Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Review: Nothing You Wanted in a Film, Everything You Want as a Star Wars Fan
Release date (US): December 20th, 2019
Starring: Carrie fisher, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Keri Russell, Lupita Nyongo, Naomi Ackie, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, Richard E. Grant, Domhnall Gle
Starring: Carrie fisher, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Keri Russell, Lupita Nyongo, Naomi Ackie, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, Richard E. Grant, Domhnall Gle
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any effect on your opinion. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. If there is something you happen to disagree with, I absolutely respect your point of view if you will respect mine. Please keep this in mind.
The Review
"Long have I waited," croaks the Emperor in the final trailer to the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga. And yet, it seems as if the arrival of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has come with hardly any noise or fanfare. Perhaps it has to do with the lackluster performance of Solo. Perhaps it has to do with a fractured fanbase after the divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Whatever the case may be, the lead-up to this film was not nearly as momentous as it was for the previous Star Wars films under the reign of Disney.
And despite the familiar crawl and the opening fanfare that nearly everyone is able to immediately recognize, something felt unceremonious about this film. At times, it felt like the most Star Wars out of any of the nine films. And yet, I found myself wondering why sometimes this didn't feel like Star Wars at all.
The marketing for the film has hardly given anything away other than the return of Emperor Palpatine, and I will do the same here. The film marks the return of our three heroes, Poe, Finn, and Rey, as well as the now self-appointed Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. In addition, the aforementioned Palpatine has returned, and an adventure ensues.
To JJ Abrams's credit, he did everything he possibly could with the task that he was given. Undoubtedly, there were numerous board meetings and discussions where Abrams and President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy sat down to mull over the divided Star Wars fandom. Rian Johnson (director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi) made bold choices, most of which I enjoyed, but it consequentially divided the fanbase into warring factions. Abrams's task was to unite the fans and deliver on a conclusion to not just the sequel trilogy, but to the Skywalker Saga as a whole. And on TOP of that, he had to do it within the constraints of an Episode 8 that made choices he clearly did not agree with.
Because yes, despite what Abrams and Kennedy have to say in front of the media, there are distinct lines of dialogue and clear moments that essentially wipe away a lot of the bold choices that Rian Johnson made. There's even a line of dialogue spoken by a character towards the end of the film that seems more directed at Johnson than at Rey. Some critics, however, have said that the film spits in the face of Johnson in a vehement manner. That's where I would draw the line. I do believe that Abrams would have made a drastically different Episode 8, BUT there are distinct elements and storylines that he deliberately, and considerately carried through to Episode 9. Keeping both of these things in mind, a lot of the narrative decisions that Abrams made seem like a course correction rather than having a creative motive. Even the fact that (**as seen in the trailers**) Kylo Ren's helmet is now repaired is a symbol that Lucasfilm was trying to appease those who did not enjoy The Last Jedi.
We do get to spend a little bit more time with Rey in the film and delve a little more into her psyche. And while the additional screen time with her does help to flesh out her character, the problem lies in the pacing of the film. Her storyline feels like it should've been stretched out between two movies instead of being crammed into half of one. Part of that is the aforementioned course correction, as Abrams tries to steer the wheel back to his direction. Regardless, there are hasty explanations given to Rey's motivation, her power level, and her backstory that feel as though they needed to be fleshed out further in order to be satisfying.
However, one of the strongest elements of the film are the group dynamics. In the original trilogy, specifically in A New Hope, we were able to see the chemistry between Luke, Han, and Leia. And, discounting some clunky pieces of dialogue, Rey, Finn, and Poe do feel like a team in this film. There is tangible chemistry between the three that wasn't there in the previous two movies. The film benefits from keeping the main characters together for the more than the previous two episodes combined. Boyega and Isaac give their best performances of the series by far; it just felt like too little too late.
