Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Review (Spoiler Free)

by Jared Kluttz

Can JJ Abrams save the sequel trilogy?

Preface

Firstly, I'm just going to say that this movie is probably going to be pretty divisive among fans (not quite as much as TLJ, but still a bit divisive). If you absolutely loved The Last Jedi, you probably won't be a fan of this movie. If you hated The Last Jedi however, you'll most likely really enjoy The Rise of Skywalker. Personally, I really enjoyed this film and I think it's the best of the sequel trilogy, and I'm going to break down the pros and cons of the components of this film, spoiler free.

Characters

I can say pretty confidently that the characters are at their best in The Rise of Skywalker. This installment has the most character development out of any of the sequel trilogy. Kylo Ren continues to get some great character development. If you were sick of his emo attitude in The Force Awakens, good news, because he is much more calm and collected in this movie and keeps growing. Rey continues to get insanely powerful, so that will probably bother a lot of people as it did in the past, but the movie does establish that she has been training since we saw her last. Finn and Poe have some good moments as well as some great character development. Lando is back and as suave as ever, and Ian McDiarmid absolutely nails the role of Palpatine as always. C3PO also plays a much bigger part in this movie, which was nice considering he didn't really do much in the new movies until now. Rose Tico is played down a lot in this movie, having limited screen time. Rest easy; there are no horrible lines from her about killing what we hate and saving what we love. She's actually rather tolerable. General Hux is in this movie, and is interesting for a bit but is ultimately wasted yet again. Richard E. Grant's character is a nice addition however, and basically fills the role of an intimidating First Order officer. The new characters are nice little editions. They don't add much to the story, but they do serve a purpose and I enjoy what they had to offer. The only new characters I have a problem with were the Knights of Ren. I'm not going to spoil it, but honestly they're really underwhelming and kind of disappointing. Moreover, we don't find out anything about them other than that they wear masks and serve under Kylo Ren. The cast does a great job, especially Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. I think they gave their best performances yet. Jon Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Daisy Ridley continue to have great chemistry. However, there are points in the movie where I find it hard to believe that their characters are friends. They constantly bicker throughout the movie and I found myself thinking "I get tensions are high, but do these people actually like each other?" Thankfully, there is a tender moment at the end of the movie that shows they care and some little moments here and there, but I don't think I should find myself questioning the friendship of the three main heroes. Carrie Fisher is in this movie in the form of unused footage from The Force Awakens. A lot of it really doesn't work inside of this movie though. When I was watching her scenes, a lot of the time it was really obvious that they were working with what they had, in that her conversations didn't really flow quite right. Some of it worked and was nice though, and I honestly admire what they were trying to do with her. 

Plot

First off, you can relax if you were afraid of this movie being a carbon copy of Return of the Jedi. It does have a few scenes reminiscent of ROTJ, but otherwise it's an original and different story. The plot is straightforward and pretty easy to follow. However, if you don't pay attention for a few seconds in certain parts, you could miss some major details. In true Abrams fashion, this movie is like a rollercoaster. Very fast paced, with lots of big action sequences, then a bit of dialogue, then more big action. I like this style of movie and I liked it in The Force Awakens. It's a good formula, but there's a lot going on in this movie. They have to wrap up the trilogy, the saga, and do some damage control on The Last Jedi. All of this works pretty well with the pace, but a lot of times it just feels so jam packed with stuff that I don't have any time to breathe or absorb what just happened; the film keeps moving along at the same pace. This takes away from some scenes that should pack more emotional punch than they end up having because the movie and the characters move on from it so quickly. Additionally, there are some things in the movie that aren't explained very well. They're either explained vaguely or the reasoning for it is silly. For example, the biggest problem for me is that they hardly explain how Palpatine is back. They're basically like "the Sith can cheat death so here he is lol he used dark side tricks". There's another important scene in the movie where they do explain how something happens, but it seems sort of silly to me. I won't spoil it, but it happens sort of randomly and a character just says one line about it so we understand what's happening, and then it happens. Another thing about this movie is that it is very fanservice heavy. There's one scene that I find pretty weird that I think was in there just to please fans. It's a minor thing that isn't really explored thankfully, but it just felt out of place and like blatant fanservice. For the most part though, the use of fanservice isn't a bad thing in my opinion. It's not just cheap fanservice (minus the scene I mentioned); it ties into the plot and makes sense for the film it's in. The Rise of Skywalker caters to fans, giving them what they want, rather than desperately trying to subvert our expectations. On the topic of subverting expectations, this movie does have some surprises in it, which is nice. Some people could maybe predict them as the surprises get closer, but I'm sure there will be at least one surprise for everyone. The action in the film is great. We have several lightsaber battles, all of which are very entertaining. It's nice to see Kylo and Rey face off once again now that they have both grown much more powerful. It makes for an exciting duel and shows their individual improvement. The space battles are huge and there's plenty of Millenium Falcon action. 

Visuals and Score

The score in this movie is fantastic as always. John Williams brings back old favorites as well as new and exciting themes and the placement/use of them is very well done. It is a very good looking movie as well; all the locations look lived in and the creatures and ships look real as can be. The visuals are more natural and less aesthetically pleasing than the red and white contrast in The Last Jedi, but they do make nice use of colors in certain locations. 

Wrapping Things Up

The Rise of Skywalker was tasked with closing out not only the sequel trilogy but the entire Skywalker saga (at least until someone takes over Kathleen Kennedy's job somewhere down the line and decides to make a Star Wars Episode X). I think this movie wraps up the sequel trilogy really well. It carries emotional weight and is overall satisfying. Practically all of the important questions we had for this trilogy are answered, and after watching this movie it makes the previous two movies a little bit better knowing how things are resolved. As for wrapping up the whole saga, it does pretty well. It has a lot of nostalgic moments reminiscent of the original trilogy as well as plot points that actually tie into those movies. They have a lot of moments in general that sort of solidify the entire saga's story, but the fact that this trilogy is so flawed kind of leaves a sour taste in one's mouth when looking back on the whole saga. Most of that isn't this movie's fault, but when you look back on the movies as a complete story, it's just a little wonky. I'm glad these movies exist of course and personally I think The Rise of Skywalker does a great job of wrapping up the saga, but when you have 40 years worth of material and Return of the Jedi already gives a satisfying ending, this film could leave more to be desired by some fans. 

The Rise of Skywalker is not a perfect film. It has its flaws, but they don't take away too much from a great end product: A fast paced Star Wars movie with plenty of action and adventure that caters to fans, resulting in a satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga.
Rating: 8/10