It's time to take one last look...at our friends.
That's right, I'm back once again with another of my movie takes, this time on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga. As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now. If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...the Force will be with you...always.
After Rian Johnson's successful but highly controversial previous installment, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, toxic Star Wars fandom was at an all-time high and behind-the-scenes production at Lucasfilm wasn't fairing much better. Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow left the production in September 2017, with the go-to explanation "creative differences", after failing several attempts to deliver a satisfactory script to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. J.J. Abrams, director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was quickly announced as Trevorrow's replacement, which many saw as an attempt to placate fans and get the final trilogy back on track after some of Johnson's unpopular creative choices. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio reportedly met with creator George Lucas, then rewrote the script while the film's release date was pushed back from May 2019 to December.
The Rise of Skywalker opens one year after The Last Jedi's Battle of Crait, which left the Resistance against the First Order at its lowest point. Following a broadcast by the late Emperor Palpatine, suddenly not dead after being killed off in 1983's Return of the Jedi, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren obtains a Sith Wayfinder device on the planet Mustafar, leading him to the uncharted planet Exegol. There, he finds Palpatine, who explains he literally created former Supreme Leader Snoke as a puppet to control the First Order and lure Kylo to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine unveils his secret armada of Star Destroyers (Surprise!) and tells Kylo to find and kill his sort-of-creepy love interest Rey, who's continuing her Jedi training under Kylo's mom, General Leia Organa.
From there, the film launches into a fast, albeit initially uneven pace as Finn and Poe Dameron deliver intel from a spy that Palpatine is on Exegol. And after rescuing the ancient Jedi texts from Rian Johnson, Rey has learned that a Sith Wayfinder can lead them there. Even better, Leia reveals that there's an ally on new planet Pasaana who may be able to help. So off we go, with Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO blasting off in the Millennium Falcon while poor R2-D2 stays behind going "Hey! What about me?".
On Pasaana, the group encounters old smoothy and cape fetishist Lando Calrissian, who points them to the Wayfinder's last suspected location. Using their creeptacular Force bond, Kylo learns where Rey is and heads there with his old crew, the Knights of Ren. Rey and the others discover the remains of a Sith assassin named Ochi, his ship, his little wheely droid D-O, and a dagger inscribed with Sith text, which C-3PO's programming forbids him from interpreting even though hey, that's his primary function. Sensing Kylo is nearby, Rey goes to confront him because the Reylo shippers demand it. The First Order captures the Falcon, Chewbacca, and the dagger, while Rey, attempting to rescue Chewbacca, accidentally destroys a First Order transport with Force lightning. D'oh! The group escapes on Ochi's ship, understandably thinking that Chewbacca died in the explosion, and looks over at Rey in a very awkward moment.
It's around the second act that the film finds its footing, as Poe suggests traveling to another new planet, Kijimi, to have the Sith text extracted from C-3PO's memory with help from a tiny droidsmith named Babu Frik. The process wipes C-3PO's memory, with the obvious comedic ramifications, but reveals coordinates to a Wayfinder on Kef Bir, an ocean moon of Endor (Yes, that Endor). Rey eventually senses that Chewbacca is alive, so congrats on not killing one of Star Wars' most popular characters, and the group mounts a rescue mission. While Kylo searches for Rey, the group infiltrates his Star Destroyer with the help of Zorii Bliss, a mysterious acquaintance of Poe and an even longer acquaintance of J.J. Abrams. Rey recovers the dagger and has visions of her not-nobody parents being killed with it.