Returning as well for her last onscreen role is the late, great Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. As many knew going into the film, Fisher passed away before production on The Rise of Skywalker began, which put Abrams and his team in a predicament. The decision to use reused footage was perhaps the safest, but most respectful route that they could've taken. And for what they were able to achieve, they did a masterful job. This is one of the areas of the film that I soundly commend JJ for. He and his team were able to pull a performance out of cut footage that worked somewhat smoothly and integrated itself into the film. Granted, there are small moments where you can tell they didn't have enough dialogue from Fisher, and there were moments where they were clearly writing around her prerecorded lines. But for what they were able to do, they did a masterful job.
A couple new side characters and droids were introduced in the film, but they were hardly consequential. The true highlight amongst the characters was by far Kylo Ren. Adam Driver acts circles around most of the performers in the film; he has since The Force Awakens. The amount of anger and angst he's able to portray with just his body language is incredible; in just one shot of him walking, you can tell the rage that's coursing through him at that given moment. And his character arc is the most interesting and most dynamic. Abrams delves deeper into his mind and tries to look closer at Kylo Ren as a human rather than "the big bad".
But speaking of "the big bad", Emperor Palpatine makes a return. I will not give away in what capacity, how much he was in the film (if at all physically), or what he/his presence does. But in some way, shape, or form, the Emperor is in this film. And unfortunately, he was somewhat uninteresting. There's only so much you can do with a character that hasn't been set up previously. All the set up for Palpatine in this film had to be done within these two hours and twenty minutes because episode 7 and episode 8 did not touch on him at all. And because of that, while Abrams's direction with the character was enjoyable AT TIMES, overall, the character was not as interesting as we had all hoped he would be.
And this is where we get to the biggest problem of the film. The story is an utter mess. As a Star Wars fan, I was able to walk out of the theater genuinely having enjoyed myself because there were enough moments and emotional beats that reminded me of Star Wars. But looking back and examining The Rise of Skywalker as a film, it is a mess. The first thirty minutes feel extremely rushed. Characters jump from planet to planet and scenes jump from character to character until you hardly know who you're following at one point. And then you begin to wonder what "X character" is doing because you haven't seen them in awhile. This is a problem that Avengers: Infinity War suffered from simply due to the sheer volume of characters, but the difference, I feel, is that The Rise of Skywalker's story is not nearly as compelling. The good guys have to do something, the bad guys have to do something, and somewhere along the way they meet (as seen in the trailers). The story itself feels largely like a vessel to get to specific character moments and beats that Abrams wanted.
That's largely my frustration with the film. Because, with a few KEY (spoiler-y) exceptions, I felt that Abrams nailed a lot of the moments. There's a scene at the beginning of the third act with Rey that I thought was magnificent. John Williams (who, as always is absolutely perfect with his music) pushes the score to full throttle and you feel all the emotions that you felt as a Star Wars fan growing up, watching the original trilogy (or perhaps the prequels).
Yet, because the story feels so overwhelmingly unsatisfying, and because this feels more like a course correction than a narrative film, those emotional beats don't last longer than the scenes allow because they don't make sense in the overall narrative. There are parts of this movie that JJ CLEARLY ripped out of other films, just as he did with The Force Awakens. But there are moments where he too makes bold decisions, most of which I like.
I speak as someone who enjoys all three of these sequel trilogy films (which seems to be rare). I genuinely do. But the reason that this movie doesn't work nearly as well as it should have is because there is no narrative context for the decisions Abrams makes. There was no central plan when going into these three films. Each director (Abrams and Johnson) had their own vision for the story, and because of that, the story feels disjointed. Even though I enjoy all three of the films individually, I do not think they work as a unit. I think this sequel trilogy is a disaster. And it's not because any of the films are bad, in my opinion. It's because there was no plan going in, and it shows.
All of that being said, this film has more than enough to fill my Star Wars-loving heart. I enjoy these characters enough to the point that I am invested in watching where they go. And while their journeys may not have been the most satisfying, I feel that Abrams was able to mostly steer the ship back to his vision and deliver on a story that mostly ties up the sequel trilogy, and attempts tie up the saga, though it does that with a smaller degree of success.
