In Rise of Skywalker, the galaxy is in chaos yet again. The Resistance and The First Order have both received transmissions/messages from Emperor Palpatine (Ian Mcdiarmid, reprising the role), who somehow appears to still be very much alive after the events of Return of The Jedi. Kylo goes all out in his quest to find Palpatine, fully prepared to put an end to anything or anyone that might challenge his newfound leadership. Meanwhile, The Resistance have been receiving information from a spy entrenched deep inside The First Order. With the information, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Finn (John Boyega) go off on a mission that could help them finally gain the upper hand in the ongoing battle between light and dark.
It's been 42 years (it feels longer than that), but the Skywalker saga is coming to an end. What started with a young dreamer name Luke stuck on a desert planet, ends with a young scavenger named Rey who is searching for her purpose , who she is, and ultimately which side she will fight on. The Star Wars films have taken us all on one hell of an emotional roller-coaster ride. Now, Rise of Skywalker brings us in for a bumpy landing (and that's putting it politely).
Despite what JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy might say, after watching Rise of Skywalker it becomes painfully clear that the powers that be had no clear end goal, road map, or game plan for the new trilogy, instead choosing to just wing it all the way. Is it no wonder each film feels so different from the other two? (Rise of Skywalker in particular feels like it's set in an entirely different galaxy from the other films. It feels disconnected to from what came before).
The first Star Wars (Star War: A New Hope) was supposed to be a one-off thing, but after it made cash hand-over-fist and they got the green light for two more films, from Empire Strikes Back onwards everything felt planned out in advance, there was a clear goal they were heading for. The prequels (which are still decidedly not good), were absolutely planned out in advance. Those films went in different directions and took risks, which didn't always pay off. Unfortunately, Disney's decision to hop into a new trilogy with absolutely no idea about where they were going or what they wanted to do only hurt what could have been an excellent new trilogy. They took what could have been a fantastic and memorable ending to the Skywalker saga, and turned it into something subpar. Say what you will about Last Jedi, but at least it had a master director behind the camera. It took us in bold, exciting new directions and refused to provide us any easy answers. It didn't coddle long-time fans, and that pissed many off. This brings us to Rise of Skywalker.
After how divisive Last Jedi was, Disney decided to hire the man who opened the door into the new trilogy, JJ Abrams (I still think Force Awakens ain't bad btw), to direct the final outing. It seemed like a safe bet, but it blew up in all of our faces. With no real idea how to satisfyingly end a culturally important story, JJ and co-screenwriter Chris Terrio instead decided to desperately throw everything at the wall, hoping that something will stick....very little does. All the answers we receive, all the twists thrown our way, all the "surprises" (Honestly there are no surprises here) we are treated to are predictable. There is nothing new, creative, original, thrilling or exciting here. Some of the ideas and routes the film decides to go down could have been saved if tact, craft, and care went into presenting them to us...unfortunately, the execution is lazy and slap-dash (some of the ideas and routes are bad, some aren't). It feels like very little thought, passion, or love went into making this film.
After the opening title crawl, Rise of Skywalker opens with what could have been a very cool scene...instead, its sneakers are untied and it proceeds to fall directly onto its face. Rinse and repeat. The whole film is clumsy, lazy, and rushed. Right out of the gate, Rise of Skywalker zips along at a break neck speed, rarely if ever slowing down. We get very few character moments (or moments between characters), and we are never given the chance to breathe or sit back and digest what we are watching. It doesn't help that the script is embarrassingly bad (There are lots of moments of characters repeating lines. Ex: "They can fly now?!" "They can fly now!" "...They can fly now.").
It's odd to think that the man who directed Force Awakens also directed Rise of Skywalker....It feels like two different people directed each film. The JJ in Force Awakens seemed like he had a vision...like he might have had a plan, whereas the JJ in Rise of Skywalker lacks any real vision, passion, or drive. He falls back on regurgitating set pieces, themes, and arcs from previous films and by doing so confirms what many have always believed about the guy: That he lacks any real creativity or originality, and instead just relies on nostalgia, recycling/regurgitation, and the "tried-and-true" to get by.
