STAR WARS: Episode Ⅸ – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
directed by J.J. Abrams
★★★½☆
The Rise of Skywalker isn’t a bad movie, per se. I actually enjoyed it. But the executive meddling is so thick you’d need a lightsaber to cut it. Bringing Palpatine back was cheap and pointless, several elements were clearly added to sell toys, and the plot leaned too heavily into trying to win back fans they lost with The Last Jedi, while consequently upsetting fans of that movie. The result is something that’s bound to please neither.
The pacing in the first act is awkward. It felt like Abrams tried to tell another McGuffin story, then realized halfway that he still had a 9-part narrative to conclude, so he compressed the plot of a whole movie into the second hour of this one. This movie really could have benefitted from either being another 30-45 minutes longer, or even split into two movies, with Kylo Ren and Rey searching for Wayfinders in Episode Ⅸ and the discovery of Palpatine and the Final Order in Episode Ⅹ. It also makes it painfully clear why Abrams is better at running a weekly series of 42-minute-long cliffhangers and unresolved plot threads than helming a 2ish-hour-long epic film concluding an established franchise. This felt more like a 3-episode story arc of a TV show than a single cohesive movie.
But all things considered, I am satisfied by most of what this movie did, and only dissatisfied by what it didn’t do (and I don’t think it’s fair to judge a movie on the latter, because I can’t expect a filmmaker to read my mind). It wraps everything up nicely, features call-backs to people, places, and things from previous entries in the franchise, and ranks around the same position as Return of the Jedi in the overall Skywalker Saga, in my opinion.
It also contains some truly great performances from its cast, particularly Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. Although the scenes of the late Carrie Fisher as Leia are obviously shoehorned in using outtakes, CGI, and Scotch tape, Abrams manages to make them work. Ian McDiarmid reprises (reanimates?) Palpatine with all the usual slimy malevolence. Best of all, we finally get to see Rey, Finn, and Poe together as a team for much of the movie, something the previous two movies lacked.
The Rise of Skywalker is not as bad as Episodes Ⅰ or Ⅱ, but not as good as Episodes Ⅴ or Ⅷ. Just comfortably and enjoyably in the middle. It didn’t rock my expectations like The Last Jedi did, and it, unfortunately, backpedaled on many of its predecessor’s more interesting plot points, but there were enough fun moments and cool surprises to keep me entertained for 2⅓ hours.
