After the immense disappointment of Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, there wasn’t any urgency for me to go see the final instalment in the Skywalker saga. Needless to say, my inner Jedi kept tugging on my nostalgia strings and I finally gave in and went to see the latest Star Wars feature film.
Being that I grew up with Star Wars and have always been a huge fan of the franchise, it does take me awhile to process the films and see where they stand. This time out I decided to attempt a review after one viewing.
So, without further ado here are my initial thoughts on Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.
In The Rise of Skywalker, the once thought dead Palpatine mysteriously returns with his new army the Final Order. With the fate of the galaxy in the balance, The Resistance faces its final and greatest battle.
Love him or hate him, J.J. Abrams had the impossible task of righting the wrongs of the previous film while delivering a satisfying swan song to these beloved characters who have ingrained themselves in both popular culture and a mutigenerational fan base. There was no way that this film was going to please everyone. But J.J. Abrams did the best he could in a no win situation.
In my opinion Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker is a mixed bag. The film does provide glimpses of greatness, but Episode IX stumbles or gets bogged down as J.J. Abrams is busy course-correcting The Last Jedi.
Without giving too much away, I really enjoyed on how they handled Leigh Organa’s (Carrie Fisher) character in the film, and that both Chewbacca and C-3PO get their just due in Episode IX . Also J.J. Abrams does a wonderful job in bringing out the chemistry/ team dynamic of the Rey, Kylo, Poe& Finn characters.
If I had my way, I would have had The Rise of Skywalker’s run time extended and break it up into two installments. The first installment would solely focus on resetting / returning the franchise back to its roots, and then have the second installment focus on a worthy send off for these characters.
With Star Wars meaning so much too so many, there was no way for Disney or J.J. Abrams to please everyone. So in the end, The Rise of Skywalker is a flawed but highly enjoyable sci-fi spectacle, worth checking out in theaters if only to see how the sequel trilogy ends.
