Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker review

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: 

FINAL CHAPTER DOESN’T QUITE TAKE THE STAR WARS SAGA TO NEW HEIGHTS BUT CONCLUDES THIS LONG-RUNNING FRANCHISE WITH A SATISFYING AMOUNT OF FAN LOYALTY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

Revisited: ** out of 4

LUCASFILM LTD. 

Rey and Kylo Ren have their final confrontation in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

            George Lucas’ long-running saga comes to a close (at least for now) in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth main installment of the Star Wars franchise overall and third chapter of the sequel trilogy following 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm their Star Warsmovies have been hit-or-miss for fans, The Force Awakens was a joyful, nostalgic throwback to the earlier films, Rogue One was a solid detour from the familiar Star Wars movie formula focusing on the people who stole the plans for the Death Star prior to the events of A New Hope, The Last Jedi explored some interesting ideas but ultimately ended up being divisive towards fans, and Solo was a bland and forgettable heist film that didn’t need to exist but had a neat performance from Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. 

Now, determined to end the Star Wars sequel trilogy with a bang we have The Rise of Skywalker capping off 42 years of one of the most beloved and successful franchises of all time. The film puts The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek (2009 trilogy), Super 8) back in the director’s chair and Daisy Ridley (Scrawl, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Ophelia), Adam Driver (Silence, BlacKkKlansman, Marriage Story), John Boyega (Attack the Block, Detroit, Pacific Rim: Uprising), and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex-Machina, X-Men: Apocalypse) reprise their roles as Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Poe. 

Similar to 2018’s Solo and how it was originally meant to be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Rise of Skywalker was actually supposed to be directed by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow and The Last Jedi writer and director Rian Johnson would write a story treatment for Episode IX, but they left the project due to creative differences and failing to deliver a satisfactory script despite several drafts written. So, for the comfort of the fans, Abrams has returned to the galaxy far, far away to finish what he had started back in 2015. 

So, does Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker deliver an Avengers: Endgame powerhouse of a finale to the Star Wars saga that overflows with action, emotion, and twists? Sort of. 

While the film doesn’t really take the franchise anywhere new, it delivers a satisfying and exciting conclusion that ties the loose ends and is bursting with fan loyalty from beginning to end. It isn’t perfect and doesn’t quite have the same emotional weight as Avengers: Endgame, but it’s still a fun installment of the Star Wars saga that doesn’t try to be anything more.

After the events of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren (Driver) finds a Sith wayfinder and travels to the planet Exegol where he discovers that Sith Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Lost City of Z) is still alive and unveils an armada of Star Destroyers to Kylo and tells him that there is one person standing in their way of bringing order to the galaxy (Can you guess who?). Meanwhile, Rey (Ridley) is continuing her Jedi training under General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher-The Blues Brothers, 30 Rock, Catastrophe, appearing through unreleased footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) and upon hearing of Palpatine’s return rounds up her crew consisting of defect Stormtrooper Finn (Boyega), X-Wing fighter pilot Poe (Isaac), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2, and BB-8 with help from Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams-Nighthawks, Batman, The Lego Batman Movie) and an old friend of Poe’s Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell-Felicity, Mission: Impossible III, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), and come up with a plan to take the fight to the dark side and end the war once and for all. 

However, Rey soon realizes that the only way the Rebellion might be able to win the war is to confront Emperor Palpatine and face him the same way Luke Skywalker faced Darth Vader. Rey also discovers there may be a chance to save Kylo Ren from completely turning to the dark side if she can make him remember his past before being consumed by the Sith in a spectacular final stand. 

The film also stars Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth, The Corrupted, The End of the F***ing World) as Jannah, Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter franchise, Anna Karenina (2012), Ex-Machina) as General Hux, Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park, Logan, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) as Allegiant General Pryde, Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Us) as Maz Kanata, Kelly Marie Tran (CollegeHumor Originals, Sorry for Your Loss, The Croods 2) as Rose Tico, Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series, Castle in the Sky, Child’s Play (2019)) as Luke Skywalker, and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones franchise, Blade Runner/Blade Runner 2049, Air Force One) as Han Solo. 

Overall, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may not be the finale the Star Wars saga deserves but it’s at least a fun ride that will hopefully make fans happy. Now, I’m only a casual fan and Star Wars while I enjoy the franchise, it never really grabbed me as much as something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Dark Knight trilogy, or even Harry Potter so I have no idea how The Rise of Skywalker will sit with Star Wars purists, my guess is it will be more satisfying to them than The Last Jedi because it’s literally feature-length Star Wars fan-service being put on the big screen which is either its biggest strength or greatest flaw. 

I appreciate the film’s devotion to its fans, but it doesn’t really do anything new with the franchise, it’s almost like a bigger remake of Return of the Jedi than a conclusion to the current trilogy. Say what you will about The Last Jedi but to its credit the film tried to explore new territory in the Star Wars universe that hasn’t been shown before and sure it didn’t entirely work but I was able to appreciate the attempt that was made. 

This on the other hand overly caters to the fans and gives them an all-too familiar conclusion that we’ve already seen in the Star Wars franchise. It’s a basic Star Wars adventure but is capped off by an exciting final act and the dynamic between Rey and Kylo Ren is strong enough to keep it afloat despite the story’s lack of originality. 

Similar to The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a nostalgic throwback to the saga’s glory days that may not be the most original but is still exciting and fun enough in its familiarity. It isn’t perfect, but it’s entertaining enough whether a die-hard fan or a casual fan like myself, grab your lightsaber, fly on in, and see for yourself.