Some of the decisions made in Skywalker lack any logic at all, like Rey being even more ridiculously over-powered than she was in Force Awakens. There's a scene where she literally stops a spaceship mid-flight just by raising her hand. The scene quickly devolves into a recycled, lesser version of the lightsaber struggle between Rey and Ren in Last Jedi. The reason Rey is so over-powered is explained in this one...but the explanation is lazy and weak, and it doesn't excuse how much Rey becomes a Mary Sue while in the hands of JJ. Finn also gets yet ANOTHER love interest. Finn started out as a character that had great potential, and has slowly become less and less interesting and less and less cool with each film. Billy Dee Williams appears once again as Lando, but very little is done with him. He's pretty much just there so we get another familiar, friendly face. What a waste of one of the cooler characters from the original trilogy. The Knights of Ren are definitely in the film a good deal, but are given very little to do. Kelly Marie Tran is back as Rose, but is barely in the film. She is essentially relegated to the background. Poe had an incredible character arc in Last Jedi that is completely walked back here. The First Order is also treated with a waving of the hand. The way they are handled here makes them look like they were never important and didn't really matter in the previous two films. The film also doesn't seem to know what to do with Hux (Dohmnall Gleeson) and basically just throws him away . For crying out loud, Skywalker can't even decide upon one explanation for what its title means. It clearly feels like it should mean or refer to one specific thing, but JJ and Terio throw in a final insulting line because they want Rey to be the hero and main character at the end of the day, thereby creating two meanings for 'Rise of Skywalker'.
Other decisions Skywalker makes are clearly done out of necessity, like Palpatine returning. It's clear he was included to serve one purpose and one purpose only. He is terribly mishandled, and only appears in around two scenes. JJ takes one of the greatest villains of all time and turns him into a joke. Carrie Fisher appears for her final performance, and it's distracting. It's clear that her lines are ripped from another film, and she always looks just a little off here.
So, yes, there is A LOT of bad to be sampled in this film...but, are there any redeeming qualities? Surprisingly...yes. The film is consistently nice to look at (thanks in large part to cinematography by Dan Mindel). Adam Driver's Kylo Ren/Ben Solo remains the strongest, most compelling, most interesting thing/person in all 3 films. He's the only character who feels like he's had an arc over the three installments. Driver brings an anger and hurt, but also a wounded vulnerability and constant self-doubt to the character that makes him likable and easy to root for, even when he is doing terrible things (Hell yes, still #TeamKylo over here). In Skywalker, Driver looks downright young and boy-ish at times, which is odd but charming. Our main trio (Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac) all do fine acting jobs here, and their characters remain likable. Another good thing is the 3rd act. It didn't suck. It was fine and had some good moments, one of which involves an extended scene between Kylo and another character (who I won't reveal), and another scene which features Chewbacca flipping the F out (Extra: There's A LOT of fan-service moments in the third act, but most didn't bother me). There's also an adorable new little droid named D-O, who has been abused in the past and so is a little skittish around people. He almost feels like a little kid at times, and might succeed at stealing your heart. Luke gets a great scene and an awesome, perfect line that throws shade at one of the only things that felt wrong about Last Jedi. Also, the way the Skywalker saga wraps up isn't awful, but also ain't exactly satisfying either. That's it for the good folks!
In the end, Rise of Skywalker plays it painfully safe, and suffers for it. You can't help but wonder what another, more talented director that actually had a vision and passion for the film could have created here. Skywalker could have been great, it SHOULD have been great....but it isn't. It's rushed (to the point where it almost feels like JJ wants the whole thing to be over as badly as we do), lazy, and uninspired, and it lacks any creativity, originality, thrills, drive, love, or passion. It feels downright desperate, as its clear there was never any plan as to how the new trilogy would play out, leaving the powers that be to scramble to cobble together some form of ending. There is nothing new here, and it's all very predictable. As stated above, it's not all bad....but the bad still far outweighs the good. It's especially tough when you realize that this is it...there are no take-sie back-sies....this is how it all really ends for our beloved Star Wars saga and the characters that inhabit its rich galaxy. There are no second chances, you can't go back and craft a better ending. We got what we got, and it just isn't any good. Star Wars deserved better...we all do.
1.5 STARS
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