Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may as well be called Fan Service: The Movie. From Lando to freaking Emperor Palpatine to even Ewoks, there are so many callbacks to the saga in an attempt to make this movie a culmination of everything—and most of it feels pointless. I actually enjoyed how they brought Lando back, and even giving Chewie the medal he didn’t receive at the end of A New Hope is slightly clever if also super fan servicey, but it really made the film feel creatively deprived. A little harsh? Eh, maybe, but here’s a slightly positive spin on it. The fan service feels especially overt when contrasting it to the sequences in the middle of the movie that I feel are the strongest because it’s stuff I like to see in a Star Wars film—the core group traveling to interesting new planets and overcoming conflicts while there. Granted, the names of some of the places and characters sometimes feel more like a parody of Star Wars than actually sounding like Star Wars names, but that’s a small gripe. Oh, and Babu Frik is the best new addition. Love that little guy. Keri Russell also has a fine role as Zorii Bliss. But hey Disney, if you’re going to cast Keri Russell, show me the Keri Russell.
I can’t hold it back any longer, I have to talk about it. Expect a lot of red coming up. Why the heck is Rey a Palpatine? Let’s talk about the good and the bad here. The good: it conveniently ties in with Palpatine returning as the main baddie, it explains why Rey is so strong with the Force, and it also means Rey is not a Skywalker by blood which I really didn’t want. All the bad: it very conveniently ties in with Palpatine as the antagonist. It undermines the great theme established in The Last Jedi that there’s hope that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can be one with the Force. There are other ways to insert drama, plot, and character growth than through familial conflict. Rey’s journey works just as well—nay, better—by keeping her as a nobody who rises up to take down the Dark Side. But making Rey a Palpatine branches off into what I may have disliked the most about the movie. I felt that killing off Snoke in The Last Jedi was one of the boldest and best moves in the entire trilogy, partly because he was a carbon copy of Darth Sidious, but it feels less impactful now that The Rise of Skywalker has Palpatine be the puppeteer and everything has to mirror the original trilogy. When it became abundantly clear to me that Palpatine was the main villain, I tucked it to the back of my mind, but there was really no doubt that Kylo Ren would end up turning in this film. They try their best to persuade the audience otherwise that it wouldn’t happen, but I think we all knew. And I’m not against Ren turning and returning as Ben; in fact, his interactions with Rey were my favorite part of The Last Jedi and continued as a highlight in this film, but it was another predictable element in a movie that really tries having some incoherent twists.
Want to quickly say here that although it’s a little sad that Ben and Rey couldn’t end up together, having him use the rest of his Force powers to save Rey is the best the movie gets at an emotional impact, and it’s a fitting end to his story. Anyways, let’s talk more of the story. Yes, I believe the middle is the best because it’s when the movie is the most original, but if you think too hard on it, there’s just so many aspects that don’t work. They have the abridged version of the Death Star scenes disabling the tractor beams and rescuing the princess, but it’s now using Ren’s ship. And that was after a fake out death with Chewie. And General Hux as the spy? C’mon. That’s just cheesy. Yes, his resentment of Ren is well-established, but stuff like Hux as a spy feels like there was a writer’s room for the movie going over ideas from the first or second draft of the script and this somehow made it through the cracks. I seriously think they were like oh crap, we have this principal actor in Domhnall Gleeson who hasn’t died yet in the series, what can we do to make him relevant? Speaking of the writers, the original director for this film was going to be Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow before he was fired, but he still gets a story writing credit. I don’t really have an opinion on that, just wanted to point it out.
Okay, fine, let’s go back to a couple other things I enjoyed. John Williams is John Williams. That’s all I should have to say about that. They minimized Rose’s role! Abrams did something right! Man, she was easily the worst part about The Last Jedi. One little blink-and-you-miss-it callbacks that I caught was in the climax. When Lando comes in with the fleet, there’s a shot with an old man for no more than three seconds and he says something to Lando like it’s good to be doing this again with Lando or something like that. And he’s completely unrecognizable because, ya know, he old. But if you look in the credits, Wedge does make an appearance in the film, and I’m 99% sure that’s who it was, and Wedge was one of my favorite side characters from the original trilogy. I approve of the yellow lightsaber Rey wields at the end of the movie. I have no idea where she got it from, but it does fit her. One last thing before I get critical again. Adam Driver is a phenomenal actor, and I think he’s the most talented of the cast. He’s also amazing in BlackKklansman, and him and Scarlett Johansson are Oscar-worthy in Marriage Story.
This movie is the Captain Marvel of fight scenes. That’s not a good thing. Captain Marvel I think had some of the weakest action of all Marvel films (sorry not sorry), and the flight sequences and lightsaber fights in this movie are sadly some of the most forgettable in the saga. I’ll give credit to Abrams for the Millennium Falcon scene against the TIE Fighters on Jakku in The Force Awakens, and the opening of this movie is good, but it’s also not memorable. Rey and Ren’s showdown on Exegol is a really cool locale, but the choreography was a huge letdown. To be fair the moment Rey uses the Force to hand the second lightsaber over to Ren to help him out against the Knights of Ren is admittedly really cool. I was also glad to see the return of the Knights of Ren, they made for a satisfactory side villain group. But if we’re still being fair here, I would’ve loved to see Rey do more with two lightsabers than to go Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Palpatine and his Force lightning. Also, I would take back all of my critiques if instead of deflecting the lightning back, Rey beheaded Sidious like Anakin did to Dooku in Revenge of the Sith.
