Large scale film franchises are not common. They are difficult enough to launch, let alone the dedication of resources needed to keep them aloft, and it gets even trickier when it comes to trying to stick the landing. That said, we should all take a moment to recognize just how truly remarkable that accomplishment actually is. It doesn’t happen often although 2019 just so happened to see two such properties (both Disney owned) that took very different paths to the finish line. While the Avengers franchise was a well-plotted course with a coherent and calculated story arc, the third trilogy in the Star Wars saga seemingly had none of that. The Rise of Skywalker is a nostalgia-fueled action fest that should appease the masses but never manages to make the jump to a truly compelling story.
If you read my work, you’ll know I was no fan of The Last Jedi but much of that was due to a high level of personal anticipation. I was not kind in my review two years ago but decided to go back and re-watch it for the first time in the name of due diligence and, with recalculated expectations, the positives stood out a lot more…not enough to change my opinion but the disappointment was gone. Fast forward to 2019 and, following my own advice, expectations were about as low as they could be for the conclusion to this story.
Notwithstanding the regular pressure associated with running the world’s most beloved film franchise, there was a lot going on behind the scenes of The Rise of Skywalker. Carrie Fisher, who was set to have a substantial role, passed away before principal photography began in August of 2018. The previous entry in the series, Episode VIII, was met with widespread criticism and became the most divisive film in the franchise. TLJ also took a significant step backward financially taking in about $700-million less than The Force Awakens which lead to a lot of second-guessing and put Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in a tough spot. Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) who had signed on to direct Episode IX was subsequently replaced by the returning J.J. Abrams., citing “creative differences”. These are typically not good signs and they were only exacerbated by a very strict production schedule.
Anyway, that’s housekeeping so let’s get into the merits of the film itself. I’m pretty good in terms of spoilers and I’m confident that I can discuss this movie without giving away anything important. However, I may discuss some elements of the movie that ardent fans may deem to be spoilers, so I’m dropping the marker here.
***Potential Spoilers Ahead***
This movie is problematic in a number of ways so it’s a bit difficult to find a starting point but, perhaps most surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Again, I set the bar really low but I had a good time and that’s really what Abrams’ vision of this new trilogy was all about. Rise steers us back in the direction of TFA but also handcuffs the plot to these unoriginal, regurgitated moments and overdone plot points. Insert gratuitous Millennium Falcon chase scene, low stakes lightsaber battle, desert planet, cute new droids, unnatural humor, audience-pandering nostalgia and…lather, rinse, repeat. It’s a tough spot for J.J. to be in because he so clearly loves Star Wars. I think he genuinely wanted to make everyone happy but that’s not realistic and instead ended up having to basically undo the previous film. Rian Johnson’s offering wasn’t my cup of tea either but it at least it took some chances and made an effort to carve out its own identity.
One of the first issues to emerge with this new film is bad dialogue, like really bad. Very early on, Poe and Rey argue about bullshit just for the sake of showing them butting heads. Does that ever matter beyond that one interaction? Absolutely not. The script is riddled with this kind of empty dialogue. One such exchange literally goes as follows:
C3PO: “They fly now!”
Finn: “They fly now?!”
Poe: “They fly now…”
That moment is meant to be funny and endearing but it’s neither. It literally does nothing for any of the characters involved. While having a writing team certainly has advantages, there were clearly a lot of competing philosophies at play when it came to penning the script. Abrams and Chris Terrio (Justice League, Batman v Superman), yes that Chris Terrio, got the screenplay credit but Trevorrow and Derek Connelly got story credits here too. Quite a bit about the plot is given away in the trailer which undermined any potential surprises but left a major backstory vacuum that never really gets addressed. While certain elements were plainly given away, much of the connective tissue was strangely vague and there’s a serious lack of exposition where it’s desperately needed and far too much of it when it’s not. “The Force” becomes this narrative crutch that’s used to explain away anything the writers didn’t like and the threat in the story never feels substantial as a result. At a cursory glance, the story fiber makes just enough sense to keep barreling ahead through the action but if you stop and tug at any individual thread, it starts to unravel into a bizarre and confusing mess.
