“The Rise of Skywalker” Review

Adam Driver (Left) and Daisy Ridley star in “The Rise of Skywalker” as Kylo Ren and Rey who conclude their rivalry in the final installment of the “Skywalker Saga.”

Note: I first reviewed this film in December, 2019. To read it, click here.

Much like the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the sequel trilogy had a strong beginning, an incredible second act and a fine finale. “The Rise of Skywalker,” while not the most groundbreaking film in the saga, manages to wrap up the nine-film “Skywalker Saga” reasonably well with an incredible scale, stunning action and satisfying ends to the characters’ journeys.

One year after the events of the previous two films, the First Order, led by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), has joined forces with the resurrected Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) to conquer the galaxy. When the Resistance learns of this treachery, a group of rebels, including Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Issac), are sent on a mission to find the location of Palpatine and the First Order’s fleet so the Resistance can save the galaxy. 

Meanwhile, the connection between Rey and Kylo grows even stronger when the Emperor orders Kylo to kill her and Rey begins to learn more about herself and her role in the galaxy, leading to the final confrontation between Rey, Kylo and the darkness that could consume them. 

As with the other two sequels, the characterization in “The Rise of Skywalker” is amazing with several characters gaining even more responsibilities and development. Finn and Poe become high-ranking generals, Rey becomes a more powerful, disciplined Jedi and General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher through archive footage) becomes a mentor to Rey during her training as a Jedi.

Other characters from the original trilogy are utilized quite well including Lando Calrissien (Billy Dee Williams) who makes a welcomed return and adds some tender moments to the film, especially when he gives an inspiring speech to Poe about leadership. 

Leia also adds a lot of heart to the film and, since Fisher passed away in 2016 after filming scenes for “The Last Jedi,” archive footage from “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” was utilized to make it look as though Leia was interacting with Rey, Poe and the rest of the cast. This technique worked better than expected and, if you didn’t know of Fisher’s passing, it’s flawlessly blended into the film.

But without a doubt, the best character in the film is Kylo Ren who continues his journey of being the best character in the sequel trilogy. The complex development he undergoes is on a level similar to Darth Vader as Kylo begins to struggle between the light and dark sides that are tearing him apart. This leads to one of the best scenes in the saga where Kylo comes to terms with killing his father Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in “The Force Awakens” and renounces the dark side. The filmmakers purposefully left it unclear as to whether Han Solo is really there as a ghost or if he’s in Kylo’s head but, either way, it’s an incredible moment.

However, the film tries to introduce more characters into its large ensemble cast and many of them feel unnecessary and don’t have much impact on the story. This includes an old flame of Poe’s named Zorii (Keri Russell), a former Stormtrooper named Jannah (Naomi Ackie) and Kylo’s minions: The Knights of Ren. While, on paper, these characters seem alright, they’re underutilized. This is to the point that if they were taken out of the film, it wouldn’t take away much. 

Some new characters do work to the film’s advantage such as a very small mechanic named Babu Frik (Shirley Henderson) and Alligenent General Pryde (Richard E. Grant). These characters work because they’re simple, yet memorable due to Grant’s chilling performance and the fact that Babu Frik is so adorable.

Other memorable aspects of the film include the incredible special effects which, in tradition with Disney’s “Star Wars” films, combine practical effects with computer generated ones. The sets are real, the 

The action is also very well shot with several of these sequences, particularly a battle between Kylo and Rey on the remains of The Second Death Star, resembling classic samurai battles while the action with starfighters feels like energized WWII dogfights. 

“The Rise of Skywalker” also has an amazing climax combining an epic confrontation between Kylo (now reformed into Ben Solo), Rey and The Emperor with the Rebellion Fleet taking on Sith Star Destroyers. The entire third act is well realized and several characters, Rey and Ben mainly, wrapping up their arcs in a satisfying way. 

There were several moments where I, as a filmgoer, got chills just watching certain moments of the climax, including the moment where Lando Calrissien leads a massive fleet of civilian ships to defend the Resistance. Any film that manages to get that out of me is clearly doing something right.

The return of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) not only introduces a worthy villain to the sequels, but also brings the “Skywalker Saga” full circle.

However, while I love the third act of the film, the first two acts have their issues the largest of which is a need to push so many plot points into the two hour and 22 minute running time. This includes Finn being Force-Sensitive, Poe’s roots as a spice-runner, Rey’s relationship to the Force and her parents, Kylo’s relationship to the Force and his parents and the return of Emperor Palpatine. While some of these plot points are important, some clearly needed either great expansion or to be omitted from the final cut. 

The film also doesn’t gel with the other two the same way the original trilogy did or even the prequels. There’s a feeling that the filmmakers were creating the story as they went along, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily. While the main plot points of the trilogy bridge quite nicely, there are some subplots that either went nowhere or were dropped altogether. 

Among these are Finn and Rose’s (Kelly Marie Tran) relationship status seeing as how “The Last Jedi” ended with them sharing a kiss. In fact, Rose felt sidelined throughout the entirety of the film. Director J.J. Abrams said that Rose didn’t appear as much because they wanted to have scenes with her and Leia but the technology they were working with didn’t allow the filmmakers to make Leia look convincing. 

While that’s understandable, there should have been some attempt made to give pre-existing characters more to do instead of making several new characters who aren’t that investing.

Overall, “The Rise of Skywalker” was a good, albeit somewhat messy, conclusion to the “Skywalker Saga.” While this entire sequel trilogy had mixed reviews from either fans, critics or sometimes both, I think that the sequels were great, sometimes groundbreaking, films that shouldn’t be dismissed. Throughout all of these films, as well as “Rogue One” and “Solo,” I felt like I was actually watching a “Star Wars” film while the prequels let me down in that aspect.  

These films have turned out incredible stories and wonderful characters who are quickly becoming as memorable as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Darth Vader. Honestly, only time will tell if these films will survive but, in my opinion, when “Star Wars” was bought by Disney, the company has turned out a large wave of shows and films that, for the most part, have excited me both as a fan of “Star Wars” and lover of entertainment. “The Rise of Skywalker” may not be the biggest splash in the galaxy far, far away, but it is a splash nonetheless.

The new characters of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy have now become icons in their own right.