Kylo decides to drop some long-awaited truth on Rey, informing her that she's not a Skywalker like many of us thought, but the granddaughter of (dun-dun-dun) Sheev Palpatine. It turns out Grampa Palpy ordered Ochi to recover Rey as a child, but her parents hid her on Jakku to protect her, just as Obi-Wan did with Baby Luke on Tattooine. And in a surprising-but-not-that-surprising sequence, General Hux saves Poe, Finn, and Chewbacca from execution, revealing himself as the spy that gave Finn and Poe intel. He allows the group to escape on the Falcon, but then gets himself executed for treason. (Insert Price Is Right fail horn here)
The group arrives on Kef Bir and meets Jannah, an ex-First Order stormtrooper and current Resistance sympathizer like Finn, who leads them to the remains of the second Death Star, where Rey locates the Wayfinder. Kylo, having tracked the group to Kef Bir, destroys Rey's Wayfinder and asks her to help him take Palpatine off the board. A climactic lightsaber duel follows, with Leia calling to Kylo through the Force and distracting him at a key moment, allowing Rey to impale him. The effort causes Leia's death, however, but Rey heals Kylo and takes his ship to exile herself on Luke Skywalker's secret crib on Ahch-To. After torching Kylo's ship, Rey is confronted by Luke's Force ghost, who encourages her to face Palpatine and gives her Leia's lightsaber and his X-wing from his time in the Rebellion. Rey leaves for Exegol, using the Wayfinder from Kylo’s ship, while Kylo has an unexpected conversation with a memory of his father, Han Solo. Kylo finally turns his back on the dark side, throwing away his lightsaber and reclaiming his identity as Ben Solo.
Heading into the final act of the Skywalker Saga, Palpatine, in a display of total dickishness, has a Star Destroyer obliterate Kijimi, while at the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss, R2-D2 restores C-3PO's memory with his most recent backup. The Resistance follows Rey's coordinates to Exegol, where she confronts Sith Zombie Palpatine, who demands she kill him so he can transfer his spirit into her and presumably, admire himself in the mirror. With Poe's plan to attack a crap-ton of Star Destroyers with a small fleet not being very well thought out, the Resistance fighters get pretty much owned until Lando shows up with a lot of reinforcements from across the galaxy. Ben arrives to help Rey, overpowering his former frat bros in the Knights of Ren.
Recognizing Rey and Ben as a rare Force dyad, Palpatine drains their power to rejuvenate himself without any need for botox. He attacks the Resistance fleet with a huge surge of Force lightning and hurls Ben into a chasm so he knows how it feels. Still weakened, Rey finally hears the voices of past Jedi, who lend her their strength. Palpatine attacks her with his lightning, but Rey deflects it using Luke and Leia's lightsabers, disintegrating him and sacrificing herself in the process. After climbing out of the chasm, Ben revives Rey by transferring his life force into her. Rey wakes up and kisses him as the Reylo shippers squee with delight, but the effort costs Ben his life. He dies, as both he and his mother Leia become one with the Force.
The Resistance destroys the remainder of Palpatine's Star Destroyer armada, then heads back to Ajan Kloss to celebrate. Lots of hugging -- seriously, so much hugging -- follows, with some last looks at the surviving cast. The Skywalker Saga closes with Rey, as she visits the abandoned Lars homestead on Tatooine, where Luke grew up. Having built her own lightsaber, she buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the sand, the first tribute to her former masters. In the second, she tells a passing old woman that her full name is Rey Skywalker, allowing the Skywalker legacy to continue. Abrams' final shot, with John Williams' closing theme, brings the entire film saga full circle, as Rey and BB-8 stare off into the distance at Tattooine's binary sunset. THE END.
So what about the performances from the cast and the characters they portrayed? Well, as you might expect, I have a few thoughts...
REY SKYWALKER -- If this is the last we see of Daisy Ridley as Rey, at least she went out on a high note. So much of this movie rides on her performance, which is easily her most physical, and Ridley definitely steps up when needed. The revelation that Rey is the Emperor's granddaughter is obviously a big one, but it works better than the theory that she was Luke's daughter with or without a midichlorian immaculate conception.
KYLO REN/BEN SOLO -- Adam Driver finally got to play Ben Solo and we're all better for it. Kylo Ren was the ultimate Darth Vader wannabe, right down to following his redemption arc, but it was Ben Solo's Force dyad connection to Rey that distinguished him. As much as it would've been nice to see Kylo Ren pay for murdering his father Han Solo, Ben's redemption made Han and Leia's deaths more meaningful.