The biggest narrative airball in this whole thing was the misdirection of Kylo Ren. He’s easily the most interesting character in the trilogy and Adam Driver is the best performer of the new cast but takes a backseat to Rey’s very predictable trajectory. The entire trilogy could have (and should have probably) been based around his character arc and wouldn’t have needed the side-questy nature of all the others.
I like Daisy Ridley as Rey and didn’t mind her being the main character, she’s easily on the very short “best-of” list for the new trilogy, but her heroic arc just isn’t as deep as it should be. Even the big reveal we’ve been waiting to see was hollow and unrewarding. The quasi-romantic relationship between Kylo and Rey has been at the center of this new movie series but the focal point of it all was backward. Their Jedi-FaceTime sessions dominate large chunks of this movie and now has an additional element of Wonkavision going on as well. More of “The Force” just being whatever it needs to be to suit this story.
Both of these characters have stories that needed to be told but only one of them has a natural curve. I’m sure the studio pointed to the prequel trilogy as evidence that a villain-centric story wouldn’t work again but let’s not forget Hayden Christensen and a number of other bad performances helped torpedo those movies. It’s really a shame these two characters (and performers) were wasted over the course of these films.
Thankfully, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega dialed it back some with the overacting. It’s tough to blame them with the switch in the director’s chair and their characters being remodeled for each of the three installments. It was tough sledding for Dom Gleeson as well who was a complete cartoon character as General Hux up until this point, so much so that Richard E. Grant was brought on as an additional general in the ranks of the First Order just to bring some respect back to the position.
The Princess Leia thing was weird because it was based largely on archived footage from the other films and Fisher didn’t even get an “In Memorium” moment at the beginning or after the credits (yes I stayed and there’s no post-credits scene). Then poor Rose got buried right in the background again after having her turn as one of the main characters in TLJ. She wasn’t a great character to begin but the performance was more dialed in this time. The weight of the entire saga was never going to be on the shoulders of Kelly Marie Tran, so it was a waste to inject her into the second film just to pull her out, almost completely, for the finale. I understand that this series had to appeal to an immeasurably broad audience, but the introduction of so many new characters created more problems than it solved.
Sound design and John Williams’ iconic score have always been two of the most important pieces of the Star Wars puzzle. Without that music, who knows how well these films would have done. When you hear that music plus the sound of a TIE fighter screeching or the hum of a lightsaber and you throw in some strong production design, the shell of the film is in great shape. Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins designed some standout, goosebump-inducing moments but the overall visual tone of the film is fairly drab. Thankfully, it sounded as good as ever and should be in the running for all the sound engineering awards.
I get the feeling fandom is going to carry you a long way when it comes down to personal enjoyment. There will be no shortage of people tearing it down but there are going to be hardcore supporters as well. Strangely enough, my theater wasn’t at 100% capacity on opening night. Even more surprising, nobody applauded when the credits started to roll. Those are probably not great signs in terms of how this film is going to be received as we head into Christmas.
When it all came to the end, Rise of Skywalker didn’t stick the landing. It didn’t feel like the end of a long and arduous saga that spanned decades and generations. It didn’t feel epic. I’m probably not alone in this but I wanted that decisive end and the closure associated with it. Instead, it just felt like we were right back at the beginning of more new potential stories within this galaxy, perhaps even more stories connected to this exact narrative bloodline. Lord knows these movies have made a ludicrous amount of money but this trilogy has been poorly executed and obviously mismanaged from the start. As a collective whole, it’s the worst trilogy of the three because it never really knew what to do with the brand other than pimp it out. I’m sure there are plenty of ideas on the table, so it’s only a matter of time until we see exactly what’s next for our new heroes but you can be sure that it’s coming.
Once you’ve seen the movie, these are a couple of spoiler-rich articles that articulate the problems pretty well, if you’re willing to have a sense of humor about it:
How Rise of Skywalker Makes its Predecessors Worse & The 20 Worst Parts of Rise of Skywalker
Recommendation: You’ve come this far, what’s one more gonna hurt. See it for the sake of closing out the series and saying goodbye to some of your favorite characters.