Honestly, I never thought this day would come. In 1983 there were rumours in the playground that George Lucas had nine chapters of Star Wars planned, but it seemed made up. None of us would have have predicted that a fourth Star Wars film would be released 16 years later, and none of us could possibly have foreseen that another 12 years after the disappointing prequels wrapped up, the third trilogy would kick off. It’s been more than 42 years in the making, which is essentially my whole life, but at long last Star Wars’ ninth chapter has finally arrived.
Picking up more or less where The Last Jedi left off, Rise of Skywalker immediately confirms that Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is back and hasn’t lost one bit of his galaxy-dominating ambition. With a whole fleet of Star Destroyers at his command and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) at his side, the Emperor’s goal is to destroy the Resistance’s rebels once and for all. It’s up to Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), and Finn (John Boyega) to lead the Resistance into battle against the Emperor and finally foil his dark plans, with the help of many old friends along the way.
By any objective measure, Rise of Skywalker is probably the weakest film of the final trilogy. Clearly spawned from a checklist of items that needed to be addressed, Rise of Skywalker is exactly the sum of its parts. Fortunately, its parts are very well-crafted and they fit together to close out the Star Wars ennealogy as well as this fanboy could have hoped. Some of J.J. Abrams’ choices are not entirely satisfying on their own, but combined, they provide some closure, some redemption, and a whole lot of Return of the Jedi flavour. The choice to borrow so liberally from RotJ, in particular, grants a satisfying symmetry to the whole affair.
An argument can be (and has been) made that Rise of Skywalker plays it too safe. No doubt that is a conscious choice by Abrams and an understandable reaction to the (unfair) hate The Last Jedi received for trying to take these films to new places. The choice to emulate the final (and weakest) movie of the original trilogy is one such safe choice, and overall, I agree that Rise of Skywalker plays it safe at every turn. But isn’t that beside the point?
Rise of Skywalker takes us to where we’ve been and in revisiting these familiar places gives us a final showdown between good and evil where the fate of the galaxy is at stake, where lightsabers and force lightning flash while a small rebel fleet takes on impossible odds, where working together for the right cause offsets a shortage in numbers, and where good always finds a way to win. That is the only way the Star Wars saga could have ended, and that’s exactly what Rise of Skywalker delivers.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I’m gonna watch it tonight and am already afraid, very afraid. 😐
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ennealogy – great word, did you have to look it up?
I think it’s funny that some of the praise you extend here you offered as criticism for TFA. Perhaps you too have grown over the course of this last trilogy? Or are you just living under undue influence?
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Bwhahahaha … ** Jay drops mic and walks away!** 😀
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I definitely had to look up ennealogoy. I wanted to call it a triple trilogy but figured I could stand to use the real word. And there it is!
I think I have adjusted my expectations over these last 4 years. And also realized that maybe the original trilogy, for all my fond memories, isn’t the pinnacle of cinema I once believed it to be. Also, what else did i really want if not sequels that remind me of the original films?
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Heh, heh, heh, yeah we are such fickle creatures we humans. 🙂
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I hope they had to destroy yet another BBoD — big ball of death
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Am glad for you Sean!
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I’ll be watching it on Saturday together with my sons. I love Sean’s closing remarks that “a small rebel fleet takes on impossible odds, where working together for the right cause offsets a shortage in numbers, and where good always finds a way to win.” I hold onto hope that, in the real world, we humans can triumph over the evil forces driving our species towards self-destruction.
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I remember those playground rumors back in 1983 about more Star Wars films, and I remember riding in the back of an adult’s car (my friends and I weren’t old enough to drive yet) and one of my friends saying “I bet Lucas is already working on the next six films and we’ll see them in a few years.”
And it pains me a little to say that I think they could have been better if that had been the case.
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It really would have been better if he had them all planned out, and also better if he hadn’t then pretended to have a plan!
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They could’ve ended this without repeating the exact same things ROTJ did. Ben dying was the biggest misstep of them all, IMO.
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Agreed on Ben. That was senseless. We didn’t need him to come that close to his grandfather’s story. Redemption would have been enough for this film, and then leave it open for him to return at some point. That would have been more a more interesting choice.
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“a small rebel fleet takes on impossible odds, where working together for the right cause offsets a shortage in numbers, and where good always finds a way to win.” Sounds familiar.
I was surprised how long my Star Wars indifference has lasted. Haven’t been that fussed to go get a ticket yet, but was chatting with some pals about a cinema trip in a week or so.
I’m not even that fussed about the spoiler in the comments there.
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My sister was attempting to organize a mass exit of the husbands on Christmas Eve to go see this while we stayed home and chatted (added bonus|: not having to see it ourselves, which is exactly what we did with Avatar I don’t know how long ago). Of course, we already had opening night tickets, though I figured Sean would be up for a repeat viewing.
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I’ve always loved Return of the Jedi. I know, that makes me weird.
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I’m going to see this tomorrow morning and… with low expectations. At least it’s not a Michael Bay film or Cats.
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Exactly, perspective!
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It used to be my mission to convert people who hadn’t seen these but I’ve recently grown out of it. A little perspective and our recent marathon has confirmed to me that the most recent films are the strongest of the series. And even though Rise of Skywalker isn’t the best of that bunch, I would still go see it again!
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I enjoyed it, but I wish … it could’ve been, more than 80% RotJ/20% new stuff.
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`I liked it better when it was called “The Return of the Jedi”.
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I saw the three original films (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi), but have had zero interest in seeing any of the later films. I just do not care. Have also never seen a single Star Trek film either.
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I’ll wait til it comes out on Amazon. 😉 Maybe I’ll force myself into a 9-movie marathon at that point, and nap through 1,2,3,6 and 8. 😁
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