The Saga Closes - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (REVIEW)

written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)

Another winter, another Holiday season… and with it, another Star Wars. The final installment of the current trilogy of mainline Star Wars films comes to a close, and hot on the heels of the success of The Mandalorian and the sheer viral spreading of one “Baby Yoda” the Star Wars hype is at an all time high, and with JJ Abrams back in the chair, how does this installment follow up The Last Jedi? For the record, and you may just stop reading at this point if you can’t take my opinions, but I loved The Last Jedi and I have a laundry list of reasons I can share to sing its praises… but this isn’t about TLJ so I will refrain from touching on it too much.

So, with the First Order fractured and the Rebellion claiming victories over a First Order that has taken on Kylo Ren as the Supreme Leader (in the wake of Snoke’s death) a mysterious and familiar voice of one Emperor Sheev Palpatine is heard across the Galaxy. Drawing the attention of both the Rebels and Kylo Ren’s First Order, the circumstances of one Palpatine are shown in the first few minutes. Now, I won’t be spoiling it for you but if you have seen the trailers you do know that Darth Sidious plays a major role in this final installment of the Skywalker saga. When Kylo discovers the truth on the mysterious Sith planet of Exogal, and the Rebellion also sets their sights on this planet, this jumpstarts a race against the clock to find a way to get to this mysterious planet and destroy a mighty fleet of planet killing Star Destroyers before they lay waste to the entire Galaxy.

As a story that has to come to an end; Rey, Finn, and Poe finally set their sights on a mission together. With this trio largely fractured through the majority of TFA and TLJ, I enjoyed seeing them work together. Both Poe and Finn have fully taken on their roles as leaders in the Rebellion and Rey has continued to hone her connection to the force, this trio is far removed from the wide eyed new heroes we first met in The Force Awakens. What doesn’t seem to evolve much is Kylo Ren, he continued to play the petulant child hellbent on becoming the next Darth Vader… even as he struggles with the light and seems to seek actual redemption, it never felt truly genuine to me.

“I walked in hoping to get a Revenge of the Sith…  instead got an Attack of the Clones”

Speaking of not feeling genuine, one major plot point that sticks out is the revelation of Rey’s parentage and who she was. Now, this will be a point I touch on TLJ a bit, but I loved how in TLJ they established her as a nobody. She wasn’t born of some mystical bloodline, she wasn’t the unnamed daughter of an unnamed Jedi from some unnamed planet… Rey was a scavenger and a junker. But what that established was how even someone who can be seen as a nobody, can make a difference and be one with the force. The force was never some manifest destiny in any of the previous stories. Great Jedi have come and gone, and what connected them was the fact that the force seemingly chose them, not the other way around. I can see why JJ did what he did, it made for a surprising twist, but I mourn what could have been… having the galaxy saved by a nobody junker from Jakku.

Another point of contention I had was with one Rose Tico. I felt that diminishing her role was Disney and JJ not doing what was right, but doing what they can to appease the petulant Kylo Ren acting man babies who made me ashamed to be a die hard Star Wars fan. She went from having a role that should have been like Lando from the original trilogy, further expanded in the final installment… instead, poor Rose Tico and Kelly Marie Tran for that matter were robbed. Robbed by corporate mandates, cowardly execs and director, and an army of petulant man babies who don’t deserve to love this fandom. Rose Tico being practically tokenized was palpable, it was felt in every scene, and further felt when JJ gave a bunch of lines to a no name individual played by what’s-his-face from The Lord of the Rings and Lost. Even the new character, Jannah, she was barely given any presence and despite how promotional photos were teasing her to be a major character, I was let down by how under utilized she was. Even the return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando felt under utilized and tokenized, no more than a cameo rather than bringing a decorated member of the OG Rebels back into the fold. I get that this was a personal story for the Rebel trio and one Kylo Ren, but given that Marvel Studios and the Russo Brother’s were able to truly balance the sheer number of heroes they had in both Infinity War and Endgame… it makes me think that JJ should have never been given back the franchise and Disney should have taken on the likes of the Russos to tackle Star Wars, I guarantee it would have been miles better and probably throw in a cameo or two from Community.

As far as the pacing goes, The Rise of Skywalker has three distinct acts… but honestly I wish the first and second act had more to differentiate it from eachother. The opening of the film and much of the middle felt like a slog, a few genuine laughs and all around fun Star Wars action, but unlike the previous two films that kept their distinct acts while progressing the narrative at a break neck speed, this felt more like a badly put together Indian Jones fan film with lightsabers and blasters. Though, some of my criticism was alleviated in the final act which honestly made the slog somewhat worth it. The final act was pure Star Wars at its best, thrilling lightsaber duels, edge of your scene galactic dog fights, explosions and more explosions, along with some fun cameos from Star Wars past. This final act, I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the screen and wished it lasted much longer.

While I did have fun, as a die hard Star Wars fan I really enjoyed this picture and I will watch it again. I loved how I felt like a kid watching this, how it kept the core tenants of good versus evil, and how they expertly brought our dearly departed Carrie Fisher back thanks to archive footage to give her a full arc as Leia, I loved all of that… but I did leave the theater a bit disappointed. I was disappointed by what could have been, I was disappointed by how they sidelined some amazing characters who should have been part of the adventure, I was disappointed by the slow and uneven pacing of the first two acts, and I was disappointed that when I walked in hoping to get a Revenge of the Sith…  instead got an Attack of the Clones. So much wasted potential, here’s hoping they can clean up their act for what Disney has planned for Star Wars next.

C-

it was… a Star Wars