Colin Tobin
Contributing Writer
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
“Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker,” directed by J.J. Abrams, concludes the current trilogy of films and serves as the grand finale to the Skywalker saga.
The discourse surrounding Star Wars radically changed after the release of Episode XIII, “The Last Jedi” in 2017. Fans were polarized, some absolutely loving it and others loathing it. I fell somewhere in the middle of that. There were aspects that I really enjoyed and others not so much. Episode IX was given a near impossible task: trying to win back those who disliked XIII while keeping those who liked it onboard. It ended up not fully committing to either one.
I’ll start out with what I thought were the positives. Once again, the lightsaber battles are really well-choreographed and look great, specifically the ones between Rey and Kylo Ren in the rain and between Kylo Ren and the Emperor’s guards. Episode IX had another difficult task: what to do with Leia after Carrie Fisher’s death. Thankfully they chose to use unused footage from previous films instead of doing something digitally, and it works well within the narrative. Adam Driver is the highlight as Kylo Ren is finally redeemed after a touching scene with a memory of his father, Han Solo.
“The Rise of Skywalker” is full of missed opportunities. The biggest, in my opinion, being with the character, Finn, portrayed by John Boyega. Finn’s only purpose throughout the movie seems to be yelling “REY!” when she appears to be in trouble. Also, he is hinted at being force-sensitive and this is never explored at all. “The Force Awakens” gives him a great setup as a stormtrooper who escapes The First Order and holds his own against Kylo Ren with a lightsaber. How cool would it have been to see an ex-stormtrooper get Jedi training? Sadly, he didn’t receive as much development as some characters.
The biggest, gaping problem with “The Rise of Skywalker” is the lineage of Rey and the return of Emperor Palpatine. Why does Rey have to be Palpatine’s granddaughter? When did the Emperor have a kid? Who had a kid with him and why? The ideas I loved most about Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” were that it said you didn’t have to come from a special bloodline to have the force and that they were going to let the past go. This one throws all that out the window by taking back that Rey’s parents were nobodies and that the Emperor is still alive and running things.
Episode IX and this entire new trilogy clearly did not have a plan going in and it shows. It’s the culmination of two filmmakers’ completely different visons. It definitely isn’t the worst of the series, but it’s nowhere close to the best. There are some cool moments, but it just isn’t completely satisfying as the end to a saga of this magnitude.
If you were disappointed with “The Rise of Skywalker” and still want Star Wars content, I’d highly recommend checking out “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ if you haven’t already.