“Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker”
Runtime: 142 mins
Release date: December 20, 2019
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Daisy Ridley
Adam Driver
John Boyega
Oscar Isaac
I do not think many people would or could argue with the belief that Star Wars is the biggest intellectual property on Earth. It spans virtually every medium imaginable—movies, books, games, TV—not to mention the merchandise. It means a great deal to many, many people. Because of this, I would like to give a brief overview of my relationship with the franchise. I was never a die-hard fan of Star Wars. I think the prequels are boring and objectively bad movies. I like the original trilogy. “The Empire Strikes Back” is great, but I enjoy “Return of the Jedi” just a little bit more. As far as these new Disney films, I think “The Force Awakens” was serviceable, but I actually really enjoyed “The Last Jedi.” I certainly have some problems with a few story details in that movie, but I find it to be the most aesthetically pleasing entry in the entire franchise, and I honestly do not mind most of the issues more dedicated fans of the series had. I will be reviewing “The Rise of Skywalker” mostly from this perspective, so those who disagree, which I expect to be a majority of those reading this, should keep that in mind.
With all that being said, “The Rise of Skywalker” is not great. It is painfully obvious there was little to no plan as far as what the direction the story would go over the course of this new trilogy. It started with an extremely safe introduction which fans complained was a blatant re-tread of the original movie. The writer/director of the sequel was subsequently given complete creative control apparently to prevent similar complaints. If that indeed was the intention, it worked quite a bit too well. “The Last Jedi” was too different, fans said. It seemed to change long-established rules for how the Star Wars universe worked and featured quick, perhaps unsatisfying, resolutions to almost all new storylines set up in “The Force Awakens.” I, for one, was firmly uninterested in those storylines and, for the most part, enjoyed the radically new direction of things. However, I do not at all envy those who were tasked with penning the sequel and accounting for all these unexpected changes. “The Rise of Skywalker” is about as coherent and satisfying a conclusion to this trilogy as could be expected.
As incompetent as the prequel trilogy is from the standpoint of essentially every aspect of filmmaking, it cannot be easily denied that there was a planned, three movie-spanning storyline presented, no matter how poorly executed it was. From a filmmaking standpoint, this new trilogy is light-years ahead of the prequels. If only the minimum amount of planning and foresight was put into it, perhaps more people would be willing to admit that. They essentially had to resurrect an old villain just so the movie could have a remotely threatening antagonist. They also bring older heroes back with little to no explanation since the three main characters from the original movies have either been permanently written out of the series or are tragically no longer living.
“The Rise of Skywalker” is a movie I have remarkably little to say about. I do think it continued what was the only remotely coherent three-movie character arc in the entire trilogy with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Of course, the movie has the one outstanding quality which all nine films in the series share, that being the excellent score from John Williams. I suppose I can also say it looked reasonably nice. I simply did not have any investment or interest in what was going on.
In all reality, most everybody who is a Star Wars fan and is interested in seeing “The Rise of Skywalker,” even a good chunk of those with no interest, have already seen it. Anyone who has never seen a Star Wars movie will find “The Rise of Skywalker” somehow more incomprehensible than it already is to people who are familiar with these characters and the world they live in.
Drew Eckhart is a junior history and pre-law major from Edmond, OK. He has loved movies for as long as he can remember but thinks his passion really began when he watched “The Dark Knight” for the first time. His favorite type of movie blends comedy and drama seamlessly, and he loves great action films. In Drew’s free time, he enjoys reading and playing video games, as well as watching TV and movies. His favorite TV show is “BoJack Horseman” and his favorite movie is “The Graduate.”
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