Movie Breakdown: Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Pre-Screening Ramble:

I like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and I’m expecting to like The Rise Of Skywalker.  Is this weird?  It definitely feels weird, but I think that just goes to show how divisive this particular Star Wars trilogy has been.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is a lot, and what it’s a lot of – which is pure fan service – is going to be a point of contention for years to come.  To start, this film is tailor-made for those that didn’t like The Last Jedi.  Rey’s parents, Holdo’s Manuever, the offbeat humor, Luke’s actions and every other thing that has ignited forums over the last couple of years, it all gets course-corrected.  As an admirer of Rian Johnson’s film, I found this to be unfortunate.  I wanted his ideas to be further expanded upon, but quite a bit of The Rise Of Skywalker is spent throwing away everything that he did, so much so in fact that it almost feels like a big apology from Disney.  And I get it, Star Wars is a franchise that has always been driven by its die-hard fans, so of course the final film of a 42-year arch isn’t going to ruffle that group’s feathers.  It does register as somewhat disingenuous though, and this level of give-the-people-what-they-want delivers another sizeable helping of the same old nostalgia-tinged elements in place of anything new or risky.  So, this film, like JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens before it, is a very familiar ride.  I’ll give it to Abrams though, despite an obvious mandate to appease fandom, he goes for broke here and manages to make the best of the situation.  His Episode 9 is a big, entertaining movie, one that’s got plenty of heartfelt moments and some truly epic action scenes.  Additionally, I think it has one of the better third acts of any entry in the entire franchise, which is really saying something when you consider the fact that it not only had to wrap its own story, but also the one that’s stretched across four decades.

I feel slightly jilted about Johnson’s efforts being discarded and I would have liked to have seen a few bigger (and/or different) ideas put into play, but overall, I had a good time with The Rise Of Skywalker.  I’d like to confidently note that you will, too, but there’s something about Star Wars that zaps people’s brains, so my guess is that you’re either going to really love it or really hate it.  Good luck!

One Last Thought:

I hope that Disney fully moves on from anything related to the three Skywalker trilogies.  It’s time for something completely brand new that is in no way tied to a single element from those films.

One More Last Thought:

I think it’s a bummer that Kelly Marie Tran was given absolutely nothing to do in this movie.