POE DAMERON -- As the Han Solo-esque Poe Dameron, Oscar Isaac gets to deliver more quippy one-liners than his previous outings, but it's his history with Zorri Bliss that interested me the most. For once, we had a hero with an ex-girlfriend who didn't get back together with his ex by the movie's end. On a completely different note, Isaac was able to give Poe some depth in a great scene as he questioned his own ability to lead the Resistance after Leia's passing.
FINN/FN-2187 -- If there's one character who felt incomplete at the end of this trilogy, it's probably John Boyega's Finn. It sure seemed like Finn wanted to express his feelings for Rey on a couple of occasions, but he failed to do so before the clock ran out and the movie ended. Meanwhile, his would-be romance with Rose Tico in The Last Jedi completely vanished, and suddenly, there's Jannah, an ex-stormtrooper exactly like him, who seemed like a solid match. Time for a Disney+ spinoff series, maybe?
DARTH SIDIOUS/SHEEV PALPATINE -- In (presumably) his final outing as Palpatine, Ian McDiarmid's return made perfect sense, especially given his connection to Rey. Palpatine was Big Bad of Return of the Jedi and later the prequels, so only now, at the end, do we truly understand.
LANDO CALRISSIAN -- Billy Dee Williams' Lando was a character fans wanted to see return ever since The Force Awakens, so this was definitely a case of better late than never. Still rocking his cape after all these years, Lando brought some Original Trilogy swagger to Rise of Skywalker and even got a big fist-pumping moment when he showed up with the Resistance allies in the nick of time.
GENERAL LEIA ORGANA -- Ever since Carrie Fisher's untimely death at the end of 2016, Star Wars fans have been dreading the moment when we would need to say goodbye to Leia as well. Even with only having unused footage from The Force Awakens, Abrams and Terrio gave Leia a tasteful demise that mattered and was emotionally resonant. We felt Leia's death, as did the characters, and it brought a true sense of closure for many of us.
LUKE SKYWALKER -- After being killed off in The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill's final appearance here as Force Ghost Luke Skywalker was a more fitting end. Hamill gets to deliver a sly jab at Rian Johnson's treatment of Luke's lightsaber in the beginning of The Last Jedi, then has a wonderful sequence as he finally raises his X-wing fighter from the water, just as Yoda showed him was possible in The Empire Strikes Back. And in a lovely moment as the film ends, we see Luke reunited with his sister Leia as Force ghosts, watching over Rey as she continues the Skywalker legacy.
CHEWBACCA -- You know a Star Wars film is emotional when even Chewie's tugging on your hearstrings. Joonas Suotamo's Chewbacca had older fans gasping when we thought Rey had accidentally (and rather stupidly) killed him with Force lightning, but it was Chewie's powerful cry of loss that had everyone reaching for the napkins as he learned that Leia had died. This has been a hard trilogy for Chewie, but like the Millennium Falcon, he's a survivor.
C-3PO -- Anthony Daniels, the only actor to appear in all nine Skywalker Saga films, delivers another solid and funny performance as everyone's favorite chatty protocol droid. And in another heartstring-pulling moment, Threepio sacrifices his memory so that his fellow Resistance members can receive a Sith message forbidden to his programming. Thankfully, his best friend and droid life partner R2-D2 is able to reload most of his memories.
R2-D2 -- Once again, Jimmy "Bannakaffalatta" Vee reprises Artoo, who gets to be the only one to actually watch Leia die in her final attempt to reach Ben. In addition to restoring most of Threepio's memory, Artoo fills in for BB-8 in Poe's X-wing for the final assault.
BB-8 -- Surprisingly, BB-8 doesn't get to do all that much this time out. After Rey accidentally drops a tree on him, he's primarily used to introduce D-O to the others. He does, however, get to share the final scene with Rey on Tattooine.
ZORRI BLISS -- Keri Russell, one of J.J. Abrams' go-to actresses, plays new character Zorri Bliss, who looks and feels like someone who would be right at home on The Mandalorian. Some of us wondered if Zorri was going to be revealed as Rey's mom, but instead, she turns out to be Poe's old spice runner girlfriend. She was cool though, and I wouldn't say no if she landed her own Disney+ spinoff TV series.