In Conclusion: In the end, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a film that seeks to please Star Wars. Abrams had a choice, and he decided to try to tie up the nine films in as crowd-pleasing of a manner as possible. It almost worked, too. But there's too much riding against him from the beginning, and by the time he steers the film back to where he wants it, it's too late. All he can do is tie up the saga with as pretty of a bow as he possibly can. Does it work? Arguably not. But this is the ending to the Skywalker Saga that we got. And for what it's worth, I'm happy.
And despite the familiar crawl and the opening fanfare that nearly everyone is able to immediately recognize, something felt unceremonious about this film. At times, it felt like the most Star Wars out of any of the nine films. And yet, I found myself wondering why sometimes this didn't feel like Star Wars at all.
The marketing for the film has hardly given anything away other than the return of Emperor Palpatine, and I will do the same here. The film marks the return of our three heroes, Poe, Finn, and Rey, as well as the now self-appointed Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. In addition, the aforementioned Palpatine has returned, and an adventure ensues.
To JJ Abrams's credit, he did everything he possibly could with the task that he was given. Undoubtedly, there were numerous board meetings and discussions where Abrams and President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy sat down to mull over the divided Star Wars fandom. Rian Johnson (director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi) made bold choices, most of which I enjoyed, but it consequentially divided the fanbase into warring factions. Abrams's task was to unite the fans and deliver on a conclusion to not just the sequel trilogy, but to the Skywalker Saga as a whole. And on TOP of that, he had to do it within the constraints of an Episode 8 that made choices he clearly did not agree with.
Because yes, despite what Abrams and Kennedy have to say in front of the media, there are distinct lines of dialogue and clear moments that essentially wipe away a lot of the bold choices that Rian Johnson made. There's even a line of dialogue spoken by a character towards the end of the film that seems more directed at Johnson than at Rey. Some critics, however, have said that the film spits in the face of Johnson in a vehement manner. That's where I would draw the line. I do believe that Abrams would have made a drastically different Episode 8, BUT there are distinct elements and storylines that he deliberately, and considerately carried through to Episode 9. Keeping both of these things in mind, a lot of the narrative decisions that Abrams made seem like a course correction rather than having a creative motive. Even the fact that (**as seen in the trailers**) Kylo Ren's helmet is now repaired is a symbol that Lucasfilm was trying to appease those who did not enjoy The Last Jedi.
We do get to spend a little bit more time with Rey in the film and delve a little more into her psyche. And while the additional screen time with her does help to flesh out her character, the problem lies in the pacing of the film. Her storyline feels like it should've been stretched out between two movies instead of being crammed into half of one. Part of that is the aforementioned course correction, as Abrams tries to steer the wheel back to his direction. Regardless, there are hasty explanations given to Rey's motivation, her power level, and her backstory that feel as though they needed to be fleshed out further in order to be satisfying.
However, one of the strongest elements of the film are the group dynamics. In the original trilogy, specifically in A New Hope, we were able to see the chemistry between Luke, Han, and Leia. And, discounting some clunky pieces of dialogue, Rey, Finn, and Poe do feel like a team in this film. There is tangible chemistry between the three that wasn't there in the previous two movies. The film benefits from keeping the main characters together for the more than the previous two episodes combined. Boyega and Isaac give their best performances of the series by far; it just felt like too little too late.
Returning as well for her last onscreen role is the late, great Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. As many knew going into the film, Fisher passed away before production on The Rise of Skywalker began, which put Abrams and his team in a predicament. The decision to use reused footage was perhaps the safest, but most respectful route that they could've taken. And for what they were able to achieve, they did a masterful job. This is one of the areas of the film that I soundly commend JJ for. He and his team were able to pull a performance out of cut footage that worked somewhat smoothly and integrated itself into the film. Granted, there are small moments where you can tell they didn't have enough dialogue from Fisher, and there were moments where they were clearly writing around her prerecorded lines. But for what they were able to do, they did a masterful job.
