The “final” entry in the Skywalker Saga — according to Disney at least — can be judged based on: Whether you enjoyed the previous episode, The Last Jedi — and if you’re a forgiving soul. To prep for this film, I rewatched the 2015 and 2017 installments. Episode VII (Force Awakens) is filled with heart and fun, but recycles too much familiar territory; Episode VIII (The Last Jedi) contains chore-filled sub-plots that were pointless and took creative strides that were executed poorly.
Now we’re back with Episode IX and enter J.J. Abrams to try and save the galaxy.
After bowing out from the middle chapter, Abrams returns to the writer/director chair and jettisons many of the last films’ ideas in favor of fan-service. It’s more of a covert attempt to sweep the mess under the rug rather than a blatant apology letter. But in this Internet era, many of these choices are not creative in nature, but focus-group approved. But I embraced most of the clean-up work.
For one, The Rise of Skywalker improves on The Last Jedi because Abrams understands why people like me love Star Wars! Despite 40+ years of cinematic evolution, this franchise remains tied to a simple premise: Good guys fighting bad guys. This saga was initially inspired by George Lucas’s love of space serial adventure stories afterall. (Can you fathom Flash Gordon spending an entire episode sulking in isolation on a planet only to send a hologram as his final act of heroism?)
Even the more best and more daring Star Films understood this. 1980’s Empire Strikes Back further fleshed out characters and dragged them through dark territory filled with loss, familial trauma and sacrifice, yet maintained its sense of wonder and excitement.
The Rise of Skywalker rekindles some of this magic by reuniting our coterie of heroes, including Jedi-in-training, Rey (Daisy Ridley), her best pals, including former storm-trooper, Finn (John Boyega) and hotshot X-Wing pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) who travel to various planets filled with alien monsters and cultures, fending off foes while exchanging quips and heroic feets. Despite the subpar screenplay, Ridley, Boyega and Isaac are bright actors with lots of charisma to offset the silly dialogue.
You know? Star Wars stuff.
And to really hone in the saga checklist, our trio is accompanied by loyal Chewbacca and droids, BB8 and the cloying C-3PO, the latter of whom has more to do in the film than the last five combined.
Abrams keeps the film moving at a lightning pace (a welcome retreat from the languid prior episode). But, the central problem of this Disneyfied trilogy remains its core story. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio (Justice League, Batman V Superman) delve too deeply into nostalgia and plot contrivance. There are pointless moments meant to assuage fan concerns going back as far as 1977.
This issue presents itself during the film’s trademark opening crawl, which reveals that the evil Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is still alive and sending ominous messages announcing his return and desire to partner with the evil First Order. Why Palpatine announces his intentions with a galactic megaphone is one of the many puzzlements this film never explains.
Again, this is Star Wars. I forgave most of these plot holes because of the fun and renewed interest in its characters, including Princess Leia (the late Carrie Fisher). Despite splicing together scenes deleted footage salvaged from 2015’s The Force Awakens, Carrie Fisher has more development in this installment than the prior two put together. In fact, Leia’s involvement adds value to narrative and successfully answers many plot points nerds have been crying afoul for four years. There’s also some poignancy and respect extended the character Leia and actor, Fisher that is likely to imbue the most emotional response. The best character in this trilogy remains Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, who commits to various emotional states and internal torment at a higher level than the rest of the cast.
However, The Rise of Skywalker never reaches the apex of its scope and intergalactic warfare. It spends most of its 150-minute run-time having our heroes chase relics in order to find another relic — just so they can find and exterminate Palpatine. Like Last Jedi, this feels more like obligatory busy-work than a true adventure, but I enjoyed the ride this time.
I must confess that my positive reaction to The Rise of Skywalker is swayed by my lack of interest or excitement. Whenever this saga shows signs of life and energy, it feels like a small triumph. However, this concluding trilogy as a whole simply lacks the delight of the original and whatever bastion of intrigue was provided in the infamous prequel saga. This trilogy is better than those latter films, but not by much. Whereas Lucas was compelled by CGI and world-building rather than character, this series seems to have the complete opposite issue and has resorted to recycling the basic plot structure of its predecessors.
The final chapter in the Star Wars saga is nonsense when you stop to ponder, but Abrams tosses everything but the kitchen sink to prevent us from making the attempt. As a fan, I loved some of the changes made and backstory afforded to Leia, which makes prior events like her heroic flight in space seem more passable. I was even taken aback by Luke’s small cameo and his impressive Jedi powers, which — without spoiling anything — was something I had wished he had done a movie earlier. The Rise of Skywalker is fan service done with few eye-rolling moments, but I felt like Abrams takes the saga to its natural conclusion — even if nothing makes sense, I was happy to return to the galaxy far, far away…and feel Disney should take a break for a long, long time.
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