Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
★ — Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
J.J. Abrams returned to close out the sequel trilogy he had opened with The Force Awakens (2015), after Rian Johnson's divisive The Last Jedi (2017) prompted Lucasfilm to bring back a more familiar hand for the finale. The production carried an unusual weight: Carrie Fisher had died in December 2016, and her scenes were constructed entirely from unused footage shot during the earlier films, a technically demanding workaround that shaped the script in visible ways. Colin Trevorrow had originally been attached to direct before departing in 2017, making this something of a salvage job from the start. At nearly half a billion dollars, it ranks among the most expensive films ever made, and while it crossed a billion dollars at the box office, that figure was considered a relative disappointment for a mainline Star Wars conclusion.
Somehow, Palpatine returned. It’s honestly remarkable how The Rise of Skywalker manages to undo so much of what was set up in The Last Jedi, not through clever subversion, but with pure, baffling laziness. I think the Last Jedi was a hot mess but they basically took all of that and somehow came out with a WORSE film. The film plays like a frantic scramble to tie up loose ends, but instead, it just piles more nonsense on top of the mess. Let’s start with the headline of the whole fiasco: Somehow, Palpatine returned. How? Don’t ask. The explanation is as shallow as it is ridiculous. No backstory, no real logic, just a crumbling, zombie villain who reappears with an army conveniently hidden on the Sith homeworld of Exegol. And speaking of Exegol, the huge fleet of Star Destroyers? What, exactly, have they been doing for the past 30 years? Just hanging out in the void, waiting for Rey and company to stumble upon them? None of this is explained because it doesn’t need to make sense. It’s Star Wars, apparently. Then there’s the ancient dagger. Oh, the ancient dagger. The way it just so happens to perfectly align with the wreckage of the second Death Star, leading Rey on a scavenger hunt with a completely unearned sense of gravitas. It’s a plot device so painfully contrived, I could feel my IQ drop just watching it unfold. And let’s not forget the ultimate betrayal: Rey being a Palpatine. For a saga built on the idea that anyone can be a hero (hello, Luke Skywalker, an orphan on Tatooine), suddenly making Rey the granddaughter of the galaxy’s most notorious Sith is not just lazy, it’s an insult to everything that came before it. It’s like they threw out all the thematic weight from The Last Jedi for cheap, fan-pleasing thrills, which NOBODY enjoyed. Finally, the kiss between Rey and Kylo Ren. What a laughable, unnecessary gesture. After all the animosity, the conflict, the back-and-forth, we’re supposed to believe this forced, ridiculous kiss is some sort of romantic culmination? It’s so far from earned, it’s not even funny, it’s just embarrassing. There’s no emotional payoff here. No satisfying conclusion. Just a hasty, desperate patchwork of fan service and nonsensical plot contrivances. The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t just fail as a film; it tarnishes everything that came before it. The saga deserved better. The characters deserved better. We deserved better.
Rating: ★ | Year: 2019 | Watched: 2019-12-04
Related on Movies With Macca
More from J.J. Abrams: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
More with Carrie Fisher: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) · Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) · Return of the Jedi (1983) · The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
