My Review for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

STAR WARS – RISE OF SKYWALKER REVIEW
by Kaz
Movie viewing date: 12/23/19

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

A long time ago, in a land not too far away, movie trailers used to not spoil the contents of their own films. Or at least, be clever in a way that wouldn’t otherwise cheapen the emotional plot points as the narrative progressed when came the premiere. Mind you, this is only a small quibble that will be addressed later, but given the subject of this review, I feel that it would be remiss to not pay due homage in my own way.

Here I am, fighting off the remnants of a cold, fretting over my father’s recent hospitalization and writing a review for a film I once swore that I wouldn’t see: Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker. Why did I swear not to see it? The prior film in Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi, was a complete and utter cinematic failure. Case in point where I had to pirate the movie from the internet, and by the time the credits rolled, I still feel cheated out of my time, even if I had not forked over $14 ($17 for Rise of Skywalker) for a ticket to the cinema. As a wise man once said, “vote with your wallet”, and I emphatically refused to fork over money to a company that not only has done no knowledge and research on the subject, but shows a complete disrespect to both its own narrative and the fans.

Why did I recant my oath? My mother had purchased tickets from Costco, specifically the 4-ticket AMC Yellow Passes. I owed a favor to a family friend, and we decided to spend the evening watching the latest Star Wars film if only to have an excuse to have some drinks after the movie. The fact that my mother’s money goes to Costco for the tickets only sweetens the pot; the $65 that I would have had to pay for four tickets sits elsewhere and far out of reach of Don Mouse, a thought that will comfort me when I go to bed at the end of this review.

||THE ROCKY ROAD TO SKYWALKER||

This film had significant problems, even before I settled into my seat. As Disney’s last movie in their Sequel Trilogy, the stakes for their reputation could not be any higher. The controversy of declaring the Expanded Universe of comics and novels to be non-canon as of 2014 was a sore and contentious point. If the adventures of the New Republic, the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, and the conflict between Jacen and Jaina Solo were not to be adapted, then what was going to replace them would have to live up to live up to both the hype and the high standards held by the fans. At the time, the only media at this point was the 3DCG television show Star Wars Rebels, which was tolerable as far as children’s shows go.

Then came the announcement of a sequel trilogy, as well as a myriad of spin-off films to bridge the gaps between them. The Force Awakens, for all its flaws as a copy-paste of A New Hope for the newest generation of Star Wars fans, was a serviceable film that laid the foundation for new stories to be told and a brand new universe to explored. Cautious optimism and a benefit of the doubt were given. My only gripes at the time were plot quibbles, especially centering around Rey’s quick mastery of the Force and how fast the narrative is to establish her as the main character. Poe is a poor man’s Han Solo, but Finn showed a great amount of promise, and I feel that his character was wasted and not developed properly.

Right on the heels of The Force Awakens came Rogue One, a gritty story of how the Rebel Alliance retrieved the Death Star plans for the attack in A New Hope. While certainly the darkest of the new canon and a noticeable absence of any Jedi, it not only delivered a satisfying story while managing to retain the feel and “spirit” of Star Wars from the original trilogy.
The Last Jedi, on the other hand, completely obliterated any goodwill and trust that Disney accrued with the fanbase. What the writers and director attempted to pass off as a “subversion” of the series came off less of a love letter to the franchise and more like particularly spiteful hatemail. There are several well-produced videos on YouTube that analyze this particular contention, but to be brief, The Last Jedi went as far to “deconstruct” the film without leaving anything behind, destroying established tropes and narrative and telling the audience that they were fools to ever believe in them. To call it a nihilistic film would be an insult to Nietzsche.

Beyond that, director Rian Johnson had taken what J.J. Abrams had laid down in The Force Awakens and ran roughshod over them with the carelessness of a bull in a china shop. Worse that his attitude during interviews and press events came off as arrogant and pretentious, contrasted by an angry Mark Hamil at his side who seemed to not be acting for his portrayal of a bitter, disillusioned Luke Skywalker.

The interim period between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker left many disillusioned and cynical, myself included. Still, Disney marched on. Han Solo received his own origin movie Solo, a heist film about his youth and how he made the Kessel Run. Rebels continued to be tolerable, and the inclusion of Thrawn from the E.U. novels brought equal parts relief and a slap in the face. Star Wars Resistance was touted to be “inspired by anime”, but its trailer and subsequent cell-shaded 3DCGI designs had several wondering if the animation studio took a page out of the 2004 adaptation of Gantz. And in Disneyland, a Star Wars-themed park opened this year, an inevitable perhaps, but the mouse is going out of its way to ensure it doesn’t fail, in spite of less-than-stellar performance and reviews.

