Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Review

141min

Genre:     Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director:  J.J. Abrams

Cast:       Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega…and more

Writers:   J.J. Abrams, Chris Terrio, Colin Trevorrow… and more

-Synopsis-

Brought back from the brink of destruction by a newly skilled ‘Rey’ and her friends, the remaining Resistance faces off against ‘Kylo Ren’s’ rampaging ‘First Order’ in a struggle for survival, but as those thought long gone return to the fray, the two are drawn to each other, while beckoned by a resurgent dark force—setting-up a decisive final battle for the fate of the galaxy . . . and revealing some uncomfortable truths.

Forty-two years after George Lucas combined a classic good vs. evil narrative, Western themes, sci-fi spectacle and comic-book influences to create a space opera which would re-define cinema, revolutionise the film industry and create a global pop-culture mythology, fourteen year after he re-visited his creation to deliver an origin story for the greatest family saga in film history, and four years after J.J. Abrams helped Disney re-package it all for a new generation—the burden of wrapping it all up once again sits on the shoulders of the New York filmmaker, plus screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and the Disney brass. The result—a decidedly mixed bag.

Daisy Ridley returns as scavenger turned last Jedi Rey, struggling to harness her considerable powers under the tutelage of general ‘Leia’ (Carrie Fisher) while resistance heroes ‘Finn’ (John Boyega), ‘Poe’ (Oscar Isaac) and ‘Chewbacca’ (Joonas Suotamo) scramble to take the fight to Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his First Order. But when the dark ghostly echoes of the Empire turn out to be more than a spectre, the two powerful and only remaining young force masters are drawn to a resurgent ‘Palpatine’ (Ian McDiarmid) who threatens to change the course of history for the whole galaxy—as origins are revealed and destinies fulfilled, while new figures and old friends are all sucked into one epic final fight for the soul of the stars.

Determined not to go home, Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy go big, taking advantage of considerable Disney resources to up the scale and add more battles, major action set-pieces, distant worlds and alien races than you could ask for—relying on lavish effects, stellar production designs and the vivid cinematography of Dan Mindel (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Force Awakens) to ensure the film looks the part, and once again leveraging the musical genius of John Williams to elevate the high drama to the stars. Abrams and co-writer Terrio also maintain a healthy level of humour through multiple characters here, no more so than with the brief exploits of a delightful and charismatic little scene-stealing alien droid mechanic . . . who has since gone viral.

So like any blue chip blockbuster these days ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ clearly has the stylistic bases covered, ready to deliver sensory overload while whisking you off into an epic adventure. But the film’s real task is far more daunting than that, and Abrams and Terrio have the unenviable duty of trying to balance paying homage to the past while paying it off in present, completing character arcs both old and new while rounding off narratives from nine major motion pictures into one cohesive conclusion—and the result is an overstuffed and underwhelming narrative, leaving this forty-two-year-old cinematic marathon just about stumbling over the finish line on sheer momentum.

The film’s themes are many and well-established here, staying true to the saga’s core by making this a continuing tale of tyranny and resistance with echoes of the early 20th century fight against fascism, plus a people-power story of friendship with a message of being who you are in spite of who you were born to be—bringing an end to perhaps the biggest family drama in the history of film. And yet by returning to a dynastic tale at the centre of the story, Abrams and Terrio are effectively pulling back from some of the socially progressive themes established in Rian Johnson’s previous episode of the series ‘The Last Jedi’—no doubt irking some critics while pleasing certain fans—an indication of Lucasfilm’s determination to land this goliath by playing it safe.

Indeed the script overstretches to please too many parties and pay off too many years of set-up, simultaneously trying to please the never-pleased fandom while letting them down, and struggling to balance hitting the nostalgia beats and paying homage to the past while delivering in the present, with certain scenes and character returns which feel too convenient and slightly contrived.

