Rey confronts her inner demons when it's revealed that Emperor
Palpatine has somehow returned and is planning something terrible. ACTION/SCI-FI
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Star Wars Episode IX:
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I think it’s safe to say at this point that Disney’s handling of the beloved Star Wars franchise has been interesting to say the least. I was initially excited upon hearing the news as I figured a new change of hands could do good for future installments. I was more than happy with The Force Awakens. I loved Rogue One. But then, something happened. The person in charge of this new set of films started showing signs that she may not be the best to handle this. And The Last Jedi came out. A movie that I did not enjoy and seemed to go backwards with its storytelling. Solo didn’t help matters much, either. By this point, I was cautiously optimistic about The Rise of Skywalker. Luckily, I walked out mostly happy with a conclusion that, while still suffering from decisions made in the prior movie, ends this saga pretty damn good.
Right off the bat, I got to give props to director J.J. Abrams. He clearly is a fan of this franchise and does his best to end this on a good note. Questions are answered and are mostly satisfying. The cinematography and shots are absolutely breathtaking. Seriously, a good chunk of this film looks amazing. The humor is on point and the action is tight. And I can’t forget the welcome additions of veteran Star Wars characters to help bring this all to a close. But, for everything that Abrams does right for this conclusion, there are some things which don’t land. Primarily, I’m talking about the well-publicized fan response towards The Last Jedi. It is very apparent throughout the runtime that there is a ton of course correction happening. Now, as previously stated, I wasn’t the hugest fan of the previous installment. But, the groundwork was laid for the conclusion and there were some aspects I enjoyed still. Hence why I was not happy with the treatment of the character of Rose Tico. She is barely in this one and provides solid evidence of why you shouldn’t completely listen to the fans, something this film does suffer from a little. The Rise of Skywalker is a mostly solid conclusion which provides plenty of satisfactory fan service. On the flipside, though, it also suffers from fan response of a previous film and poor handling of this franchise in general. And if you don’t believe me on the latter, remember this was supposed to be a yearly installment franchise. Now, we’re getting a break from film installments for the next few years in favor of future Disney+ shows. Still, it was good to have Star Wars on the big screen again and we at least got a mostly satisfying conclusion. May the force be with you! |
The hype is real, folks. Star Wars is coming to an end, or at least the Skywalker Saga is. J.J. Abrams returns to the director's chair to mop up the mess that Rian Johnson left behind, and his final ninth chapter is good, but it isn't great. The Rise of Skywalker answers many of fans' long-asked questions, and most of the characters' journeys conclude with satisfaction. I won't spoil the movie here, so you can rest easy, and I'll do my best to voice my concerns without ruining the experience.
I would argue most fans are excited about the return of Emperor Palpatine (McDiarmid), and while it is neat to see him again, I wish he didn't have to be here at all. In The Force Awakens, it was clear that Abrams had a plan for this new trilogy, and when Johnson skewed from it with The Last Jedi, it's clear that Abrams became forced to change the plan for the final movie. He had to win back Star Wars purists, and the best way to do that? Bring back the Emperor and promise resolution on Rey's parentage, the point of Snoke, and the Knights of Ren among others. I want to make it clear that I did enjoy the movie, but I feel I would've enjoyed the movie that should've happened a lot more. As always, the action scenes and the music are fantastic. It's the characters that don't exactly shine for me. I feel like we've lost valuable development time by undoing Johnson's mistakes, and now we just have to accept the characters' journeys for what they've become. I think revealing the Emperor's survival completely undercuts Vader's sacrifice in Return of the Jedi, but the way the film handles the legacy of both the Jedi and the Sith is pretty awesome. I have a lot of conflicting emotions with this movie. At least the prequels brought something new to the table. This new trilogy has mostly been a rehash of the original trilogy, but without the emotional stakes and memorable characters. Maybe in 30 years, I'll think differently. But right now, I think the new three may just be the weakest Star Wars trilogy. |