Embracing dumb fun of THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

This past December we saw the end of the Skywalker saga. There is a mountain to unpack with The Rise of Skywalker, some great, and some...not so great.

Let’s start with our vegetables and get my negative notes out of the way. This is far from a perfect film. It moves way too fast; if The Force Awakens was too kinetic for you, then this is not the movie for you. This hops from planet to planet, plot point to plot point so fast that, I’ll be honest, it soured me on my first watch. This movie needs much more time to breathe, to let the characters actually recognize that the events that transpire in the film actually did transpire. It’s not that there are no consequences or no one notices anything, but there is a level of “oh…well would you look at that…” in this film that does undercut some of the more thrilling bits. There is also a death fake-out that I think is completely useless, but in an attempt to make the first chunk of this review spoiler free, I won’t delve into it. Just know that it’s there. The film does also need more time in between setups and payoffs. You’ll find out a piece of information or a character will have a tidbit and in practically the next scene that thing will be brought up, and payed off. But, my biggest issue with the movie has to be the non-reveal of Palpatine’s return. We are informed that Emperor Palpatine, previous villain of the franchise, has returned OFF SCREEN in the opening crawl. That is inexcusable, there is not a single good reason for introducing the villain pulling the strings the entire time like this. None of these things are big enough to ruin the movie for me, a giant Star Wars fanboy, but if you’re not the biggest Star Wars fan you might want to avoid this one. Because this is a passionate sendoff to the Skywalker saga as a whole, for all the highs and all the lows. I just wish we had an extra 20-40 minutes to really let this swan song deliver the beats like I know it can.

This passion hasn’t gone unnoticed though, there are some really great things in this movie! JJ Abrams and cinematographer Dan Mindel might not have topped the next level shots from Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, but they have indeed topped their previous work from The Force Awakens, delivering a visually captivating movie. Brilliant wide shots bring to life fleets of Star Destroyers, thrilling dog fights, far away deserts, ancient Sith temples, classic Star Wars ship interiors and a hundred other fully realized locations that we arrive at in that aforementioned breakneck pace. While I did knock that pace earlier, after my first viewing, it does create a true space faring adventure through and through. We hop from planet to planet constantly in this film: if you don’t like the look or feel of one location, fret not! Simply wait a few minutes and we’ll be in a new, palpable location! The creatures of all locations are also beautifully crafted, not since the Star Wars of old have we had so many practical aliens on screen, giving another level of fun, tangible adventure to this tale. The film also has some of the best characters of the Skywalker saga. The friendships that are cemented in this movie are some for the ages. Long gone are the days of wooden prequel acting, here is the day of characters like Poe Dameron: sassiest pilot in the galaxy and the full-circle, gorgeous, tragedy that is Ben Solo, possibly the most fully realized character in Star Wars history. 

I need to gush here for a minute. Adam Driver must have severe back problems from carrying this trilogy. This man has taken, by all means, a character that should be the 13-year-old’s epitome of cool, and made him an understandable, human being with wants, needs, and indisputable regrets. That brings me to the things that this movie does pull of incredibly. There are moments that, as a lifelong Star Wars shill, hit so much harder than they rightfully should. But, to talk about them, I do in fact need to go into spoiler territory, I’m sorry. So, skip this next beat if you have yet to see it! Alright, everyone here has either seen the movie or does not care about spoiling the events of the film for themselves. Right? Good. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo’s final meeting with his now past father, Han Solo, is done so well, that I question who wrote it. Expertly harkening back to their previous fateful encounter with the exact lines: “I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it…” and Han resting his hand on his son’s face one last time to tell him, “You do.” draws my throat tight every time I hear it. And little Ben Solo not being strong enough to tell his dad that he loves him, and Han saying, “I know”, field goal punts my heart out of the nearest window just thinking about it! I know that this movie is just a big, dumb, fun, hot mess of a space adventure, but you can’t tell me that doesn’t work! I know it’s not the deepest movie out there, I know it’s not the perfect Star Wars film, but if you’re going to sit here and tell me that this is the worst sci-fi movie ever, then I’m going to tell you that you’re flat out wrong. If the Star Wars franchise means as much to you as it does to me, I say keep this one by your heart. Because it’s the ride of the galaxy.