– FULL SPOILER REVIEW –
Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker attempts to both wrap up the sequel trilogy and offer a conclusion to the entirety of the Skywalker Saga, and while it accomplishes the goal of providing endings, through an adventure set on lightspeed the whole way through, stuffed to the gills with answers and revelations, and terrific performances from its actors once again, it’s too stuffed and too messy with both how it gets to those endings and what exactly is in those answers to all our burning questions, while plot jumps to the forefront over the characters. Overall, I still loved this giant mess of a film, but it is a mess nonetheless but there’s nothing that can be done about it. Turn back now, as this review will not shy away from spoilers!
Seriously, this is a full-spoiler review, meaning everything that happens within
The Rise of Skywalker is going to be discussed or mentioned. There is no escape from this point on…
From the opening crawl to the credits, The Rise of Skywalker never takes a break from its fantastical adventure, and while it’s a highly enjoyable thrill-ride, the pace hampers some of what the film is trying to do with its characters. Big moments and reveals fly by the camera and never marinate long enough for them to hit home, either for audiences or the characters, as we’re already onto the next big part of the film or another revelation. For example, while it’s rather obvious and quickly revealed Chewbacca doesn’t die at Rey’s hands early in the film, Finn and Poe barely second-guess Rey or take time to mourn the dead, as they are once again off on their adventure, one with an arbitrary timeline because isn’t it nice for Emperor Palpatine to announce he’s coming back on a certain date and time, like an evil Santa Claus on Apocalypse Day. Like I said, it’s fairly obvious Chewie doesn’t die so I understand why the film doesn’t have the characters worry over it too much, but once this starts happening to bigger reveals, like say Rey’s lineage or Kylo Ren’s final act, it undercuts some of the dramatic tension, keeps the plot in focus instead of the characters, and ultimately weakens revelations, regardless if you’re happy with the outcomes or not. It ends up feeling like The Rise of Skywalker is not only eager to provide endings, but to do so quickly so we can try to hand-wave how it got to them and just be happy it stuck any type of mostly happy, somewhat satisfying ending.
Let’s jump right into one of the big ones: Rey Palpatine, now Skywalker. It feels bizarre to type out Rey Palpatine, or even Rey Skywalker for that matter, despite me believing she’d end up taking on the mantle of Skywalker regardless if she was born one or not. But Rey Palpatine?!? At the very least, the revelation allows what The Last Jedi was trying to show us regarding her parents is true, from a certain point of view, as they were technically nobody important…but her grandfather was! That TLJ gave a satisfying answer already regarding her parents and allowed Rey to push past worrying about her past makes the walk-back here disappointing, and having her fit into the larger Saga by making her part of some lineage felt a little too easy and like fan-service, as keeping her a complete nobody who the Jedi all decided to put their might behind was more than possible to pull off and still make the whole thing satisfying. I don’t know if I’ll ever really think of her as a Palpatine, though that might change in the inevitable books/comics/or tv show dealing with her father and mother (I mean, you have Jodie Comer for a reason, don’t waste her!) and how I feel about them afterwards, but this was too little too late to make me care how suddenly Palpatine had a son, who ran from his father to hide his daughter, knowing what the evil man might do to her, when instead I’ve cared a lot more and very deeply about Rey and her march forward into the larger story over these past 4 years, for which this revelation doesn’t serve her story very well. Rey taking the name Skywalker, with Luke and Leia (not Ben and Anakin too?!?) looking on approvingly, was as cheesy as Star Wars gets and I’m glad it happened, as we can use that opportunity to forget about the Palpatine bit and let her finally (hopefully) move forward and do her own thing in stories to come, which The Last Jedi was headed towards by helping her move past her parents, but The Rise of Skywalker unfortunately pushed her back by having her fit in the overall Skywalker Saga instead. Rey has been one of my favorite new Star Wars characters of all time and this movie didn’t change that, despite how she felt a little off and far too quick to anger suddenly in the movie, as she still had her big heart, like when she helps that cave worm, and she stayed a true Jedi in the end, despite her dark legacy; Daisy Ridley offers another fantastic performance, as even the littlest of ticks reveal so much about how and what she’s feeling, it’s just too bad the script overall didn’t let those moments stick longer. I might not have liked the idea of Rey Palpatine, and can easily live with it, but the ending of her starting her own legacy as Rey Skywalker was one I enjoyed and embraced, as it fit with how the films kept pushing her to find the belonging she seeks ahead of her, not behind, so overall I liked how things ended for Rey. If only she’d used her new yellow staff lightsaber the whole movie instead of worrying about Luke’s blade!
