Harry Situation Reviews: Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
STAR WARS
EPISODE IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING FOR FANS
EVERYWHERE. THE FINAL CHAPTER IN THE
LONG RUNNING STAR WARS SAGA (FOR NOW)
HAS ARRIVED.
SINCE CREATOR GEORGE LUCAS SOLD HIS
FRANCHISE TO MAKE EVEN MORE MONEY,
FANS HAVE BEEN DIVIDED. SOME LOVE THE
NEW FILMS. OTHERS ACT OUT LIKE SPOILED
TODDLERS, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE LAST JEDI.
HEY, JUST SAYING.
HOPEFULLY THIS FINAL FILM WILL END ALL
THAT AND WE CAN ALL FINALLY MOVE ON
WITH OUR LIVES.
It’s here!
The final film in the Star Wars Saga, The Rise of Skywalker, with J.J. Abrams returning to the director’s chair to finish what he started. And reprising their roles are fan favorite characters both old and new: Daisey Ridley as Rey; Adam Driver as Kylo Ren; Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker; John Boyega as Finn; Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron; Anthony Daniels as C-3PO; Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian; Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico; Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux; the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa; and even Ian McDiarmid reprises as the dreaded Dark Lord of the Sith, Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious.
A year after the events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and the galaxy is at war once more with the Resistance and the First Order. Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron fight on. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren strikes the galaxy with fear. And an old enemy, Emperor Palpatine, rises from the darkest corners of the galaxy as the ancient conflict between the Jedi and the Sith finally comes to an end. How could Palpatine be alive again, you ask. Just remember this: “the dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
You all know I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I love Star Wars. I don’t think anything can change that. Not the opinion of critics. Not the whiny, juvenille backlash from fans. I’ve practically grown up with the series starting back with the Prequels. I’ve honestly enjoyed each film of the franchise. Sure, there are a handful of films where my opinion hasn’t been favorable, but there’s not a single film in the franchise that’s received a grade lower than a C-.
So how doe the final installment hold up?
First, I’m going to do something different and talk about the major issues with this film, as well as the whole Sequel Trilogy. I love The Force Awakens, and yes, I do still like The Last Jedi, although I do see and agree with some of its criticism these days. That being said, it’s clear that Disney and Lucasfilm needed a road map from the very beginning. J.J. Abrams already had something set up with The Force Awakens, but Rian Johnson kinda made his own Star Wars film that conflicted with the direction Abrams wanted to go with the Sequel Trilogy. Basically we got two different films of set up and now Abrams is trying to conclude all that set up and answer all those questions the fans had, and at the same time trying to make a film that audiences will like. It’s not an easy task for the guy. I’ll cut Abrams some slack for that. But if I’m going to be honest in my review, I need to address the big problem, and that is this story’s structure. It feels very unbalanced. Like I said, Abrams tried all he could with continuing from The Last Jedi but he also had to do some retcons of The Last Jedi too. A lot of fans will be pleased about that, but not all of them. Me on the other hand, I figured that was going to happen regardless, so I’m not too surprised, but I’m a little disappointed that they felt it was necessary to take a step backward and try again instead of trying to progress forward. Because of this Abrams was forced to wrap everything up and it does hurt this film’s story. Not to mention that there were some pacing issues. This is a two and a half hour movie yet a couple of scenes felt too long while a couple others felt rushed. Again, Abrams did all this just to please all the Star Wars fans.
Now we come to a personal complaint not against the film but the whole Star Wars franchise: catering to the fans, who have been nothing but ungrateful since George Lucas sold his franchise to Disney for $9 billion. As I said, so far I’ve been really enjoying these new Star Wars films we’ve been getting for the last four/five years. While I do have my nitpicks and criticisms, they’re not enough to take away my joy and love for the franchise. What does take away my joy and love, however, are the fans who constantly bitch and moan about these films. It’s made worse when fans would go as far as use social media to harass and send death threats to the cast and crew of these films, as well as to their families. It’s because of this barbarous immaturity why I view Star Wars fans as the most toxic fanbase in the world. It’s why I don’t talk about Star Wars to anyone in public these days. There’s nothing wrong with voicing your like/dislike about a film--or films--in a franchise. But you should at the very least do so in a mature manner, meaning act like an adult. Meaning no acting like a spoiled brat who didn’t get the toy they wanted for Christmas. No bullying or harrassing others for liking the thing you dislike. And you need to respect other people’s opinions.
