The first time I
saw this movie, I was wowed by the effects and the anticipation I had built up
to see it. The second time around, with a calmer perspective, I can see why
this is one of the worst Star Wars movies.
Star Wars: The
Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX) is an okay movie set in a galaxy far, far
away. It’s my least favorite in the final trilogy of the Skywalker saga,
following Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, Episode VII) and Star
Wars: The Last Jedi (2017, Episode VIII). It’s also one of the weakest
entries in the entire Skywalker saga.
It’s important
to remember that Carrie Fisher wasn’t alive during the making of this movie.
What we see of her is a mix of CGI for environments, old footage, and powerful
editing to incorporate her into the story. Her role as General Leia is
essential, and her presence is crucial to the conclusion of the Skywalker saga.
While I feel J.J. Abrams’ work declined as the trilogy progressed, I appreciate
his effort to make this film work. The production itself is impressive, though
the new additions to the use of the Force didn’t excite me. In fact, I think it
made the Jedi seem almost godlike, which took away from the story. That said, I
understand how some fans feel about the way the movie wraps up the Skywalker
saga. The ending leaves many doors open, but I think it was a decent attempt at
concluding the saga and setting the stage for a new chapter in the Star
Wars epic.
The movie takes
a different approach compared to George Lucas’s original vision, where we had
the iconic “I am your father” moment. Here, we get something like, “He’s your
granddaddy.” Without spoiling too much, the movie reveals Rey’s origins and the
return of Emperor Palpatine, both of which are major plot points you’ll have to
watch the movie to fully understand. I must warn you, though, the movie has an
adventure-game feel to it. The characters are constantly searching for one
thing to find another, which is needed to decipher something else, and so on.
The movie begins with Kylo Ren discovering that Emperor Palpatine is alive and has been pulling the strings all along. When the Resistance learns of Palpatine’s survival, Rey sets off to find his location, as he’s reportedly amassed a massive fleet to destroy the Resistance. She’s not alone on this journey—Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO join her as they search for someone who knew Luke, hoping he can help them locate the Emperor. We also get to see Lando return to the fight.
Meanwhile, Kylo
rebuilds his helmet and wrestles with his inner demons, preparing to join
Palpatine and rule the galaxy. The movie follows Rey’s mission to stop this
while Kylo struggles with whether to remain on the dark side or return to the
light. The moment Leia dies made me cry—it felt like a final goodbye to Carrie
Fisher. However, Kylo’s sudden turn from dark to good and the awkward romantic
tension between him and Rey made me want to dropkick the screen.
In the end, the
movie isn’t as bad as some people online make it out to be, but it’s not great
either. I can understand why the trilogy feels disjointed—I felt it too. That
said, Star Wars still delivers a visually stunning experience,
powerful acting, and an inviting journey. The movie also incorporates elements
we first saw in The Mandalorian, like the healing power of the Force.
However, in this movie, they take it to the extreme, along with introducing
Force teleportation. It felt like the writers ran out of ideas on how to end
the saga.
While this final
Skywalker movie didn’t do the saga full justice, I still enjoyed it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment