Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the final film of the sequel Star Wars trilogy, concluding the overall Skywalker saga. After the events of The Last Jedi, the protagonists have gotten together as a new form of the Resistance, helmed by Leia. However, once they hear of the mysterious return of Palpatine, the Resistance must come out of hiding and face the First Order dead on to get rid of the dark side forever.
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved Star Wars. I've seen every movie and I love the worlds, the mythology, the adventures, and the characters. This franchise has been a part of my life for forever. That being said, this has been an odd time to be a Star Wars fan. Ever since the release of The Last Jedi, the Star Wars fandom has turned into a battleground for toxicity and slandering. People weren't disappointed or upset with that movie. They were mad. And that negativity definitely started to hurt my love of Star Wars, which I know is not a good thing. I actually really enjoyed The Last Jedi, even though I completely understand it's not perfect, and the overwhelming criticism made this film not fun to talk about. So, before I fully get into this review, I need to stress that this is entirely MY opinion. Chances are, you will disagree, and that is totally fine. We can get through this without any kind of hatred. The fact that I even need to say this is ridiculous, but here we are.
What I appreciated about The Last Jedi was how risky it was. It did things that had never been done before in a Star Wars film and for the most part, it was pulled off very well. I was excited to see where The Rise of Skywalker would go after everything that happened. How would this movie be able to advance everything that was introduced earlier? Well... clearly that question was stuck in the writer's minds throughout this film, and sadly, the film suffers as a result.
The story is a mess. It goes all over the place without much in the way of cohesion or direction. So much happens in this film, making the final product feel overstuffed, convoluted, and forced. It's apparent that there was no roadmap for this trilogy, and there certainly was none for this film. What ended up hurting this movie was how unwilling it was to carry on with what was introduced in The Last Jedi. Instead of taking what it brought and showing us where it went, The Return of Skywalker tried to retcon a good majority of what Johnson provided, resulting in a lot of plot points feeling rushed and confused. Without spoiling anything, certain character pieces that had an interesting beginning in The Last Jedi were pretty much completely undone. It felt like the writers were too busy trying to please everybody instead of writing a good story.
I also didn't like what this film with the characters. I actually like the characters from this sequel trilogy. Poe, Finn, and Rey have charisma, and they all had some nice character moments throughout the trilogy. However, in this installment, they are all wasted. Poe and Finn don't really do anything and Rey has gotten so powerful that she became boring. Kylo Ren continues to be the most interesting character throughout the trilogy. The turmoil he faces is interesting, and Driver gives the best performance out of anybody else in the movie. All of the performances are solid, but Driver is just an amazing talent, and his scenes, especially with Rey, remained the best parts of the movie. I think the character development was sacrificed in order to try and make sense of the story, which is a huge shame.
Despite all that, I didn't hate this movie. Like I said, all the performances were solid. Nobody did bad in the film, and that certainly made up for some of the lacking character elements. This film also looks great. The cinematography is well shot, the visual effects are all impressive, and the practical effects and puppetry are all executed solidly. The action, while nothing new for Star Wars standards, is pretty entertaining, with some nicely executed choreography to boot. Really, the only technical aspect that falters is the editing. From what I've heard, this is another Suicide Squad situation, where studio meddling caused the final edit to get butchered. I'm sure there's a cut where the film as a whole feels more cohesively, but it ain't here.
The best part about this film, without question, is the sound. The film sounds great. The mixing and the editing is very punchy. I feel every swing of the lightsaber, every shot of the blaster, every zoom of the Millenium Falcon and all the other various ships in the movie. This trilogy has done a great job bringing us into the universe through its sound design, and The Rise of Skywalker continues this trend. And John Williams score is phenomenal. Williams, who has been composing music for Star Wars since the beginning, has composed some of the greatest orchestral pieces of all time, music or otherwise. While there are a lot of re-used themes here, they are still expertly made, fitting every single scene perfectly.
The Rise of Skywalker is the perfect example of a film biting off more than it can chew. The technical aspects are all there, but as a story, it's a jumbled mess. The ideas are there, but they weren't brought together in a cohesive, well thought out way. If the writers simplified the plot and focused more on continuing the story instead of trying to please everyone, this film would be a lot more satisfying. But ultimately, The Rise of Skywalker stands as an underwhelming conclusion to the Skywalker saga. Bad? No. Disappointing? Yes.
Final Score: 5/10 (Average)
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