Now J.J. Abrams delivers a film meant to cater to fan’s request. The final result, as you probably heard by now, the critics have mixed feelings about the film, yet fans and audiences suddenly love it. I’m not too surprised by this. It shouldn’t be too much a surprise since they’ve been doing this since the release of The Phantom Menace. Hell, they even hated The Empire Strikes Back when it was first released. I’m not kidding. This kind of behavior is the reason why George Lucas sold his franchise to begin with. He was hurt by how fans reacted to the Prequels so he said, “Screw it, let it be someone else’s problem now.”
I completely understand being so obsessive with a franchise. Believe me, I do. But there comes a point where you gotta take a step back and remind yourself that in the end it’s just a movie. You can get over it and move on with your life. To quote a summary from of my favorite internet reviewers Linkara (aka Lewis Lovhag), nostalgia can be toxic. Not that it is toxic it, but it can be. It’s an assumption of ours that having pleasant memories of something meant that it was always good all the time. Desiring to have that feeling again the ignores all the good that’s come since then and all the bad that was there too. It can poison you, blinding you to your own deceptions and greed of how you think everything should be until you ultimately destroy the thing you love and become the thing you hate.
We need to stop blaming actors, writers, directors, producers, and studios for them not giving what fans want. If anything, fans should be blaming themselves. Disney is not ruining Star Wars. Kathleen Kennedy, the executive producer, is not ruining Star Wars. J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson are not ruining Star Wars. George Lucas did not ruin Star Wars. We ruined Star Wars. Us. The fans. And we should be ashamed. If you’re the person that’s claiming someone or something is ruining your “childhood” because they changed something or made it so that it caters to a new audience, then the question you really need to ask yourself is, did you really have a childhood?
I apologize if I’ve turned this review into a rant on the fanbase, but this is something I’ve been wanting to get off my chest for a while now. You don’t have to agree with me. Hell, you’re free to stop following me after this. But I’m just tired of all the complaining and whining to a franchise I love. We all need to get along and move on.
And now for the positives because honestly there’s plenty to like about this film. For starters, the acting is still great. Folks might disagree with me on this but of out all the trilogies the Sequel Trilogy (technically all of Disney/Star Wars films) has some of the best acting in the whole saga, and this one’s no different. There’s not a single hammy moment. Not a single phoned in moment. Nothing like compared to Hayden Christensen or Natalie Portman from the Prequels. Everyone in this film is top notch. Even if you don’t think the writing is good, you have to admit that all the actors do their damnedest and it works for them. All the actors play off each other very well and I love their characters. Rey, Finn, and Poe have such great chemistry together. R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca, and BB-8 are great supporting characters and provide some strong comic relief. Kylo Ren is a great villain. And just to have Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid return as Lando and the Emperor made it all worthwhile.
But the two stand out characters are in fact Rey and Kylo Ren, all thanks to Daisey Ridley and Adam Driver’s incredible acting. Their scenes together and alone are what help make this movie strong. If you don’t like these two characters, I don’t fucking care. They’re great in my eyes. They’re very complex, they do cool shit, and the actors that play them are amazing.
And let’s talk about Carrie Fisher’s scenes now. Because of her unfortunate death back in late 2016 but J.J. Abrams really wanted conclude her arc in the new trilogy, so they utilized unused footage of her from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Maybe in twenty years or so it will look a little obvious, but I believe that they handled her scenes very well. So thank you J.J. Abrams for this. Thank you for paying homage to everyone’s princess.
I think it goes without saying that the visual effects are amazing, right? That one’s kinda of a gimme for this franchise. But it’s still worth talking about it. The visuals are outstanding. A fantastic blend of CGI and practical effects. Even haters gotta appreciate the hard work that was put into making all the sets and designs look stunning in each new film.
Also, I don’t understand why whenever they talk about the new films they never bring up the musical score. Only I do it. Is that not worth mentioning? Well screw it, I’m gonna bring it up. John Williams’ score is truly outstanding in this film. It’s probably his best from the trilogy, and probably my third or fourth favorite musical score in the Star Wars Saga. I already downloaded the soundtrack from Itunes and I’m loving it!