That’s how I feel towards a lot of TROS, where one aspect fell short and another made up for it, like with where it takes Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. The Force bond between him and Rey offers plenty more scenery for the two actors to chew on with one another, and provided some fun tricks as objects from their respective sides of the bond slipped into the other’s, but it felt like Kylo ended up being stuck on exposition duty for a good chunk of his time on screen. Looking the fool after Luke’s actions at the end of TLJ, I understand why he’d be eager to challenge any potential rival to his rule, hence him seeking out Palpatine, and much like his grandfather before him, trying to turn the most powerful light-side user to his side to rule alongside him and take out the creepy ghost of movies’ past, was a fitting, understandable trajectory for his story, and rhymes nicely with Return of the Jedi. That Adam Driver is hidden behind the mask again is a real shame, as TLJ showed the intensity and nuance of his performance is what really makes the character work; I feel like J.J. Abrams thinks the mask is cool and felt it help add to his rhyming of ROTJ, whereas keeping the mask off so he could rhyme more with the conflicted fall of Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith as Kylo falls more towards the light, would’ve been a benefit for audiences and the film. Having Kylo Ren’s turn back to Ben fit into General Leia’s story, hobbled together the best they could with unused, previously shot footage, was absolutely touching, and I liked how, in a way, her prophecy about her son dying if she trained to be a Jedi became true in that moment, as Rey basically does so before saving his life. Bringing back Harrison Ford was both necessary and another touching, fitting why to deal with what transpired with Carrie Fisher’s untimely passing, and Driver absolutely nailed Kylo’s reversion to Ben Solo, even if the movie plows past it like many other moments (His “Dad” kills me, and Han’s “I know,” was a wonderful little bit). I’m torn on him dying in the end, which I’ll cover in a moment, but the oddest aspect to the return of Ben Solo is how, after throwing his lightsaber, he only says one single word (a friend pointed this out to me and I noticed it glaring in the second viewing): “Ouch.” He certainly gets some heroic final actions, and manages to save the one he loved unlike his grandfather (see, he did become better than Darth Vader!), but not having him speak was a really bizarre choice. While I enjoyed Ben Solo’s death as part of the long line of selfless Jedi sacrifice, and like I said earlier he got to do the one thing Anakin couldn’t with Padmé all those years ago, making it a fitting, big, bold gesture, I both would’ve loved to hear him tell her why he decided to do such a thing and also that he didn’t die. Forcing him to confront the galaxy after his actions and try to atone for his sins could’ve bore bountiful story fruit, whereas having him die ties up his story a bit too neatly for what was shaping up to be the Saga’s best, most nuanced villain. But not having him and Anakin Skywalker present for Rey taking the family name feels like such a giant miss, and almost acts to ignore Ben’s sacrifice, which is something I’ll be scratching my head over for years (and hope some home or streaming release of the film down the line adds the two in).
The return of Emperor Palpatine, besides the how of it being glossed over rather quickly, as well as the revelations he created both Snoke (and had a vat of Snoke clones) and a giant, massive fleet, was handled with terrifying precision. Ian McDiarmid, and the make-up department, go BIG with the Emperor’s final bow (neat how a fresh snack of Dyad Force energy gives him a nice red shirt under his robes, too) and it’s spooky as hell, really painting the depth and breath of grandpa Sheev’s abilities. The big question I keep asking myself is though: does his return undo Luke/Anakin’s actions in ROTJ? I can understand those who feel it does, as Sheev back at all doesn’t quite honor Anakin Skywalker’s redemption, but making it a point the spirits of all the Sith live within Palpatine this time helps show how the original Skywalkers did get to take him out, though now it’s on a grander scale regarding all the Sith; though this could’ve landed better if we had found out he had been absorbing Sith spirits from possessed objects, like ones seen in the Aftermath Trilogy (wait, were the Acolytes of the Beyond the beginnings of what grew to be his cult of followers?), as a quick and easy way to describe his return, like Voldemort in a way. I’m still not sure if I feel like his return was necessary, but I ended up not disliking it too much.
Finn, while having a prominent role, didn’t get anything really resembling a character arc and of course now everyone is dying to learn what he was going to say to Rey, a question we likely won’t have answered for a long, long time, rather than worrying over what he’ll do next with the war over. The movie seemed to hint he was Force-sensitive after all, considering his reaction to Rey’s “death,” but it could’ve likely been part of the intense connection he has with her (UPDATE: According to J.J., Finn was going to tell Rey he was Force-sensitive too. This might not be the answer people were hoping nor does it make any sense why it was excluded from the final film); John Boyega has been enjoyable to watch on and off-screen, and I’m glad he got to have more fun with the character, even if it didn’t add much to Finn’s story…like why doesn’t he get a last name!? Poe’s new shifty backstory led to a lot of fun acting from Oscar Isaac, who can chew up a scene regardless who or what is onscreen with him, but it seemed like such an odd/late addition to the character; prepare for all the spice-running fill-in comics/novels to come. Putting Finn, Poe, and Rey all together resulted in some of film’s best moments, as it was a blast to see them all together again, but there unfortunately wasn’t much their for them in the way of character development.
