Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
*** ½ / *****
Directed by: J.J.
Abrams.
Written by: Chris Terrio
& J.J. Abrams and Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow based on characters
created by George Lucas.
Starring: Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam
Driver (Kylo Ren), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), John Boyega (Finn), Anthony
Daniels (C-3PO), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Naomi Ackie (Jannah), Keri Russell (Zorii Bliss), Carrie Fisher
(Leia Organa), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine), Billy Dee Williams (Lando
Calrissian), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Lupita
Nyong'o (Maz Kanata), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Mark Hamill (Luke
Skywalker), Richard E. Grant (Allegiant General Pryde), Greg Grunberg (Snap
Wexley).
The Rise
of Skywalker is the final chapter in what is the oddest of the three Star Wars
trilogies to date. Odd because in this era of the MCU, where Marvel plans
everything multiple movies ahead, it almost feels like with this series, there
was no plan film-to-film. The Force Awakens was a pure nostalgia delivery
system – basically a remake of A New Hope, with different characters stepping
into the roles, and different family backstories and mysteries, etc. – but a
movie designed to give fans of the original trilogy precisely what they wanted,
after the disappointing prequel trilogy. When Rian Johnson took over for The
Last Jedi – the best Star Wars movies since The Empire Strikes Back (no, I don’t
want to hear why it sucked from you – I’ve heard it, you’re wrong, and I don’t
care), he tried to drag the series, kicking and screaming, into a new era – an era
in which you leave the past behind, and move into the future. He seemed to
discard many of the mysteries JJ Abrams set up in The Force Awakens – and more
than that, tried to tell you that they didn’t matter. It was a risky gambit – a
bet that after giving fans precisely what they wanted with The Force Awakens,
now he would give the series precisely what it needed – a way forward into a
new world. And then JJ Abrams took it back over for The Rise of Skywalker, and
essentially decided to undo it all.
Personally,
I liked where Johnson was going with this series – away from all the family
legacy stuff, where you were defined by who your parents were. He seemed to set
Rey (Daisy Ridley) up to be a new kind of hero – something he continued right
to the last shot of the movie, with some random kids using the force. Johnson
clearly decided not to make your parents Star Wars. Abrams on the other hand,
seems to want to do just that. In retrospect, perhaps the smarter play would
have been to just let Abrams do all three films. At the very least, it would
have meant he wouldn’t have had to spend so much time in the first half of Rise
of Skywalker seemingly trying to undo what Johnson did. And perhaps with a
different second chapter, the big reveal of Rey’s true lineage in this film wouldn’t
have felt like such a betrayal to who she is (or, who we thought she was) and
it would have made more sense – not to mention the why Last Jedi’s most
divisive character, Rose, is just insultingly tossed aside in this film. We
still would have gotten the biggest groaner of this film (“He must have been on
a different transport”) – but maybe it wouldn’t stick out quite so much if it
was the only clunker in the film.
On the
whole though, I have to say I enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker. It isn’t The Last
Jedi style ambitious, not quite the nostalgia delivery system of The Force
Awakens – but much of it is fun. There are battles galore in the film – that is
basically a long chase sequence after a MacGuffin, before the film tosses that
aside when it’s no longer needed, but by then, the endgame has been set up. And,
as in the past, it plays out on two fronts – Rey and Kylo Ren with light sabers
(and whatever else I didn’t like about the way they concluded this story, I did
like who their story ended) and big space battle playing out as well. You add
in more top notch special effects, John Williams music and moments specifically
designed to make you mist up, that still work anyway, and you have an
entertaining Star Wars movie. In terms of acting, I’ll single out Daisy Ridley,
who does all she can with the material, and is usually very good, and
especially Adam Driver – who shows just why he may be the best working actor
right now, as no matter what they throw at Kylo Ren, he more than sells it.
The
problem with Star Wars at this point is more one of expectation than reality.
We really should get used to the idea that a new Star Wars movie isn’t necessarily
a massive event as it once was, and we need to hang every expectation on every
one. Before 2015, there had been six Star Wars movies – and they’ve now made
five more in that time – one every year. It’s just another cinematic universe
at this point. If they’re going to continue, fans are going to have to become
more flexible – allowing more than one vision in this universe. Otherwise, what
precisely is the point of continuing to make these film – other than as a
branding and merchandising opportunity for Disney.
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