Released: December 2019
Director: J.J. Abrams
Run Time: 144 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Distributor: Disney/LucasFilm
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy/Action
Cast:
Carrie Fisher: Leia Organa
Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker
Adam Driver: Kylo Ren
Daisy Ridley: Rey
John Boyega: Finn
Oscar Isaac: Poe
Anthony Daniels: C-3PO
Domhnall Gleeson: General Hux
Richard E. Grant: General Pryde
Ian McDiarmid: Emperor Palpatine
Billy Dee Williams: Lando Calrissian
“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.” – Obi Wan Kenobi
Star Wars has been a huge part of pop culture for over 40 years. The franchise has seen its ups and downs with some of the films not being as good as others, as well as comics, video games and novels to varying degrees of quality. George Lucas’ films have inspired generations of film-makers, writers, and visual effects artists. George’s original 1977 film changed the way movies were made in terms of effects, camera operations, and overall story-telling. The effect that the film has had on the industry is incalculable, and continues to be the foundation of many current and future science fiction films. There is no measuring stick for how much of an impact that Star Wars has had on film and society as a whole. After the Original Trilogy concluded with Return of the Jedi in 1983, George Lucas would collaborate with Steven Spielberg on the Indiana Jones films. In 1999, the first film in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, The Phantom Menace, was released. Attack of the Clones would be released in 2002, with Revenge of the Sith closing out the Prequels in 2005. Lucas would go on to sell his company to Disney in 2012 for 4 billion dollars. Three years later, A sequel trilogy would begin with The Force Awakens, followed by Rogue One in 2016 and The Last Jedi in 2017. Two years later, the Sequel Trilogy and the overall Skywalker saga would see its conclusion in The Rise of Skywalker.
The Rise of Skywalker opens as Kylo Ren is searching for a mysterious Sith artifact called the Wayfinder which will lead him to an ancient Sith planet, Exegol. Exegol is in the Unknown Regions but is also the base of one Emperor Palpatine who seems to have returned from the dead to orchestrate the formation and machinations of the First Order. Meanwhile, Rey, under the tutelage of Leia Organa, is on her way to becoming a Jedi. When news of Palpatine’s return reaches the galaxy at large, Rey, Poe, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and Finn head out to find one of these mysterious Wayfinders so they can find the Emperor and bring an end to the tyranny of the First Order once and for all. I’m not going to sugar-coat it: The story in this film is a mess. It spends a lot of time throwing nostalgic bits at the audience instead of trying to find some kind of narrative foothold. The overall story is very reminiscent of Return of the Jedi, only not as good. There’s a lot of stuff that the film throws at you but doesn’t really stick and as a result, comes across as a bit convoluted. I’m going to try and not spoil much here, but there are certain things about the story that really don’t make sense. The Sith Lord in the room is Palpatine’s return. No real explanation is given to how he survived being thrown down a reactor shaft by Darth Vader and exploding in blue energy. It also feels that a lot of what happened in The Last Jedi was tossed out the window. It feels like the story here was rushed and created to try and fix the mistakes of The Last Jedi.
From a visual standpoint, The Rise of Skywalker is a spectacular film. Not only do you have these really amazing shots on desert and jungle planets, but you also have some amazing shots that take place in space. Seeing hundreds of Sith Fleet Star Destroyers is a hell of a thing to look at. Another awesome shot is of the ruins of the second Death Star on Endor. Seeing Rey and Kylo Ren battle it out among the ruins is awesome. There are a lot of very cool visual Easter Eggs that people can pick up on that remind them of previous films. I’m all for a trip down memory lane, but sometimes the film hits you a little too hard on the head with nostalgia. The action in the film is fantastic with some pretty decent lightsaber duels, but some of the aerial battles are incredibly intense and thrilling. The battle over Exegol is truly amazing, especially when thousands of Resistance ships finally show up. The film is action-packed, nearly from beginning to end. While I certainly appreciate the fact that the film isn’t boring, the problem is that a lot of things get sacrificed when you do something like that. We aren’t given a whole lot of time between set-pieces and major revelations to process that information before the next explosion or truth bomb drops.
The acting in the film is, for the most part, top-notch. The real stars of the show are still Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver as Rey and Kylo Ren, respectively. Seeing these characters evolve over the course of these three movies has been nothing short of fantastic. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are also pretty good. Mark Hamill makes his return as a Force ghost and….well….it’s Mark Hamill. He’s awesome. I’ve always enjoyed watching Richard E. Grant work. He’s absolutely fantastic as a bad guy. The Rise of Skywalker marks Ian McDiarmid’s first return to the franchise since Revenge of the Sith, and well, he’s always fun to watch. Palpatine’s always been a hell of a villain, considering that Palpatine is a master manipulator as well as being a Sith Lord. Now, onto the issue with Carrie Fisher. As we all know, Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, a full year before The Last Jedi would be released, but her scenes were completed for that film. The Rise of Skywalker would have seen Ms. Fisher play a more prominent role, especially in regards to Leia’s son, Kylo Ren. Unfortunately, that never happened, but the film-makers still wanted to have Leia in this film, so what they did was they took some unused footage from The Force Awakens and manipulated in a way that made sense. It was the best that they could do considering the circumstances, and it sends Leia off on a good note.
The Rise of Skywalker is bound to be as divisive as The Last Jedi. Some people really aren’t going to like this, and you know what? That’s okay. This new trilogy isn’t going to be for everyone. I knew going into The Force Awakens that these new films were not going to have the same look or feel as George Lucas’ movies. Not even close. Because I adjusted my expectations accordingly, I ended up enjoying the new Disney films immensely. The Rise of Skywalker is most likely going to be looked at as a course correction from The Last Jedi, and I wish it wasn’t that. I really liked the previous film, but I still managed to enjoy the new movie. Is it the greatest Star Wars film? No, that would be The Empire Strikes Back. Bar none. But Rise is far from the worst film in the franchise which would be Attack of the Clones. Are there things that I wish the film could’ve done differently? Of course, I’m always going to have my opinions like that with a lot films. I went in with some pretty low expectations and I came out really enjoying this one. Is it the saga finale that we’ve been expecting? Not even close. Is it a solid conclusion to the new trilogy? I would argue yes. It’s fun, exciting, and visually spectacular. The music by John Williams is also one of his best and it’s his last Star Wars project.
How do I go about recommending The Rise of Skywalker? I think, if you’re going in expecting something to be on the same level as anything in the Original Trilogy, you’re going to be disappointed, because it’s nowhere near as good as those films. However, if you’re willing to set aside some of the issues that plague the film, you’ll find a pretty solid entry into the Star Wars saga. Yeah, I liked it. No, I’m not a Disney shill. It’s a Star Wars film, so it needs to be seen on the big screen. Just sayin’.
My Final Recommendation: 8/10.