A couple new side characters and droids were introduced in the film, but they were hardly consequential. The true highlight amongst the characters was by far Kylo Ren. Adam Driver acts circles around most of the performers in the film; he has since The Force Awakens. The amount of anger and angst he's able to portray with just his body language is incredible; in just one shot of him walking, you can tell the rage that's coursing through him at that given moment. And his character arc is the most interesting and most dynamic. Abrams delves deeper into his mind and tries to look closer at Kylo Ren as a human rather than "the big bad".
But speaking of "the big bad", Emperor Palpatine makes a return. I will not give away in what capacity, how much he was in the film (if at all physically), or what he/his presence does. But in some way, shape, or form, the Emperor is in this film. And unfortunately, he was somewhat uninteresting. There's only so much you can do with a character that hasn't been set up previously. All the set up for Palpatine in this film had to be done within these two hours and twenty minutes because episode 7 and episode 8 did not touch on him at all. And because of that, while Abrams's direction with the character was enjoyable AT TIMES, overall, the character was not as interesting as we had all hoped he would be.
And this is where we get to the biggest problem of the film. The story is an utter mess. As a Star Wars fan, I was able to walk out of the theater genuinely having enjoyed myself because there were enough moments and emotional beats that reminded me of Star Wars. But looking back and examining The Rise of Skywalker as a film, it is a mess. The first thirty minutes feel extremely rushed. Characters jump from planet to planet and scenes jump from character to character until you hardly know who you're following at one point. And then you begin to wonder what "X character" is doing because you haven't seen them in awhile. This is a problem that Avengers: Infinity War suffered from simply due to the sheer volume of characters, but the difference, I feel, is that The Rise of Skywalker's story is not nearly as compelling. The good guys have to do something, the bad guys have to do something, and somewhere along the way they meet (as seen in the trailers). The story itself feels largely like a vessel to get to specific character moments and beats that Abrams wanted.
That's largely my frustration with the film. Because, with a few KEY (spoiler-y) exceptions, I felt that Abrams nailed a lot of the moments. There's a scene at the beginning of the third act with Rey that I thought was magnificent. John Williams (who, as always is absolutely perfect with his music) pushes the score to full throttle and you feel all the emotions that you felt as a Star Wars fan growing up, watching the original trilogy (or perhaps the prequels).
Yet, because the story feels so overwhelmingly unsatisfying, and because this feels more like a course correction than a narrative film, those emotional beats don't last longer than the scenes allow because they don't make sense in the overall narrative. There are parts of this movie that JJ CLEARLY ripped out of other films, just as he did with The Force Awakens. But there are moments where he too makes bold decisions, most of which I like.
I speak as someone who enjoys all three of these sequel trilogy films (which seems to be rare). I genuinely do. But the reason that this movie doesn't work nearly as well as it should have is because there is no narrative context for the decisions Abrams makes. There was no central plan when going into these three films. Each director (Abrams and Johnson) had their own vision for the story, and because of that, the story feels disjointed. Even though I enjoy all three of the films individually, I do not think they work as a unit. I think this sequel trilogy is a disaster. And it's not because any of the films are bad, in my opinion. It's because there was no plan going in, and it shows.
All of that being said, this film has more than enough to fill my Star Wars-loving heart. I enjoy these characters enough to the point that I am invested in watching where they go. And while their journeys may not have been the most satisfying, I feel that Abrams was able to mostly steer the ship back to his vision and deliver on a story that mostly ties up the sequel trilogy, and attempts tie up the saga, though it does that with a smaller degree of success.
In Conclusion: In the end, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a film that seeks to please Star Wars. Abrams had a choice, and he decided to try to tie up the nine films in as crowd-pleasing of a manner as possible. It almost worked, too. But there's too much riding against him from the beginning, and by the time he steers the film back to where he wants it, it's too late. All he can do is tie up the saga with as pretty of a bow as he possibly can. Does it work? Arguably not. But this is the ending to the Skywalker Saga that we got. And for what it's worth, I'm happy.
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