Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker - Review

"Taking one last look, sir. At my friends" – A review of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. 

I don't know if I've ever been more relieved to see a trilogy come to an end. Whilst I love Star Wars – and truly, I do love Star Wars – the sequel trilogy was a rough watch for me. Still, I found myself booking tickets to see the last of the three in the cinema, my hope not quite dead, trusting in the franchise to provide me with the joy it once had.

Messages of revenge are seldom welcome, but least of all when they come from presumed dead Emperors. Not only is Palpatine alive and threatening the galaxy, but he has allied himself with the First Order, creating a truly deadly threat for Rey, for Jedi and for the galaxy as a whole. It's now or never – Rey, Finn and Poe must make their way to Palpatine's secret fleet to take part in one final battle, which will seal the fate of the galaxy and all who dwell within it…

Whilst the previous film felt dull, this one had almost the opposite problem – it was rushed. There were some genuinely good ideas and plot points that could have been so interesting, but it felt like the plot was constantly racing to the next scene, giving you no time to really take in what you'd just watched.

Palpatine is an excellent villain, and I'm always excited to see him… yet this time, I couldn't help but feel like he'd been pulled out just to please a particularly vocal set of fans. This calls to a larger issue for me, and that's how reliant on this film was on nostalgia; it relies on call backs to the original film, repeating classic arcs such as redemption arcs and truly relies on original characters to keep the audience interested.

Something I really don't like is retconning in a franchise, and this film does a fair bit of that. I won't spoil the film for those of you who haven't seen it, but the lineage of certain characters change from one film to the next, and I found this to be frustrating and jarring. There are also characters who feel completely sidelined and ignored, and mysteries that remain completely unresolved in the end, with The Rise of Skywalker ignoring or changing elements of what had come before rather than building on them, which is something I just find so difficult to forgive.

So, is the film all bad? No. It is absolutely stunning to look at, just like its predecessors. The lightsaber fights are choreographed beautifully, the battle scenes are exciting, and the special effects are genuinely excellent. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, as Rey and Kylo Ren, are once again fantastic and bring so much emotional depth to their characters that despite the flaws with the film you still genuinely care about them, which speaks volumes for their abilities. As always, a special mention must go to the score of the film, which is absolutely fantastic, completely iconic and instantly recognisable.

I really hate to write such a negative review about a franchise that I have loved for so long, but this trilogy just didn't grab me, no matter how much I wanted it to. It's not memorable, it doesn't have the charm of previous films, and the over reliance on nostalgia is such a wasted opportunity – it's a big galaxy, surely there could have been something new to be found! Overall, The Rise of Skywalker is a rushed and somewhat disappointing ending to a pretty bland trilogy.

Written by Tam Page

Posted by Mr. Tomney

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