JANNAH/TZ-1719 -- Naomi Ackie plays another new character, Jannah, who turns out to be a former stormtrooper like Finn. She gets partnered up with Finn, primarily because Rey is off doing Jedi stuff and Poe is off doing Resistance stuff, but the two have a fun chemistry. We don't get to learn that much about her, unfortunately, but Lando makes a kind gesture to help her do just that, so...Disney+ series?
BABU FRIK -- Baby Yoda's new competition for Cutest Star Wars Character Ever is Babu Frik, the tiny droidsmith who operates on C-3PO. Voiced by Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films (I know, right?), Babu Frik steals every Frikkin' scene he's in, even in the Battle of Exegol, where he suddenly turns up in Zorri Bliss' cockpit for no damn reason whatsoever.
D-O -- Voiced by J.J. Abrams himself, D-O is introduced as BB-8's new sidekick. He doesn't do a whole lot apart from react to things, but he gets some nice scenes such as when Rey fixes his squeaky wheel.
GENERAL ARMITAGE HUX -- Finally, someone puts Domhnall Gleeson's Hux down once and for all. The weaselly First Order general finally flips on the First Order, not because he's suddenly decided to become a good guy, but simply because he doesn't want Kylo Ren in charge.
ALLEGIANT GENERAL PRYDE -- Richard E. Grant is the guy we have to thank for taking Hux off the board. As General Pryde, he's essentially a considerably more competent version of Hux, a character needed because Hux had become such a joke by this point. A shame Richard E. Grant didn't have more screen time, he's a great actor.
ROSE TICO -- After being such a key character in The Last Jedi, Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico almost completely vanishes into the void here and it's a damn shame. The Skywalker Saga's sole character of Asian descent is reduced to Resistance administrative support, showing up briefly here and there as Leia and other Resistance base characters react to things. I knew the toxic Star Wars fans hated Rose, but I didn't think Abrams and Terrio did as well.
MAZ KANATA -- Lupita Nyong'o only had a quick cameo as Maz in The Last Jedi, but she's gets a little more to do here, as she explains Leia's actions and mourns for her upon her death. She gets a very welcome scene, however, at the end celebration where she gives Chewbacca Han's old medal, a callback to the final scene of the original Star Wars film in which Luke and Han received medals and Chewbacca didn't for some inexplicable reason.
HAN SOLO CAMEO -- Speaking of Han, Harrison Ford makes a surprising appearance as the film's best cameo. Presented as Kylo's "memory" of Han, Ford gets to urge Kylo Ren to finally do the right thing and come back to the light side. There's a terrific nod to Han's death scene in The Force Awakens, where Kylo Ren recreates his line about knowing what he has to do but not being sure sure if he has the strength, while Han touches his face just as he did when he died. This scene makes Han's death a little more meaningful, knowing that eventually, Han's son makes the right choice.
WEDGE ANTILLES CAMEO -- Denis Lawson reprises Wedge for a quick cameo after destroying the Supreme Star Destroyer. People might confuse him for Anthony Daniels.
WICKET WIDGET WARRICK CAMEO -- Warwick Davis turns up in a quick moment on Endor at the film's end with his son Harrison Davis as Pommet Warrick.
JOHN WILLIAMS CAMEO -- The legendary Star Wars composer turns up as a Kijimi bartender named Oma Tres, an anagram of O Master.
VOCAL CAMEOS -- During the climatic showdown on Exegol, Star Wars fans will have lots of fun identifying the voices of Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, Olivia d'Abo as Luminara Unduli, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura, Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Frank Oz as Yoda, Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan Jarrus, and Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.
All in all, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the conclusion we needed to the Skywalker Saga. It's not going to please everyone, because Star Wars fans now exist in three different generations with their own preferred trilogy and their own ideas of how Star Wars ought to be. What the film does, well enough in my opinion, is bring a story that began in 1977 to a close -- the story of how George Lucas' sci-fi adventure film defined one generation and created an enduring legacy for the others that followed. It took 42 years to tell, but was definitely worth it.
And for those who may be wondering, here's my personal ranking of the Star Wars films:
1. Star Wars (1977)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
5. Return of the Jedi (1983)
6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
7. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
8. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
9. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
10. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
11. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)