Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker REVIEW (SPOILER FREE)

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I've been an unapologetic proponent of the sequel trilogy, and Disney's iteration of Star Wars, basically since the beginning. I maintain that The Force Awakens, while every bit the retread of A New Hope it's accused of being, was all it needed to be at the time it was released to introduce Star Wars to a new generation and show them what made Star Wars great in the first place. Followed by The Last Jedi, a deconstruction of Star Wars that challenges, but then ultimately affirms those ideals. So what I was expecting of Rise of Skywalker was some sort of thematically resonant thesis on Star Wars and it's legacy, that hopefully says something new or different.

I did not get that. and in hindsight, I feel a little foolish having expected such a thing from JJ Abrams of all people.

So this is a fundamentally bad movie, I'll come right out and say it, this movie is fucking dumb. The entire motivation of Kylo Ren for his whole life is basically handwaved away in 5 seconds of dialogue at the beginning, and that basically sets the tone for the entire movie. it goes a mile a minute in the hopes that you don't notice that JJ Abrams doesn't have a clue how to tell a complete story. The whole thing feels like it was written by a forum thread with about as much cohesion. The film constantly threatens to be more interesting by doing something bold, and then immediately walking it back as if terrified of upsetting anyone. It answers None of the questions brought up by the trailers, and the narrative consists largely of two hours of fetch-quests to get to a massive conflict we're told is coming right from the off. There's precious little character work to speak of, Rey and Kylo being really the only people to have something resembling arcs, and one of the details of each was just irritating to me, but I can't tell you which without spoilers.



The Rise of Skywalker is Star Wars as directed by fanfiction.net an overly-plotted, but somehow still under-written sightseeing tour with no room to breathe, no commitment to its own story, let alone the previous two, and a climax that feels like it belongs in a Shonen Jump anime rather than Star Wars.



And yet...I can't help but like it. John Williams brings it as ever with a great score, particularly strong in variations on themes, the visuals are stunning, and the scenery is every bit as lovingly crafted as you're expecting, it is Star Wars after all. This film has a hell of a lot of fan service and fun cameos in it, and while I should roll my eyes at that, I'm just not made of stone, there are some great setpieces and I had a blast watching this in spite of the flaws. They may not have arcs to speak of, but the big 3 have fun banter for days and C-3PO provides some of his best comic relief. I do have to mention Carrie Fisher, I think they did the best it was realistically possible to do with her given the circumstances, there is a debate to be had on whether or not it would've been better to write her out of the movie, but I feel like that would run counter to the feel of the film, and I think things were well-handled given the circumstances.



I heard conflicting reports that this film shits on The Last Jedi, and having seen it twice now. I think if you're determined enough to see that, there are parts you could take that way, but you do have to squint a fair bit and ignore more than a little context.



The Rise of Skywalker is less of a film than a Star Wars-themed rollercoaster and fireworks display in celebration largely of the existence of it's own franchise, I wanted more out of Star Wars than that, but I think it has earned that right this once. If you're wondering, I'd put this at a similar level of overall quality to the higher-points of the prequels, definitely flawed, but nonetheless entertaining



6.5/10 for the fun I had with it, a Good 6.5, I did enjoy it, it's a fun movie, but I can't honestly score it higher than that.