "Phantom Menace," released in 1999, received a worse rating -- at 53%. While the site is still compiling reviews, it's already posted 116, including from 36 top critics at news organizations.

Commentators who found the film underwhelming pointed to a number of problems: It answered some of the same questions and themes of past movies, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Nicholas Barber; it was dull, according to Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out; and Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich called it a "zombie."

Walt Disney Co. is counting on the movie to revive excitement around the Star Wars franchise, whose last installment, "Solo: A Star Wars Story," was a disappointment. The film, directed by J.J. Abrams, debuts this weekend.