Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is the final film in the Star Wars Skywalker saga. The final film was directed by JJ Abrams from a script written by JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio. The film’s plot centers around the resistance taking one last opportunity to destroy the First order and prevent them from using star destroyers to eradicate the rest of humanity as we know it. Meanwhile, Rey, Finn and Poe are all working to track down a device that allows individuals to find the home world of the Sith to destroy what remains of emperor Palpatine and his many followers.  The final film in this franchise stars Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, the late Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, and Kerri Russell.

My main issues with this film start and end with the fact that the plot moves too quickly within the story. You have the film starting with Kylo Ren destroying individuals on a planet with the quest to find a device that allows him to get to the Sith home world and then we quickly move over to the resistance within another minute and a half watching them plan their attack on the First order. Those events happened so quickly within a film that is hard for the audience to get the lay of the land and truly understand what has gone on since the time of the last Jedi. This is the only Star Wars movie that had an opening crawl that doesn’t really support what the audience expects and just throws them in the middle of the action willfully knowing that so many different things within the film were never resolved from the previous entry. As a director, JJ Abrams should know better and put storytelling above visual spectacle. For film that is the final entry in a franchise she should know that storytelling has to come first before visual spectacle can take place and even for those who did not like Star Wars the last Jedi they can easily agree that even though different directions were taken with the characters and their motivations at the very least the action set pieces came 2nd or 3rd to the development of the characters overall.

JJ Abrams added nothing intriguing to this new Star Wars.  The character who profoundly had the strongest impact on the film at large was a side character of the franchise which was faithful robot C3PO.  Bravery, kindness and caring for others used to be the cornerstone values of this franchise and its characters and the characters as individuals changed as a result of the conflicts they faced together and how they supported each other.  Those core behaviors seem to have been forgotten and were replaced with spectacle and danger rather than conversations and actions that led to character growth.  A perfect example where the film could have done more is that Palpatine and his Sith home world are barely in the film’s 2 hour and 35b minute runtime and had the character been referenced or mentioned in either of the two other Star Wars films in this new trilogy his appearance and actions would have not felt so rushed.  The pacing is wrong but there are moments in this film that will please some fans of the franchise both young and old.  I

I may have started this review with what I feel are The Rise of Skywalker’s weaknesses, but the film does have many moments that excite me.  Though a lot of this film is spectacle heavy, Industrial Light and Magic do provide audiences with some unforgettable moments.  I’m specifically referring to both the dogfights that occur as well as lightspeed jumps and all the practical effects used throughout the film.  Say what I must about the films pacing, Abrams and company still know how to create multiple instances of wonderment in me and the audience I sat with.  Another nice thing that made the ending of this particular saga feel less somber is the inclusion of Carrie Fisher who passed away before production on the film began.  Using extra scenes and unused dialogue from Fisher’s appearances across this newest trilogy Rise of Skywalker felt complete because of her inclusion in it however minor it may have been spread across the runtime.  As a lead, given little opportunity for much character growth Daisy Ridley did her absolute best to make Rey compelling to watch and her relationship with Kylo Ren is the driving force of why this film remained compelling despite its clunky writing.

The other saving grace of this film is the music composed and conducted by the legend that is John Williams.  His music tells the story of Star Wars better than any film in this new trilogy because he writes music that stirs the soul.  His musical cues make it impossible not to be invested in the adventure audiences are seeing and for that we should all be immensely grateful.

In the end, is the Rise of Skywalker a good film?  Yes because it’s a fun movie that is lighter in tone than the previous film and at the very least you do root for the success of the Resistance in their defeat of the First Order.  As an end to a 47-year saga the franchise deserves a better closing chapter.  On the bright side this galaxy has so many other stories to tell and they will give us hope and show us no matter whether you’re a part of the dark side or whether you fight in the light the force is always within us.