Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), along with the rest of the galaxy, has heard a broadcast from Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), thought long dead, bragging about the emergence of a revitalized Sith army that will take over. Kylo Ren finds a Sith Wayfinder device leading him to the hidden planet Exegol where he finds a decrepit Palpatine attached to several machines keeping him alive. Palpatine ignores Kylo’s threats and explains his plans for returning to power, including a massive fleet of Star Destroyers. Kylo is ordered to kill Rey (Daisy Ridley) who is continuing her Jedi training with General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). After getting information from a First Order spy confirming the return of Palpatine, Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), BB-8 and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) head to a planet mentioned in the notes written by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in ancient Jedi texts as the site of another Sith Wayfinder. There, they run into Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) who guides them in their search. With the help of friends, and frenemies, scattered on various planets, Rey, Finn, Poe and the rest of the resistance must find a way to defeat Palpatine, Kylo Ren and the evil First Order before freedom in the galaxy is crushed.
As with all films set in a galaxy far, far away, there is more going on, with many more characters, than I can include in a brief plot synopsis. But all that is unimportant when you’re talking about the final film in a tale that has stretched across four decades. Thousands of artists have put in millions, if not billions, of workhours into crafting the nine films of the “Skywalker” saga. There have been questions going back to 1977’s “A New Hope” that fans have wanted answered: How did Han Solo (Harrison Ford) do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs? How does blue milk taste? What does a nerf herder herd? Question one was answered in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” while you can find the answer to question two by visiting the Disney Star Wars land in either Anaheim, California or Orlando, Florida. Question three may still be a mystery. There are also questions from the most recent films, and most of them are answered in “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.” While there is some grumbling within the force (of movie critics) about various aspects of the film, fans of the series since the beginning will find plenty to love about the final chapter.
Even I, who has vivid memories of seeing “Star Wars” in the theater when I was 15 years old, have a few quibbles to pick with director and co-writer JJ Abrams. First, the film never lets any moment, except for some climactic scenes, breathe. The film jumps early on from planet to planet and character to character abruptly. We get no time to absorb what’s happening as we lightspeed-jump to the next action scene or bit of exposition. There’s so much going on in the overstuffed story, bits of plot that have to be sown like seeds so they can blossom into bits of business later, we aren’t allowed much time to visit with these characters we’ve grown to love over the most recent trilogy. I would have liked more time for Rey, Finn and Poe to explore their friendship, even if that is happening while dodging blaster bolts from First Order troopers.
The 2016 death of Carrie Fisher meant major changes to the story as Leia was supposed to be front and center in Episode IX. They got around her absence by using footage shot for “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” digitally manipulating her clothing and hair, and inserting her into scenes. While, from my perspective, the insertion of Leia was done flawlessly, her character doesn’t get the attention she so richly deserved. Leia is the first of the big three characters we meet in the original film and should have been the driving force of this final chapter. Instead, she’s a peripheral afterthought. I know making her the star of Episode IX would be impossible (Fisher’s is the first name appearing in the credits) without recreating her using digital means as was done in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and Disney executives said they wouldn’t do that. However, despite all the effort and artistry in her appearance, the Princess/General deserved much more.
Choppiness and shortchanging characters aside, “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” is a worthy conclusion to the most important film franchise in history (I don’t know that to be a fact, but it’s the most important to me). While the new story is the driving force (pardon the expression) behind the film, subtle and not so subtle nods to other films in the franchise are sprinkled throughout. I can’t give you much information about these as they would be both mild and major spoilers, but I can say fans of the series will enjoy visiting familiar planets and seeing familiar faces. Some critics have complained about “fan service” overwhelming this movie, but I enjoyed seeing nods to the eight previous films as well as some of the extended universe. Disney and Lucasfilm would have been crucified on social media had they ignored the history of the franchise. While we may argue over how much they honored the past, for me it was just right.
The performances in “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” are serviceable. In a heavy action movie with tons of special effects, getting award-worthy performances is going to be difficult at best. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid (under lots of latex appliances) and the rest of the main cast put as much passion and energy into their characters as one could expect. Daisy Ridley’s Rey is on an emotional journey for most of the film as she makes painful discoveries about her past. Adam Driver is dark and brooding as ever. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are energetic and impatient to get things done. The acting is about as good as you could expect for a space opera.
“Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action. Spaceships with people inside are blown up. Faceless Storm Troopers are shown getting hit with blaster bolts and falling to the ground. Lightsabers are shown cutting through people. There are also people shown dying quiet deaths.
It’s not the best “Star Wars” movie of them all, or of the sequel trilogy, but “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” does what it needs to do. It has the lightsabers, it has the space battles, it has the Force, it has the characters we’ve come to know and love, in some cases over the last 42 years, and it has the ongoing battle between good and evil, darkness and light, Jedi and Sith. We can argue over the various parts, but how does “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” fit within the whole? In the eyes of the 15-year-old mesmerized by the images flooding his brain during his first viewing of “Star Wars” in the summer of 1977, it fits perfectly.
“Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” gets four guitars out of five.
The movie review for January 2020 is “
The Gentlemen
.”
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