Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Seen 12/20

*SPOILER WARNING*

The final movie of the Skywalker saga is finally here. A movie that a lot of people have been skeptical about after seeing Episode VIII (The Last Jedi). I personally have been excited for this movie as I have been for every Star Wars movie to come out (except Solo, I wasn’t really excited for that one nor really care for it) and I am not really a hater on Ep. 8. While I know there are many problems with that movie there was also a far amount of stuff going on in it that I enjoyed. 

I went opening night to see Episode IX ( The Rise of Skywalker) and came out of the movie extremely satisfied. There were a couple of movie things that I didn’t really care for but overall really enjoyed my time seeing this. 

So to start here are some of the issues I had with the movie. There are a lot of little things I would have liked answered, maybe just a line of dialogue or just left out of the movie. Things like, Rey’s lightsaber, we saw it destroyed in Ep.8 and yes at the end she has both pieces and we can probably assume she fixed it but nothing is ever mentioned about it. There is no obvious shot of the area where it would have been repaired, no dialogue or mention of it ever been broken or how it was fixed. It was almost as if they just ignored the fact it ever happened. Another example is a moment where all the characters are falling in what is essentially quick sand and Finn says to Rey “I never got to tell you….” and falls. The movie has call backs to this moment but never answers the question of what was Finn going to tell Rey. If you aren’t going to answer something simple like this in your movie just don’t even bring it up. It added nothing to the story they were trying to tell so why even mention this. 

Overall that didn’t take too much away from what I enjoyed about this movie. 

I really loved the character arch of Rey through this whole new trilogy. She is such an interesting character and watching her journey come to an end in this movie I thought was fantastic. I liked seeing this character go from, smart resourceful scavenger to strong, yet still young Jedi. Rey’s understandings of the force and her fears and hesitations of her own powers I thought was so interesting to watch. It gave Rey’s character so much depth. I have heard a lot of criticism on making her related to Palpatine but I personally was fine with it. I like how it is used to portray her struggles of knowing her past, and walking that line of light side/dark side. Ending this movie with ultimately her choosing the light side and accepting she is what all the Jedis that have come before her have stood for is so powerful for her arch though these 3 movies. 

I also appreciated what they did with Kylo Ren in this movie and the story arch they ended up with him. I was of the belief after the last 2 movies he was a character who didn’t deserved to be redeemed from his own actions. However, when the moment came in this movie I was on board with the turn. The movie shows you how he is still having internal struggles being drawn to the light even though he wants to stay with the dark side. Kylo seems to finally give in to his internal struggles when Rey spares him and heals him. By the end you are rooting for him and his sacrifice.

I think the most under rated thing about this movie is something that has been a constant great thing across all Star Wars movies and that is John Williams’ score. The music in this movie is just so good. The score evoked so many emotions for me. It is seriously just perfect. There are moments like when Rey starts to use her powers and makes her choice to do things maybe no so the Jedi way and what do I hear but Kylo Ren’s theme, making you think will Rey turn? Or later on when Lando Calrissian shows back up in the Falcon with a fleet of ships, the reveal is perfectly timed and accompanied by the classic Star Wars Theme. I think my favorite scene though is the moment Rey is laying on the ground, drained of power and beaten up, she starts to hear voices of Jedi past and her theme comes in lightly and then the music starts to intensify and as Rey finds the strength and gets up to face Palpatine the music changes to a heroic version/arrangement of the main Star Wars Theme. It is so powerful. John Williams is the true MVP of this movie. 

So again I really enjoyed this movie. It felt like Star Wars to me and that’s all I could really ask for. I think the story they told here fit the overall story and character arches of Rey and Kylo Ren and this was a good finale to this new trilogy. It is weird to think that this is the last Star Wars (non spin off anthology movie) we will get in theaters. There is something about going to the movies and hearing that fan fair and the Star Wars name hitting the screen that is just the perfect movie theater experience. Here’s to the end of an era.