Having Leia perish, where her last act is what returns Kylo Ren to Ben Solo, worked better than expected considering they only had the previously shot footage to work with, and while it was obvious how it had been worked around/into the film, the moment landed and the effects of placing her over a double were nearly seamless; her death hit me pretty dang hard, bringing me back to how I felt on Carrie Fisher’s actual death nearly 3 years ago. It makes me wonder how this film would’ve gone had she lived, but that’s neither here nor there now. Mark Hamill ghosting it up as Luke Skywalker allowed him to let a little loose, functioning a bit more like Obi-Wan to Rey, oddly revealing he (and Leia at some point) somehow knew who she was (but I’m betting it didn’t happen until he became one with the Force), and I enjoyed seeing him again despite this Luke not being as nuanced as the one in TLJ. Billy Dee William’s return as Lando Calrissian was a blast, no matter how small his role was or how little explanation we got regarding what he’s been up to all these years, as it was damn obvious Billy Dee was enjoying every single moment he had on screen. I really enjoy Threepio’s increased role and prominence for earlier parts of the film, and Anthony Daniels seemed to as well, providing some of the best Threepio content he’s ever done in his iconic role. Chewbacca didn’t get nearly as much as he deserved, though his wailing over Leia’s death started my tears anew (both times so far); giving him a Yavin medal was a nice touch, but for most of the audience they’ll see it as correcting a slight from all those years ago (which I imagine J.J.’s intentions were) whereas he did actually get one already but gave it away. And then poor, poor Rose, who J.J. did absolutely dirty, regulating her to staying at the base and getting less lines than J.J. buddies like Dominic Monaghan’s new character or Greg Grunberg’s Temmin Snap Wexley (who’s death probably would’ve hit more had it been in a book, where I liked his character more), which is one of things that hurt the most. The General Hux spy subplot felt extraneous and unnecessary, even if it did provide a good laugh or two and let Richard E. Grant’s Allegiant General Pryde have more wicked, evil moments. And then don’t blink too often, as you’ll miss Maz Kanata’s part in the film, which instead of building on the tease of her finally coming to join the fight in her “own way” from Resistance Reborn, she’s just there for a line or two and forgotten just as quickly as Rose. The Wedge cameo was fine, but again, felt better in Resistance Reborn than in the film.
As for the new characters, Naomi Ackie’s Jannah was my favorite, and I appreciated how she and her group showed Finn he wasn’t alone as a First Order deserter, though I wish she had more to do. The last minute tease between her and Lando felt like it was going to be a family reveal, but rather it sounded more like Disney+ set-up instead, which I wouldn’t be mad about in the slightest (UPDATE: The Visual Dictionary includes some Lando backstory, and according to this EW article, it reveals Lando did try to start a family but his daughter went missing, likely taken by the First Order, meaning this scene probably was going to be about them as family but for some reason they chose not to go there). Kerri Russel really seemed comfortable in Zorii Bliss’ suit, effortlessly making her character fit within the universe and I’m very eager to see more of her someway/somehow. As mentioned earlier, Grant was deliciously evil as Pryde and his connections to the old Empire could be fun to explore. And Babu Frik, while not as adorable as Baby Yoda, was hilarious and cute as hell in his own way, despite some potential stereotyping with his character. All in all, solid new characters, but being introduced in such a giant movie trying to do so much, they fell to the wayside.
Here are a few other things:
- After the teasing and talking from J.J. about LGBTQ+ representation, the film includes the briefest of moments as a kiss between two women, which was both a nice small step but a disappointment overall; at least it was more prominent than Endgame‘s! But hopefully these teases stop and Disney gets their act together. Thankfully Star Wars is representing this category much better in comics with the stupendously fun and unique character: Doctor Aphra! Would’ve loved for her to have been named dropped regarding some the McGuffin artifacts involved in the film’s plot.
