There has never been a fandom as vocal and as passionate as that of the Star Wars franchise. The reactions to the George Lucas prequels and Disney’s sequel trilogy have been either hot or cold with little middle ground given, and fans have been mocked and depicted in the media as toxic trolls. The final film of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, continues to elicit the same passionate reactions from fans. I find myself experiencing difficulty unpacking all the details from a single viewing of the film, but I’ll try my best. I enjoyed the film as a whole, and found it to be a fitting end to the Disney-produced trilogy. Not treating it as a true finale of the entire saga is a safe place by which to effectively review its merits.
The original trilogy ended with Return of the Jedi, itself an imperfect film that would’ve likely been skewered by fans had it been released in the social media days. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t have the benefit of following arguably the best film of the entire saga. On the contrary, it has to contend with the baggage left by Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. It’s that scenario that likely led Lucasfilm/Disney to return the stewardship of their trilogy to J.J. Abrams. After Johnson’s film turned the dangling storyline on its head (for better or worse), Abrams had the task of rebuilding his narrative. Much of the film attempts to do just that, revealing Rey’s parentage as being Palpatine and downplaying the role of Supreme Leader Snoke. I was not put off by Palpatine’s sudden reappearance, as his Modus Operandi has always been to be working the long game from within the shadows. The film logically continues Rey’s hero’s journey in the fashion of a certain former whiny farm boy. The interactions of Rey, Poe, and Finn are more akin to the camaraderie established in The Force Awakens. It’s the ease and chemistry these characters have with each other that carries the film.
If the film suffers from anything, it’s trying to tie up too many loose ends while attempting to please everyone, which ultimately weighs down the pacing and storytelling. That being said, the film packs an emotional wallop, evident by the outward sobbing I heard from the audience. I admit that I teared up more than I would during a Pixar film. The redemption of Kylo Ren seems earned, rather than contrived. The amazing acting of Adam Driver as Ben Solo/Kylo Ren made the character’s turn to the Light Side of the Force all the more believable. The action is riveting and the special effects are incredible. The cameos and callbacks don’t feel shoehorned in, and serve to forward the story. Aside from the annoyingly unresolved “thing” that Finn was trying to tell Rey throughout the film, I found that very little was left dangling. It was as good a film as it could be to bring the saga to an end. It is important to note that there has never been such a thing as a perfect Star Wars film, although The Empire Strikes Back certainly comes close. Recalling the lack of any cohesive plan to rescue Han in Return of the Jedi, I can only imagine the fan base blowing up the Internet, had it existed and the conversation extended beyond the water cooler. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the film that will be remembered as the one that tried to do much more than it needed to, being weighed down by its history. Again, as a conclusion to the Episode VII-IX trilogy, the film works well enough.