Perhaps a turning point in this sea of disappointment is The Mandalorian, a show set a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi. This Disney+ exclusive revolves around the eponymous Mandalorian, nicknamed “Mando” by his fellow bounty hunters, taking odd jobs where he can until his latest job makes him reconsider his moral stance. I won’t be the first to admit that it doesn’t feel like a proper “Star Wars” show, but all things considered, space westerns work fine as well, with Mando characterized as a cowboy/samurai hybrid. A more cynical side of me would just call this Lone Wolf and Cub in space, especially how both Mando and Ogami Ittou have their own respective sons to care for as they wander from job to job.

Additionally, Respawn Entertainment released their video game Jedi: Fallen Order, a hack-and-slash action RPG in the vein of Dark Souls set between the prequel and original trilogy. You play as Cal Cestis, a Jedi Padawan that survived Order 66 and living low as a shipbreaker and scrap salvager on a third-world planet. When he uses the Force to save his friend’s life, Imperial forces begin to pursue him, sending him off on a galaxy-trotting adventure with a ragtag crew of misfits. While the only extent of role-playing is customizing Cal’s fighting abilities and various cosmetic elements such as clothes and lightsaber, the game received glowing reviews, and there are hints of expansions down the line. This could not come sooner after the controversies of the Star Wars Battlefront, especially those pertaining to gambling and lootboxes.

Shifting gears, Rise of Skywalker had its own fair share of problems within production. The years between 2017 and 2019 for the series could not be characterized as anything beyond a comedy of errors.

Originally planning to have three different directors for each film (a problem in of itself within the realms of film production), J.J. Abrams was brought back to solve the mess that Johnson had left. The untimely death of Carrie Fisher had Disney scrambling to adjust the script accordingly. Focus groups were polling negative for previews and early cuts of the film. Internal leaks surfaced on social media, with some plot points so outlandish that they hovered on the edge of just being plausible for Disney. Kelly Marie Tran found her character of Rose in a diminishing roll, causing outcries of racism towards minority actresses. And only a month before the premiere, John Boyega, the actor for Finn, lost his script in a motel room after a party, and was found by a janitor. Passed onto a more interested party, the script was put up for auction on eBay, before being promptly purchased by a Disney employee for $75.

This is only skimming the highlights of the circus. On December 20th, the clowns come home to roost, and J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy are the ringmasters of this debacle...

||RISE AND FALL||

/Death is (Not) the End/

J.J. Abrams is infamous for being unable to commit to any one idea, as well as properly resolve a series. Those familiar with his prior directorial works (specifically the TV show Lost), would be similarly disappointed; for those whose first experience of Abrams-ing is this film, then you’ll find your gripes with the ending to not be unique.

One obvious point of contention would be character deaths...or their lack thereof. Every time a major character has met their demise, they somehow return. Case in point and with the exception of Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, who “dies” twice in the movie before succumbing to his third death. He survives being run through by a lightsaber and being thrown into a bottomless abyss, only to die a laughable, ignoble death towards the end of the film. That particular bit had people laughing in my theater.

But to digress, this sequel trilogy seems to be obsessed to “killing” the original characters, but not quite to the violent extent as The Force Awakens and The last jedi. At one of the film’s better moments, Rey (Daisy Ridley) struggles against Kylo Ren when trying to stop a First Order ship that had arrested Chewbacca. Desperate to win a Force tug-of-war, Rey’s emotions and frustrations reach a boiling point, and she unwittingly unleashes Force lighting from her fingertips. The ship is obliterated, and she stands there horrified and screaming, unable to process the fact that her own, uncontrollable powers had killed her friend (and beloved icon of the original trilogy). This scene is certainly a high point, and one that’s well-executed. Rey is morose and unresponsive to her friends, and falls into a spiral of depression...

...until it’s revealed that Chewy had been placed on a different ship. Fans of the Expanded Universe are not lost on this ironic reversal; in a critical moment of the Yuuzhan Vong war, Chewbacca dies and leaves behind a mournful Solo family who struggle and grieve over his death. Granted, the circumstances of his death are more certain (as being crushed by a moon leaves little in the way of doubt), but the fact remains that J.J. Abrams refuses to commit.

