I pulled the Rotten Tomatoes scores for the saga films so far, to see if anything interesting pops out. I’m listing the critical reception, audience reception, and the average of these two.
The Phantom Menace
Critical: 55%
Audience: 59%
Composite: 57% (audience enjoyed it 4% more)
Attack of the Clones
Critical: 66%
Audience: 57%
Composite: 61.5% (audience enjoyed it 9% less)
Revenge of the Sith
Critical: 79%
Audience: 65%
Composite: 72% (audience enjoyed it 14% less)
A New Hope
Critical: 93%
Audience: 96%
Composite: 94.5% (audience enjoyed it 3% more)
The Empire Strikes Back
Critical: 94%
Audience: 97%
Composite: 95.5% (audience enjoyed it 3% more)
Return of the Jedi
Critical: 80%
Audience: 94%
Composite: 87% (audience enjoyed it 14% more)
The Force Awakens
Critical: 93%
Audience: 88%
Composite: 90.5% (audience enjoyed it 5% less)
The Last Jedi
Critical: 93%
Audience: 55%
Composite: 74% (audience enjoyed it 38% less)
Critics’ composite ranking:
ESB
ANH/TFA/TLJ
ROTJ
ROTS
AOTC
TPM
Audience composite ranking:
ESB
ANH
ROTJ
TFA
ROTS
TPM
AOTC
TLJ
Average between critical and audience receptions:
ESB
ANH
TFA
ROTJ
TLJ
ROTS
AOTC
TPM
Certainly, TLJ is the widest divide between critical and audience receptions by far. The closest parallel was with ROTS, where critics enjoyed it a fair bit more than audiences. The largest opposite is with ROTJ, with audiences enjoying it more than critics.
The two were pretty much united on disliking TPM, but AOTC and ROTS was praised a little more by critics than audiences. ANH and ESB are beloved by all, and ROTJ was enjoyed much more by audiences than critics. TFA was well received by each, and TLJ divided the two sharply.