Here’s a little sidenote regarding Abrams. I was led to believe that his favorite thing in the world was using lens flares. But after this movie, I’m now thinking it’s using camera movement to replace transition shots. Seriously, there’s so many times where the camera first focuses on the background or scenery, then it swoops over to a character either talking or moving. It helps keep the movie going, but it’s also slightly jarring and is well overused. Similarly, there’s a ridiculous amount of shots pretty much made for the trailers. Like Kylo Ren makes so many poses in the movie. When you see it in quick succession in a trailer, it looks cool. But these cool, individual shots feel out of place and unnecessary when they’re in the middle of a movie.
Let’s talk a bit more about some principal characters. One of the things I disliked the most about The Last Jedi was how Finn had a completed arc, but he wasn’t allowed to sacrifice himself. Freaking Rose. And with Rose used sparingly, that leaves Finn searching for a bit of an identity in The Rise of Skywalker. At the end of the movie, he looks around and watches all the characters embracing with one another and it’s actually pretty good. And his hug with Poe and Rey is well-deserved, but it also doesn’t really work as a fitting conclusion to him in my books. They have him bro out with Poe for much of the movie, and that banter is overall relatively good, and there’s a moment near the end where Poe makes him like co-general, but they don’t really bring that back up. Maybe that was the implication, but if so, I think they did a poor job of showing it. Like even newbie Jannah looks to venture off on an adventure with Lando. They easily could’ve had a quick interaction like that with Poe and Finn. And speaking of Poe, overall, he is one of the best here. His sense of humor is the same as it was in The Force Awakens, and that’s mostly good. But what stands out more is how he looks to Leia for guidance on how to lead. Considering we unfortunately no longer have Carrie Fisher with us, I really think they did about as much as they could with Leia. Yeah, the dialogue is a little stilted, but that gets a pass.
One aspect of The Last Jedi that I’m still conflicted about is Luke’s death at the end. I came around to making peace with it since I had hope he would return as a ghost in this movie. And I think his role could’ve been expanded more. With that said what little role he does have didn’t hit the mark for me. I really wish I liked him more than I did. He throws a couple witty lines Rey’s way, but that’s basically it.
Overall, this movie just isn’t bold enough to take risks. It wants the emotional impact of supposedly killing off main characters, but it also wants the emotional payoff of their happy endings as well. There aren’t any real stakes until the climax comes around. I find it interesting that Abrams doubles down on the nostalgia in this movie. Even though I have come to not care for how he handled it in The Force Awakens, it feels even more clammed in in this film. I really do have lots of problems with this film. This by no means is my favorite Star Wars movie out there. It’s not even close. I think The Last Jedi is the best of the trilogy. And you may disagree with that. And I’m here to tell you you’re wrong and that’s okay. But I digress. I have been conflicted about a new trilogy for a while, but I have come around to take it for what it is. There are many issues here and even more if you think too hard on it. But at the end of the day, I still enjoyed myself. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is entertaining enough. If you’re a fan and somehow managed to avoid all these spoilers, go ahead and watch the movie. Honestly, I’m now just looking forward to moving on from the Skywalker Saga so they can create original content. Be more adventurous like Rogue One. But Disney, take your time and treat the stories with care. That’s what the fans truly deserve, and that’s what Star Wars as a franchise deserves. And may the Force be with you always.
In Brief:
- Holy smokes, where to begin. I’ve done a great job of watching movies, just not so great on writing the reviews. As always if there’s a movie you’d like me to review or would just like my opinion on, feel free to let me know. And let me know your opinion on The Rise of Skywalker! Whether you agree or disagree, I love hearing others’ thoughts and how they may have interpreted something differently.
- As I mentioned earlier, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver shine in Marriage Story. This movie reeks of a possible review, so I’ll keep this brief. There are some standout moments, and despite the writer/director feeling a bit stuck up in some of his choices, this was one of the best movies of the year.
- The most fun I had at the movies in at least the last six months was from watching The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. I’m a huge fan of Agatha Christie stuff like Murder on the Orient Express, and he emulates that style of murder mystery in the best way possible. Even if Daniel Craig’s honky-tonk accent is unnecessary.
- The Irishman is good. It’s even very good. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s one of the best movies I saw this year. The de-aging is nearly flawless, the only distracting element being Robert De Niro’s super blue eyes. But it does have Ray Romano. So that’s obviously a plus. And Jesse Plemons who is an underutilized actor.
- Joker is very impressive in its psychology and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker laugh is the stuff of legends. It’s uncomfortably good.
- Without a doubt I will be watching 1917. That’s from Sam Mendes, and if you’d like to see more from him, obviously there’s Skyfall, but what I just watched was Road to Perdition. It’s a very good film that sees Tom Hanks and Daniel Craig going against their typecasts.
- I am confused by the Tenet trailer, Christopher Nolan’s next film. And I don’t think I would have it any other way.
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