REVIEW: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
(Originally Published: December 20th, 2019)
I have to be honest, my enthusiasm for “Star Wars” has dwindled in these last few years. Mind you, I’m one of the few people who actually enjoyed (but acknowledge the flaws of ) both JJ Abrams’ safe soft-reboot “The Force Awakens” and Rian Johnson’s divisive “The Last Jedi.” Perhaps Ron Howard’s “Solo” left me lukewarm (no pun intended) or maybe I’ve just poured too much of my heart and soul into my love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to properly give this new iteration of “Star Wars” films the emotional attention they deserve.
That, or perhaps these films have shown a clear lack of planning on the part of the higher-ups at LucasFilm AND Disney. What’s more is they fail to grasp why the fans first fell in love with the original films oh so many years ago, and why they keep returning to them. Never the less, here we are. The final chapter in the sequel trilogy and, by extension, the final chapter in what is now referred to as the nine part “Skywalker Saga.”
We pick up once again with the continuing conflict between the evil First Order, now led by Kylo Ren, and the plucky yet resililient Resistance, led by General Leia (the late Carrie Fisher returns via unused footage from the previous films). Heroes Rey, Poe, and Finn travel across various planets to find a valuable item that could help them in their final battle, which now sees the return of the long-dead Emperor Palpatine and Rey confronting her true destiny.
In all fairness, the first act of the clunky titled “Rise of Skywalker” moved at an unusually brisk pace yet upon first viewing, I was enjoying it. It drops you right into the action of the first scene in disorienting fashion and doesn’t exactly let up from there but admittedly I was taken in by the humor as well as the comradery and chemistry between the three protagonists. It was an element that was SORELY missing from the first two installments and I was glad to see it getting some attention here. Unfortunately, once we get into the second act things take a turn for the worse.
“RoS” is a testament to everything wrong with the modern blockbuster. It runs at nearly two and a half hours and despite the time it has to tell this final story, it feels as though Abrams and co. are just sprinting to the finish line, leaving no room for the audience to breathe or take in any new worlds or characters. The film brings up interesting ideas and even tries to expand on some things introduced in the earlier films, only to sideline them or never even touch on them again. Abrams fails to follow-up on ideas he presented in TFA and tries to retcon various things from TLJ, seemingly to placate the toxic fandom who complained about all of it.
The film’s laziness is further represented in the form of The Emperor’s return, a move that not only negates the sacrifice of Darth Vader in the previous trilogy but clearly establishes that the ones in charge had no idea where this story was going. It only becomes further egregious when they start to rip off key scenes and moments from this year’s “Avengers: Endgame” in its final act.
If you weren’t taken in by either “The Force Awakens” or “The Last Jedi,” this one won’t win you over. If you do feel like you need to finish this story, wait for it to stream on Disney+. In the ouvre of Star Wars films, this one may be the very weakest. It doesn’t exactly make the prequels look like masterpieces, but it does prove that that they were at least memorable to some extent and they were the work of one man’s cohesive vision. This? No heart. No soul. Even if it wants to trick you into thinking it has one. Come to your own conclusions but for me, the story ended in 1983.
C-
