'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Review—A Crowd-Pleasing Finale

At this point, I'm almost afraid to have an opinion on a Star Wars movie, but given that the final installment in the Skywalker saga has been released, I figured that it is time for us all to hold our breaths, brace ourselves, and watch a new Star Wars film.

Hello there...

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is an epic space opera film written by J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio and directed by Abrams. The film follows Rey, Finn, and Poe as they go on an adventure through space to save the Resistance from defeat by the ruthless First Order.

The sequel trilogy for Star Wars has been, to say the very least, divisive amongst fans and critics. Some loved The Force Awakens, while others criticized its similarities to A New Hope. Some loved The Last Jedi, while many disagreed with the creative decisions made.

And for these films, I've been on the critics' side. I loved both Awakens and Jedi, but when I saw the Rotten Tomatoes rating for Skywalker, there was only one thing I had to say: I have a very bad feeling about this.

But now that I've watched it, I can say that this is the first Star Wars film where I've disagreed with other critics. The Rise of Skywalker is a captivating, thrilling ride from start to finish that will put a grin on the face of any die-hard fan of the franchise.

Now, this review will have no spoilers besides what's been shown in the trailer, but I will soon write a spoiler-filled article on all my in-depth thoughts about this film.

How do you critique a Star Wars film? With the widely varying opinions that Star Wars fans hold, it is virtually an impossible task to predict how fans will react to a new film, but given that I'm a huge fan of the series, I'll tell you my experiences and how you may feel as well.

This film was, in many ways, made for the fans. The very first scene of the film gives us the long-awaited explanation for Snoke's backstory and from there, the movie doubles down on its fan service, giving us old locations, old characters, and some wonderful surprises.

Some have criticized the film for being too pandering to fans, and while I'll get to a few of those issues later, I want to say this about fan service–I'm a fan. Therefore, I love being served, and that's what Abrams was doing for the majority of this film.

This is essentially the Avengers: Endgame of Star Wars, as this is the culmination of multiple films with a lot of fan service and a crowd-pleasing finale; while some of the "pandering" may bother certain people, I was so happy that I couldn't complain.

Where this movie shines is its pure energy–this is an action-packed roller coaster ride that throws our main heroes into crazier and crazier situations as they try to accomplish their mission, and the result of Abrams's fast-paced storytelling is a non-stop adrenaline rush that keeps you entertained.

It's hard to not find enjoyment in any of the film's chases, lightsaber battles, and shootouts. While they're mostly standard for a Star Wars movie, they're incredibly entertaining to watch and an absolute blast.

Everyone in this movie gives a very good performance. Daisy Ridley is a star in the making, as she delivers another fantastic dramatic performance as this character, while John Boyega and Oscar Isaac also help command the screen in their respective roles.

Adam Driver is incredible as Kylo Ren. While he was given more screen time in The Last Jedi, Driver remains a "force" to be reckoned with in this film as this very complex, unpredictable villain that I loved watching.

The production design and cinematography in this film are outstanding, and they're some of the best in the franchise. It is an aesthetically beautiful film with some great visual effects.

I also want to write about Carrie Fisher's inclusion in the film. Fisher passed away in 2016 before production on this film began, but General Leia is very much a part of this film's story through archival footage that is used seamlessly in the film.

With the knowledge that Fisher passed away before filming, you can tell how the editors and writers had to really work to find ways to incorporate the film, but without the knowledge, you wouldn't be able to tell, and I loved how they were able to find a way to make this film "Leia's story".

However, I do have to write about the issues with this film. When I initially walked out of the film, there was very little that I didn't like about it but looking back at it, there are issues with the way this film handles certain events that happened in The Last Jedi.

Many fans were displeased with certain events and explanations that Rian Johnson gave in The Last Jedi, and this film seems to be trying so hard to appease the fans that it throws away some of the explanations and ideas from the previous film.

Some ideas in this film are good; for example, there is an explanation for Rey's unrivaled abilities with the Force, the Knights of Ren appear, and again, we get a backstory for Snoke, but at the same time, the film's explanations and actions contradict what we saw in The Last Jedi.

As a result, the film can feel like a desperate course correction for the trilogy and a plea of forgiveness to Last Jedi haters, with the fixing of Kylo's helmet and Rose Tico receiving the Jar-Jar treatment with her largely diminished role.

Decisions like the ones made in this film may win over people displeased with The Last Jedi, but they may offend people who liked Last Jedi. For me, I wasn't offended enough to dislike the film, but I couldn't help but notice the way they handled the previous film.

It feels a bit like Abrams had a vague idea for how the franchise would go, and then Johnson took it in a different direction in Last Jedi, and Abrams ended up going, "Dammit, what do I do now? *gasp* I've got it! Palpatine! Let's bring him back to replace Snoke!"

Furthermore, some of the explanations in this film feel as if Abrams just found a bunch of Star Wars fan theories and decided to make them canon in this film.

And in terms of the story, it doesn't go in any darker directions nor does it tread unfamiliar territory. Abrams reuses the MacGuffin plot device he had previously used in Mission: Impossible III, and while the story was good, it wasn't as good as it could have been.

But I'm done nitpicking this movie.

Moving right back to the good stuff, there are scenes in this movie that made me come pretty close to crying from how much I loved them. Abrams was able to cater to fans of the originals, the prequels, and the first two sequels in many ways by giving them everything we wanted to see.

Not everyone may like the idea of Palpatine's return, and the flaws in this film will get under some people's skin, but here's the thing with me: I loved The Force Awakens. I loved The Last Jedi. And I loved The Rise of Skywalker.

There are a lot of movies I watch with some problems here and there, but sometimes, the problems simply don't bother me enough to be disappointed. Some may be disappointed by this film and others may be thrilled; I was very much the latter.

I was very happy with the directions this story took, even though its execution could be ham-handed at times. But at the end of the day, this was a Star Wars movie–the ninth (and hopefully final) installment in a saga spanning 42 years.

Will everyone like it? No. But will it put a smile on some faces and give Star Wars fans to either love, hate, or ferociously debate about? Yes. And for me, this is a film that I cannot wait to revisit.

I'm gonna give 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' a 9/10 (A-).

This movie didn't make it to my top ten of the year, but it came pretty damn close. If you're a Star Wars fan, this film is worth checking out simply because of the way it concludes the franchise.

Thank you for reading, and I'll have a spoiler review out in a few days.