In another moment, Rey and the Resistance need to visit a black market droid mechanic to retrieve vital information about the Sith world of Exegol from C3P0’s memories. The droid’s refusal to translate the ancient Sith Language has forced them to this desperate measure, but the mechanic warns that this process will erase his memories. With the First Order closing in on the party, they reluctantly give permission, and C3P0 gives a tearjerking quote about “seeing [his] friends for the last time”. Prior to this retrieval, the possibility of backing him up to R2D2 was an option, but was denigrated as the astromech droid is renowned for his “faulty” memory systems. Half an hour later and one emotional build-up later...the plan that was refused happens, and an indignant C3P0 berates R2D2’s recollection of what happened during his “absence”.

Even one of the more permanent deaths, with Princess Leia (played by the late Carrie Fisher) using her last breath to awaken her son’s conscience, isn’t quite truly gone. Granted, becoming a Force Ghost a lá Obi-Wan Kenobi towards the end of the film gets a little more leniency as she seemed to pass more...naturally than the others. That was certainly one of the more emotional moments, with Rey and her friends finally coming to terms with the fact that the leader of the Resistance is dead. Chewy’s roar of pain was genuinely sad to watch.

The cynic within me tartly observes that both our beloved Wookie and golden droid are too marketable by Disney to be killed off halfway through the film. But although the story comes close to evoking genuine emotion, most always fall short because they never fully commit to any permanent idea. The sporadic jumps from “killing” off one character to another makes it difficult to take anything seriously.

/Non Dramatis Personae/

With the sequel trilogy over, it can be concluded that the best and easily most interesting character is Kylo Ren. He is the only one with any sort of progressing and unpredictable story arch throughout all three films. Revealed in The Force Awakens to be the wayward son of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia (Carrie Fisher), Kylo struggles throughout Rise of Skywalker, juggling his ambition and lust for power with his attraction/affection for Rey and the knowledge that the blood of the Skywalker lineage courses through his veins. Adam Driver brings an almost unprecedented level of talent in acting out this conflict, with special mentions to a conversation he has with an imaginary Han Solo towards the middle of the film.

While Kylo Ren struggles to come to terms with his own roots, Rey’s origins are revealed. Abrams seemed to be hellbent on rectifying all of Johson’s mistakes, and he dedicates the climax of the film to reveal that her “nobody” parents had “chosen to be nobodies” in order to protect her. As it turns out, the orphan girl on Jakku is none other than a direct descendant of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious and mastermind of the misery and bloodshed behind the prequels and original trilogy. Horrified by the revelation, Rey tries to eschew and diverge from her own origins, going as so far as to maroon herself on the planet where Luke had retreated to in The Last Jedi.

Kylo Ren and Rey are predisposed to be foils to each other. Our Light-side protagonist begins her journey ignorant and uncaring of her roots. When she finds out that she is descended from one of the worst people in the galaxy, she desperately tries to put as much distance between herself and her dire ancestor in order to protect her friends. Our Dark-side antagonist is introduced as being cold and antagonistic to his heroic parentage, going as far as to kill his father in his establishing moment. He ends his journey accepting the fact that he is Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.

People may accuse me of giving Disney too much credit. With that said, n any other circumstance, this duality could have resulted in a deep and introspective trilogy, exploring themes of family and how one defines oneself or branches away from their roots. Unfortunately, it fell victim like most brilliant stories in the way of Hollywood: bad execution. Rey’s backstory is only revealed towards the end of the film, leaving no time to develop the concept, let alone digest it. In Empire Strikes Back, the iconic “No, Luke, I am your father” was given three years to digest and seep into the mind of its audience before Return of the Jedi. In Rise of Skywalker, we barely get twenty minutes before Rey manages to overcome the trauma of the revelation and steel herself for a showdown with her grandfather.

But moving onto other characters, Poe (Oscar Isaacs) and Finn (John Boyega) have succeeded Han in the saga as the backup for our Force-sensitive Jedi protagonist. However, both seem to have the same character depth, complexity and growth as the alien that Luke milked in the prior film. Both were superbly cast, and acted admirably in The Force Awakens, but now they are reduced to being walking props for Rey to take her from planet to planet, and scene to scene. This is all the more painful for Finn, who by far was one of the most wasted characters of this trilogy, and deserved far more than what he got.