There’s no getting around the feeling of an unnecessarily convoluted plot and bloated story here, which never really pays off the excess fat, leading to a safe, overly familiar and predictable conclusion which suddenly drops major story and character elements like a lead balloon, before sweeping them under the carpet of the epic spectacle and drama. Not to mention stretching to the limit of use of ‘The Force’ as a convenient manhole cover for plot holes and story stumbling blocks.

In spite of the script, Daisy Ridley as the last Jedi does well to carry the weight of the series on her young shoulders, echoing a character who carries the history of the galaxy—both good and bad—on hers, while the story brings all our resistance heroes back together giving them a little more back-story to sink their teeth into, in particular Oscar Isaac as Poe who gets plenty of fodder for his relationships with John Boyega’s Finn, and with new addition Keri Russell’s ‘Zorii’, an old friend from a shifty past. As always Adam Driver brings a certain intensity as a the perpetually conflicted pseudo villain Kylo Ren, although there’s a new (or should we say old) villain in town here, while plenty of other characters get a chance to shine, with some of the smaller roles shining the brightest.

‘The Rise of Skywalker’  does manage to deliver on big sweeping drama and the emotion that comes with decades of audience investment, yet the film’s most powerful and poignant moments come with the final appearance of the late Carrie Fisher as the galaxy’s favourite princess and general, with Abrams & co. doing wonders with the unused footage from previous films—and yet sadly in truth this emotion probably has little to do with the film at all.

So the billion dollar questions here are; is this good enough to wrap up this new Disney-era ‘Star Wars’ trilogy?, and the answer is just about yes. But is it good enough to faithfully conclude a series which spanned the course of nine films and forty-two years, and proved to be the most epic and influential cinematic saga ever?—not at all.

But then it was probably naive to think that any one film could, much less one with the problems this one had—like replacing its director, or losing one of its legendary legacy players and having to work around her passing, not to mention the narrative spanner in the works thrown by Rian Johnson’s bold but divisive ‘The Last Jedi’. Yet with some perspective we should be able to appreciate that compared to much of the tentpole blockbuster fare of the day, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ and indeed all of the Disney franchise films—yes even ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’—are at the very least solid achievements in epic big screen entertainment. And yet ‘Star Wars’ had always been much more than that . . . and hopefully can be again, but for now it feels like much of the magic is gone.

When Disney made the prudent purchase of Lucasfilm for around $4 billion in late 2012, many predicted what was probably coming—the promise of quality but the guarantee of quantity. But one result of the subsequent all-consuming ubiquity of the media franchise over both big and small screens, is that for us ‘Star Wars’ in general now feels more episodic, less special and devoid of the cinematic magic we’ve come to expect. Particularly for the films which can’t count on the decades of hope and anticipation which served 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’ so well.

The purist fan argument over whether this saga should have ended in 1983 is irrelevant, because it didn’t and because it’s now nearly 2020, when as we know nothing ever ends, so we won’t be shocked by any form of resurrection or continuation in the future. But for now we’ll assume that the Skywalker Saga is over, and that’s probably no bad thing—because if Disney struggle to deliver something truly magical and special, at least they can try to offer something new and bold.

The Bottom Line…

A suitably epic and entertaining conclusion to a dynamic new trilogy, but an underwhelming end for a monumental cinematic saga and biggest family drama in Hollywood history, ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ provides plenty of spectacle and just about enough character closure, but packs too much into one picture and stumbles heavily over its own narrative feet—leaving us thankful for what George Lucas created and just about satisfied by Disney’s contribution, but tentatively ready to move on to new stories in a galaxy far, far away….

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Thirty years after the fall of the Galactic Empire, a new dark force casts its shadow over the galaxy seeking absolute power through the destruction of the resistance and hunting down the last remaining Jedi opposition. An encounter between a talented scavenger and a dissident Stormtrooper brings together an unlikely group of allies to stop this menacing ‘First Order’ in yet another epic space adventure, three decades in the making.

J.J. Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Harrison Ford among others.

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.