The action is also great. Each blaster fight, each speeder bike chase, and each lightsaber duel had me at the edge of my seat with a gigantic grin on my face. That final battle during the film’s climax, where all the Resistance ships engaged against the thousands of First Order Star Destroyers, is the stuff I wanted to see in this trilogy for a while now.
But the most important factor that determines my judgement over a movie: fun. Can I have fun with this movie? Did I have fun with this movie? My answer: yes, I did. In fact I had a lot more fun than I expected watching this movie. I don’t care what mixed reception from critics or the complaints from the fanbase. I’m just simplying enjoying the fact that I’m watching a new Star Wars film. Besides, there’s no film trilogy that can be made that can top the greatest film trilogy of them all, Lord of the Rings.
Oh yes. Lord of the Rings > Star Wars. No denying it. No take backs. No regrets.
I’ve come to realize in life that each Star Wars trilogy was made for the generation of that time. The Originals was made for the old generation. The Prequels was made for my generation. And lastly the Sequels was made for this new generation. A generation with wild and fantastic imaginations that will one day create stories of their own. Maybe even ones for Star Wars. This is the franchise’s greatest accomphishment. Where would we be without the like minded writers and creators that have helped expand the Star Wars universe as we know it, in both the old Expanded Universe and the New Canon. I doubt we’d having anything like KOTOR and The Thrawn Trilogy novels without those creators and dreamers. And these new films are the gateways for them to create more.
I’ll say this, if you’re someone who didn’t like The Last Jedi you might like this film because, in some ways, it retcons a lot of that film. If you liked The Last Jedi, I don’t know, maybe you’ll like this, or maybe you won’t. If you haven’t liked any of the new Star Wars films (maybe going as far back as the Prequels too), I don’t know what else to say. Maybe Star Wars really isn’t your thing. Maybe Star Wars was never your thing. Again, I don’t know. There’s always Star Trek you can check out, I guess. But if you’re like me, whether you’re a big fan of the franchise or not, and you enjoy everything that is Star Wars, you’ll love this movie.
Overall, I liked this movie a lot. It’s not the best of the Sequel Trilogy, but it is a strong, solid, and fitting conclusion to the Sequel Trilogy that was a ton of fun to sit and watch from start to finish. But this doesn’t mean that this is the end of Star Wars. Oh no, young padawans. Star Wars has grown so large as a franchise that there’s always room for more stories. This has all been a big learning experience for Disney and Lucasfilm. Perhaps when they make a new trilogy they’ll have a road map set up like for the MCU. Maybe they’ll have Dave Filoni, a man was practically trained under George Lucas and has made Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, to make the next series of films. The future is vast and bright, my friends. Until then, I look forward to the next adventure in that galaxy far, far away.
Light Side:
-Outstanding performances
-Fantastic visuals and action
-John Williams’ score
-Plenty of fan service and cameos
Dark Side:
-Unstructured story
-Some pacing issues
-Catering to fans
-Reylo
Final Grade: C
So those are my thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts? What’s your favorite Star Wars trilogy? Originals? Prequels? Sequels? Or do you, like me, love them all? Please be kind, leave a like or comment, and check out more reviews here on Prose!
If you’re curious about my thoughts on each Star Wars film in the franchise check out the following reviews:
A New Hope: https://theprose.com/post/161886/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-iv-a-new-hope
The Empire Strikes Back: https://theprose.com/post/169728/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-v-the-empire-strikes-back
Return of the Jedi: https://theprose.com/post/175640/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-vi-return-of-the-jedi
The Phantom Menace: https://theprose.com/post/179229/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace
Attack of the Clones: https://theprose.com/post/184308/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones
Revenge of the Sith: https://theprose.com/post/187177/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith
The Force Awakens: https://theprose.com/post/190608/harry-situation-s-countdown-reviews-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens
Rogue One: https://theprose.com/post/120204/harry-situation-reviews-star-wars-rogue-one
The Last Jedi: https://theprose.com/post/195863/harry-situation-reviews-star-wars-episode-viii-the-last-jedi
Solo: https://theprose.com/post/217572/harry-situation-reviews-solo-a-star-wars-story
And may the force be with you, in 2020.
Best Quote:
Leia Organa: “Rey, don’t be afraid of who you are.”
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