As mentioned earlier, Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) was recast in a more supporting role to much controversy. Rian Johnson originally added her to the franchise responding to greater calls of cast diversity, but gave her a side-story that had little do to with the main plot of the film. Abrams didn’t stop rectifying Johnson at Rey’s parents, essentially and effectively writing Rose out of the story...sort of. Rose was still there, throughout the entire film, with only a tepid five lines sparingly spaced out in scant moments for effectively morale support. While I myself have been vocal in my criticisms about the character, it’s still disappointing to find out that the writers weren’t clever enough to write her out or, alternatively, give her an actual, compelling story line. But that’s too much to ask for nowadays.

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Last Jedi was a bitter recluse, found on a remote planet where he chose a depressive exile after his star pupil and nephew, Ben Solo (Kylo Ren), turned to the Dark Side. In Rise of Skywalker, Rey is about to follow suit to the point of chucking her lightsaber into the ocean when a magic Force hand of Luke appears out of nowhere to catch the lightsaber. The Force Ghost chides her for her callous disregard for the relic, and gives her the emotional and motivational speech for her to stop wallowing about and fight Palpatine, going as far as to give her his original X-Wing that he rises from the ocean. In the prior film, Luke threw away his lightsaber with the same irreverence of a chicken wing bone. Now, he’s admitting that he was wildly wrong to do this same thing in the previous film, effectively undercutting his entire story arc. Abrams can add inconsistency to his list of sins.

/What Tangled Webs We Weave/

The amount of relationships throughout this film runs the gamut from the bizarre and confusing, to the inexplicable and unnecessary. There seems to almost be something in the air filters of the Millennium Falcon that make all the characters on screen express romantic affection for each other. Rose seems to have an ongoing interest in Finn ever since that awkward kiss at the end of the last film, even with the novelization making them out to be in a platonic relationship. Finn expresses an interest in Rey, even as he establishes a rapport with a fellow ex-Stormtrooper of the First Order. Poe has sexual tension with Rey when a character from his spice runner past shows up. This is all on top of the emotional buildup between Kylo Ren and Rey from all the prior films.

The fact that it took a post-release interview from Abrams to clear the air about Finn and Rey didn’t help things either. As they were pulled into quicksand, the deepest, dire secret that he’s been holding onto for a long time? You’d expect him to confess his feelings, but what he wanted to say all along...was that he’s Force-sensitive. Not exactly the most ideal words to say to your best friend as you’re about to die.

The original trilogy had all the romantic fancies correct. Hell, even the prequels kept things straightforward. There wasn’t any need to dissect a convoluted chart or diagram as to “who likes whom”? There was just one in each: the unkempt, roguish outlaw Han Solo and the classy, regal Princess Leia for the originals; the prequels had former slave, now bad boy Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and the paradoxically graceful and politically ruthless Senator Padmé Amidala. And those were it. As their characters developed, the tension intensified, culminating in their eventual marriage (and in Anakin and Padmé’s case, horrific disaster). In Rise of Skywalker, all affections either fizzle out or are left loose and unresolved.

/Force Me, Force You.../

As avid of a fan as I am, I’ll admit that I’m far from an expert on the vagaries that comprises the Force. However, I think it’s reasonable to suggest that even by the most basic of rules in filmmaking and storytelling, Abrams shouldn’t have gone about introducing new abilities for Rey to wield without explanation or proper buildup.

In both canon and Legends, healing with the Force was not unheard of, going as far as to heal major damage to flesh and bone, as well as severe internal damage the likes of the heart, lungs and other major organs. It was practiced by both the Jedi and the Sith, although the latter took more alternative and darker approaches as they were wont to do. Even Obi-Wan was shown to use the Force in A New Hope to revive and heal Luke of his injuries inflicted by the Tusken Raiders.

But therein lies the problem. It takes several years of training to master. Her first instance of using it is with a subterranean worm, and given her companions’ shock and surprise, it seems to be the first time they’re seeing it in conjunction with the audience. Later, she heals Kylo Ren of a three-inch exit wound caused by her lightsaber. If Rey’s been training and learning to master the force in the time between The last jedi and Rise of Skywalker, she’s been holding out. And the film’s done a horrible job of communicating this fact, but that’s giving Disney and Abrams far too much credit.

