The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once again as the journey of Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle begins.
To be fair to director J.J. Abrams, he came into “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with two strikes against him. Not only did he have no coherent umbrella storyline that’s been put in place for the series of new films, but one of his stars had passed away. However, the resulting narrative constructed by him and co-writer, Chris Terrio, is a series of discombobulated events that, if you pause long enough to consider things like plot and motivation, becomes evident that most of the film doesn’t make any sense. Add to that an handful of underdeveloped characters and scattershot editing and the last “Star Wars” film in the “Skywalker” saga is a confusingly bloated entry in the celebrated franchise.
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With the death of “Supreme Leader Snoke” leaving a void at the pinnacle of the bad guy hierarchy, somehow, “Emperor Palpatine” is resurrected and is plotting massive destruction over the galaxy, far, far, away with a whole fleet of overpowered “Star Destroyers”. While finishing up her “Jedi” training, “Rey” must spring into action in order to stop this cackling villain from achieving his goal and while along the way, try to defend herself from “Kylo Ren” and his dark tendencies.
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The film’s plot can easily be compared to kids playing with their “Star Wars” action figures, as the entire narrative feels like those two kids are making up outlandish stories and the action figures are the actors on screen themselves. Everything feels randomly slapped together without much concern for logic, consistency, or coherence. No matter how hard you try to defend it, it doesn’t change the fact that there’s just no good explanation for how exactly everything has came to be. After a clunky first act that’s filled with an abundance of plot exposition, the film finally settles into a groove of delivering some entertaining action sequences and beautiful visuals that’s playing up the conflict between its two main characters, one descended from the series most iconic characters, the other uncertain of her origins. The craft of the film is incredibly high, as Director J.J. Abrams knows how to stage and design a major blockbuster, and there are some remarkable set pieces here with John Williams’ exuberant score blasting in the background. One example of an awesome sequence is an intense water-soaked “Lightsaber” duel between “Rey” and “Kylo Ren” on top of wreckage. However, these scenes noticeably lack the weight and emotional drive to really immerse you into it’s messy story it’s trying to tell.
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The film tries to defend its disorderly narrative with some little love letters written for the fans. There are some welcome cameos, one of which is designed to bring a tear to the eye. The Easter eggs, although minor, can provoke smiles and pleasing fanboy giggles. In bringing back some old faces and visuals, Abrams displays a great understanding of the power of nostalgia that will most certainly warm every “Star Wars” fan’s heart and scrub the bad thoughts of it’s messy storytelling.
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As has been the case throughout the series, Daisy Ridley shines in the lead role. Despite her character lacking the necessities for being a powerful figure to become invested to, she still displays incredible emotion and handles her role well. That being said, the real shining star here is Adam Driver with an magnificently moving performance. Having the best arc in the film with impressive character development, Driver is captivating in every scene he’s in, stealing the spotlight with his wide range of emotion and subtle charm. As for John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, there’s not much to comment on their role that’s sort of left to the side.
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“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” can be compared to “Kylo Ren” rebuilding his destroyed mask. Some fans of the series believe that “The Last Jedi” destroyed their favorite franchise, and here’s J.J. Abrams literally picking up the broken pieces and putting them back together. And yet, as “Kylo” is told in the film, you can still see the cracks, meant as a criticism of “Kylo’s” uncertainty, but reflective of the film too. The film delivers on the visual wonders of a galaxy, far, far, away, but all the eye candy can’t obscure a hollow core. Almost like the blockbuster version of a “Jedi” mind trick, all the loving Easter eggs for the fans and incredible action sequences creates the perception of the ultimate gratifying finale. But it’s nothing more than enjoyable bits and pieces that reduces the big picture to an amalgam of half-hearted ideas and lazy storytelling. For better or worse, “The Skywalker Saga” is over, and I can’t help but feel a little melancholy not only about the bluntness of that statement, but the manner in which it came to an end. At least the film’s epilogue is note-perfect.