- I’m very curious to read the novelization now, as I imagine it might help with a lot of the decisions made here and fill in some minor, necessary tidbits (like maybe being in Ben’s head as he gives his life to Rey). Unfortunately, the book doesn’t arrive until March, but having it authored by Rae Carson is a good sign it will be worth it. The film’s artbook, also adding details and other avenues the story didn’t go, has been delayed until Spring 2020. Until then, it seems, once again, the Visual Dictionary has been full of great little insights so consider checking that out!
- The Rise of Kylo Ren comic book is filling in some vital and intriguing backstory of Ben’s fall to Ren, and after one issue, I highly recommend reading it!
- Rey healing people with the Force? Baby Yoda did it first, technically!
- I was able to pick out just over half of the Force Ghost voices, and sitting through the credits will reveal the rest. Ahsoka’s is an interesting inclusion, as it likely means between ROTJ and TROS, she passes away at some point; and if you got Hayden Christensen back to voice Anakin…why not use him as an all out Ghost again!? Were they worried about backlash due to some people’s problems with him taking over as Anakin Ghost, the silliest thing to worry about in a film full of backlash-potential moments? Still, loved all the myriad of voices included!
- Seriously, Exegol was creepy as all hell…probably some of the spookiest Star Wars on film to date.
- Over at Marv’s blog, NumidianPrime, he offers a look at how Emperor Palpatine’s grand plan all fits together from what we have in TROS and early canon novels like the Aftermath Trilogy.
- Back in 2015 at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, my very first Celebration, I picked up a painting by Lee Kohse named “Apprentice Leia,” (still available on his store, by the way!) which showed Luke taking Leia to Dagobah and helping her create her lightsaber, with Yoda and Ben Kenobi watching over; at the time, it was something the artist had dreamed up/fell into Legends, but now it’s a bit of glimpse of what actually happened! I loved the tease of their training, and how Leia kicked Luke’s butt, and I adored the design of her blade; maybe we’ll get some more glimpses of that in the future, though I hope they cast Millie Bobby Brown to do it instead of digital face stuff, despite how well it looked this time around.
- Victoria Mahoney’s story of being the first female director of a Star Wars movie is rather grand and I hope female directors are more of a norm in the films and shows ahead!
- Want to see the new TROS scenes added to Star Tours…there’s a video of it already!
- Want a deeper dive on how the previous to trilogy films make Rey Palpatine a shrug and Rey Skywalker a win for the character? Check out this article at Polygon!
- There might be a lot that gets glossed over here or never really explained, but that just means tons of books/comics/Disney+ shows to explore it in the future!
Whereas Rey and Ben represent a Dyad in the Force, The Rise of Skywalker is a dyad of a movie, were nearly every moment I didn’t quite agree with or felt was nonsensical, there was a moment I loved or appreciated, and overall I came to love the film despite the flaws. It’s both the craziest of endings but also the neatest of endings, a truer dyad than I ever seen or heard. It’ll take a while for me to understand where this film will fit against the others, and with so much other Star Wars content to enjoy and indulge in, I’m in no rush to figure it out. The Skywalker Saga is dead…long live Star Wars!
+ Top-notch performances again, from new and old characters alike, especially Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac, John Boyega, Naomi Ackie, and Ian McDiarmid
+ Connecting Leia’s story to Kylo’s reversion into Ben Solo
+ Rey’s ultimate last name
+ Plenty of good humor and non-stop action throughout
+ Will miss the main three…
– Overly stuffed
– Many answers are either too neat or too head-shakingly weird
– Glosses over the bigger emotional moments to hit plot-points instead
– …and wish they had gone out on a slightly better note character arc-wise
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER REVIEWS
Resistance Reborn (novel) | Spark of Resistance (novel) | Allegiance (comic miniseries) | Force Collector (novel)
STAR WARS MOVIE REVIEWS:
Skywalker Saga: The Force Awakens | The Last Jedi
Spin-offs: Rogue One – A Star Wars Story | Solo – A Star Wars Story
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER NEWS:
The Rise of Skywalker News, Clips, TV Spots, and More Round Up
The Rise of Skywalker’s Theatrical Trailer, Poster Arrive!
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D23 2019: The Rise of Skywalker Teaser Poster Released, Sizzle Reel Footage Due Monday
Vanity Fair Charts The Rise of Skywalker
Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Unveiled on May the 4th!
Episode IX Titled The Rise of Skywalker, Teaser Trailer Revealed (SWCC 2019)
Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019 Overload: Panel Schedules, Merchandise, Virtual Queuing, Guests, and More!
News Roundup: Star Wars Rebels Artbook Incoming, Master & Apprentice’s First Excerpt, and Triple Force Friday Arrives in October!
Episode IX Begins Filming August 2018, New Cast Announced, and Familiar Faces Return!