Worse are how this comes off to the casual viewer or critic unfamiliar with the wider franchise. As far as they’re concerned, these powers seem to have spontaneously (and conveniently) been born without explanation. However, they’re also aloof and absent when they want to be, and are criminally underused. When being chased by Stormtroopers on speeder bikes, Rey can only fire her blaster in their general direction when she’d used her lightsaber as a boomerang with the help of the Force. Similarly, she can stop a ship mid-flight (and accidentally blow it up), but she won’t use it to help her cross a churning ocean, content to use a makeshift raft made from scrap metal.

These inconsistencies aren’t exclusive to Rey. Emperor Palpatine and Kylo Ren aren’t immune. In one scene, the Emperor is able to use his Force lighting to disable an entire armada of both his First Order ships as well as the Resistance fleet. Not even a minute later, that very same ship-disabling, veritable unlimited power is easily deflected by Rey’s lightsaber. And Kylo Ren and Rey share a bond that brings their surroundings into each other’s presence, no matter the distance, but it truly jumps the shark when Rey effectively teleports a spare lightsaber to Kylo Ren.

In the immortal words of Han Solo in The Force Awakens:

“That isn’t how the Force works!”

/Chosen Ones and Prophecies/

Beyond the plot holes and internal inconsistencies, my biggest gripe with the sequel trilogy now that it’s done is how unnecessary it ultimately is. Beyond the novels of the Expanded Universe, the original trilogy was finished, over and done with as far as the movies go. Star Wars has been observed to follow the conventional “Hero’s Journey” established by literary scholar Joseph Campbell, and Luke had more than accomplished his fair share in the adventure.

With the prequels, we received the origin story of his father, Anakin Skywalker, and the story of how he fell to the Dark Side. Prophesized to be the Chosen One, it was said that he would bring “balance to the Force”, a fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi despaired at the end of Revenge of the Sith. Balance had seemingly been brought; with his turn to the Dark Side, the hundreds of Jedi were brought down to a measly two, one each for Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. The prequel doesn’t intrude or step on the original’s toes, going so far as to integrate itself into its predecessor while supplementing and enhancing it further.

In the end, Anakin was the Chosen One. It took him upwards of twenty or so years and millions of deaths along the way, but he was the one to throw the Emperor into a bottomless pit. He was redeemed by the faith his son held in him, that within the cold, half-machine body of Darth Vader, there was still Anakin Skywalker to be found within.

The sequel trilogy effectively robs both Skywalkers of their great victory, ultimately showing it to be the soulless cash grab that we despaired that it was. Rey is the one to bring “true” balance to the Force. And even if she calls herself “Skywalker” and the Force Ghost of Anakin tells her to “bring balance as I did”, the fact remains is that with the return of the Emperor, the Skywalkers only obtained a temporary peace and halt on the struggle between the Light and Dark Sides of the Force.

At the risk of being called a sexist, I will posit the fact that Disney’s narrative was a middle finger to the established fanbase: Rey stole the role of Chosen One from Anakin, and undercuts Luke’s journey by fulfilling what he was only unable to do thanks to the (needless) continuation of the story.

||CONCLUSION||

George Lucas was an idiot for selling off his “beloved child” to Disney. But J.J. Abrams is an even bigger fool to try to give everybody what they wanted. He tried to rewrite many of Rian Johnson’s ideas and address the hell fans raised with The Last Jedi, all in conjunction with wrapping up the story. He also tried to fit in all the elements of the Star Wars aesthetic that shaped our imaginations and entertained our childhoods: we had dogfights in space, speeder bike chases, and no small amount of lightsaber duels.

This film was definitely fanservice, and some have found enjoyment in seeing “the gang back together” (I was pleasantly surprised to find Denis Lawson reprising fan-favorite Wedge Antilles). But it’s also a muddled collage of ideas, each glued haphazardly atop the other. And this is without going into questions of logistics and resources (such as how Palpatine amassed a fleet of Star Destroyers under everybody’s nose) that could only be resolved with novelizations and interviews after the premiere.

In the end, the film failed to present a cohesive, if not straightforward, storyline in even the most basic sense of the word. The Rise of Skywalker, much like the rest of the sequel trilogy, is ravenously bereft of emotion and a unified narrative, and a hollow attempt to make market on a beloved and iconic staple of American culture. And it’s made all the worse by the conflicting visions in the tug-of-war between directors J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson.