Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Score:  B+

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac
Running time: 142 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Star Wars, as the world has known it since 1977, comes to a conclusion in this ninth film, and sure enough there are echoes from around this entire galaxy throughout Rise.  Rey, as played by Daisy Ridley, continues as the strong lead in this particular trilogy, and her story takes on even greater prominence than before.  Unfortunately, there's just too much packed in around her, and supporting players like Poe and Finn fall short as it all reaches an exciting yet predictable climax.  Obviously a must-see for fans, but it isn't quite the level of special we've come to expect.


As the First Order, under the command of Kylo Ren (Driver) continues to spread its shadow over the galaxy far, far away, the Resistance fights to survive.  A spy within the Order gives our heroes a breakthrough, revealing that an old foe on an unknown planet is the focal point of their plans.  The last remaining Jedi, Rey (Ridley), ventures out with ace pilot Poe (Isaac), stormtrooper-turned-rebel Finn (Boyega) and Chewbacca to find the planet and defeat their foe before it's too late.  However, Ren - once a Jedi himself - continues his personal mission to find and turn, or destroy, Rey.  The fate of the galaxy, then, rests once more on the outcome of a clash in the Force.

The cast of Rise of Skywalker is quite large, adding to the characters introduced in the previous films in the trilogy.  The lead is Daisy Ridley's Rey, as she has been throughout this Star Wars series (for some stupid reason, though, she is only the fourth actor to appear in the credits).  While the script still doesn't help her as much as it did her predecessor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), she impressively conveys her own, distinct mix of strength and vulnerability.  She is now almost fully in command of her tangible powers in the Force - from floating serenely in the air to zapping enemy ships with deadly lightning.  Yet she is also still clearly bothered with the mystery of her place in the Force; now that she had ordinary parents, and that she is also the last of the Jedi, what is her responsibility, to the ancient (and essentially extinct) order and to the war raging around her?  Ridley is equally compelling and believable in showing both her internal and external conflicts, and my only regret is that she wasn't given more to work with in this trilogy.  Adam Driver also does well, though I'm not sure he is as successful with Kylo Ren as Ridley is with his opposite in Rey.  I don't think it spoils much to say that Ren remains conflicted for much of the film, and though Driver favors his own, dour mask rather than the Vader-like device, it may hide his own struggles a bit too well here.  Poe and Finn, played by Isaac and Boyega, respectively, reprise their roles as Rey's buddies, but sadly they are less interesting and more generic in this last chapter.  Poe is a bit more the mischievous one, and Finn more protective of Rey, but they really serve the same purpose of following her around until the final battle.  With so much action and attention revolving (appropriately) around those four, the rest of the cast gets bits and pieces, some more effective than others.  Carrie Fisher's Leia gets a poignant and fitting end, and C-3PO has one of the film's more clever, humorous touches.  Still, several of the new characters are pretty much irrelevant, and if you happened to enjoy some of the other returning ones, you may also be disappointed (or if you didn't like them, pleased that they are minimized).

The Rise of Skywalker, as the end (perhaps?) of the Star Wars tale forty-two years in the making, is epic, blockbuster filmmaking; inevitably, there are both thrilling victories and plenty of nagging concerns.  I will attempt to review it here by two standards: as a standalone film, and as an entry in the Star Wars universe.  A new Star Wars movie is always one of the biggest spectacles to experience in the theater, and Rise of Skywalker makes good on that promise.  Plenty of dazzling space battles and intense lightsaber duels, along with a story that, while focused on characters, also features literally planet-exploding stakes.  The thing is, it's getting harder and harder for even blockbusters to truly inspire awe.  The Force Awakens managed this through a modernized visual style on the old school SW feel; The Last Jedi used some new techniques and the element of surprise to achieve it.  Skywalker seems to mostly go with quantity over quality, though, and so it doesn't measure up to the previous two films.  There are exceptions, particularly scenes teased in the trailers (Rey's desert showdown with Kylo, and their duel on the wreckage of the Death Star).  The "bigness" of a film can swallow it up, but Abrams keeps the characters central as much as possible.  Again, fan allegiances may (will, really) sway how you feel about it, but many characters get little more than nods that also help keep the film grounded.  It's the main characters that truly carry the film, though, and here, Ridley and Driver are what make it a worthy adventure (even if Poe and Finn - secondary roles - drag it down a bit).  The pace is rocket-fueled from the start, which in general is just fine and helps the two hour-twenty minute show flow right along, though like Last Jedi it stuffs in too much superfluous material.  The humor is below standard, though the droids, particularly C-3PO, continue to please.

**Star Wars saga commentary - spoiler alert!!!**

As a Star Wars film - both the ninth overall, and the third in this "mini" trilogy - the events of Rise of Skywalker are frequently the culmination of extensive plot and character developments.  Probably the most significant of these are Rey's triumph over the Sith and her embracing the role as the last Jedi; Ben Solo's redemption (Kylo Ren being his "bad guy"/Sith name) and death; the revelation of Rey being Palpatine's granddaughter; and the defeat of the First Order.  I liked the first two results, and have mixed or indifferent feelings about the last two.  While parallel in many respects to Luke's, Rey's victory feels distinct, too; I think her individual resolve shines through even more.  Obviously the Sith have proven rather durable, but Rey (hopefully?) extinguished Palpatine once and for all; if nothing else, he and his pals have no more "home base" to rally from.  The finality of that victory is appreciated, and I'm also glad that Ben's sacrifice did not seem to overshadow Rey's achievement.  In fact, what he - the Skywalker, remember - does is of a literal supporting rather than leading role.  On the other hand, I might have preferred that Rey truly was a "nobody", rather than a Palpatine.  It still works - and the presence of Palpatine himself is important as the symbol of the Sith through the entire saga - but it would have been even more potent to make this one, vital deviation from the family lineage theme.  There's also the defeat of the First Order, which is practically an afterthought, compared to the Jedi-Sith showdown.  Really, the FO was Empire-lite from the start.  The rebels vs. empire rehash was probably the weakest part of the entire trilogy, both lazy and dull, and the weakest element of Disney's bending to demand for the "good old days" of Star Wars.  No one will agree with every single creative choice made, of course, but the fierce debates are both a sign of and the reason for the enduring, widespread love for the galaxy far, far away.

***

The Rise of Skywalker is among the last movies that I will see this year, and therefore the decade, which seems appropriate given its status as the last* Star Wars (HUGE asterisk).  Two of my other favorite franchises concluded their journeys this year, in Avengers and Game of Thrones.  The first was a resounding success in the form of Endgame, improbably pulling together twenty-one previous films and approximately 35890 characters into something not just coherent but emotionally resonant and viscerally powerful.  Game of Thrones... not so much.  An incredible, intricately-constructed six seasons gave way to two rushed seasons where character development went out the window, the plot became predictable, and my favorite characters (Tyrion and Daenerys) were ruined.  So Star Wars falls somewhere in between those two extremes, probably pretty close to the exact middle.  It's inspired me to do a rewatch of the series sometime, similar to what I did with the Avengers movies this spring.  Stay tuned!

**Update, after second viewing:  I enjoyed the film significantly more the second time around, as I concentrated more on the best parts - basically anything with Rey and/or Kylo Ren - and didn't let the swirl around it distract me.  It is still too busy, and Poe and Finn still unimpressive, but it's quite a bit of fun even beyond the tremendous leads.  I also paid more attention to the score, and I must beg John Williams for forgiveness - I'm not sure what I was thinking earlier (I have deleted the evidence!).  So upgrade this to an A- for me, and most likely a spot in my top 10 of the year.



* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61598068