Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, the final installment of “The Sequel Trilogy” as well as the last chapter of the nine-part “Skywalker Saga” is currently out in theaters. The Rise Of Skywalker earned mixed reviews from critics, fans and movie goers alike. It has yet to make revenue at the box office.
Today’s review does not contain any potential SPOILERS. I’m gonna give everybody a chance to get caught up. Is it an improvement or a colossal disaster? Time to find out.
Believable & Unbelievable Aspects
Believable: The Main Cast from the previous two films all did a decent job for their respective performances. Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid reprise their roles as Lando Calrissian and Emperor Palpatine, yet they deliver fantastic performances. Newcomers to the series such as Keri Russell & Richard E. Grant both did ok.
The ninth installment closes The Skywalker Saga centering around Anakin, Luke, Leia, Han and Kylo’s generational story arc. Action Sequences were adequate. Special Effect combine a mix of Practical Effects and Computer Animation. John Williams orchestrated music for the film. Cinematography was shot without a bad case of pretentious shaky cam.
Rose Tico’s screen time is reduced. That’s what happens when Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) made Rose act like an incompetent moron who’s way too obsessed with Finn. I think Rose is the worst Star Wars character besides Jar Jar Binks. I have nothing against Kelly Marie Tran, I’m mad at Rian Johnson’s poorly written character motivation. I feel bad for Kelly who was cyber bullied by rabid fans crossing the line saying mean things to her. Kelly’s colleagues including Mark Hamill defended her from opinionated toxic fans.
Unbelievable: If you’re a lifelong Star Wars fan like me, the mythology surrounding the entire franchise, The Force, balancing light and dark sides etc. suffer from many Plot Holes. Each one broke my Suspension Of Disbelief. Pacing felt rushed lacking substance. Ever heard of the phrase, “Quality over quantity?”
J.J. Abrams didn’t do so well directing and co-writing. Chris Terrio (one of the guys who ruined Batman VS Superman) failed to captivate a cohesive narrative. Kathleen Kennedy didn’t think before she green-lit the script. I noticed a couple “Cop Out” moments. At first, a specific scene could’ve changed a plot point’s status quo. Turns out to be a trick for cheap drama. This becomes a habit throughout. Certain scenes were either rushed or deleted. This is due to reshoots and cutting 30 minutes of footage.
I can’t tell you about The Climatic Battle, I was upset after an epic battle never concluded on a high note. The Ending wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Nobody at my theater was cheering, it was dead silent. Oh how the mighty have fallen. “Avengers: Endgame” had a dignified ending worth a culmination building up 22 films since from 2008 to 2019.
Without giving too much away, Rey’s backstory failed to fix The Last Jedi’s flashback scenes. I’m gonna be brutally honest, I never cared about Rey, not because she’s a woman, because she’s way too overpowered for a Jedi. Her character arc is a lackluster journey for her to become a Jedi like Luke or Anakin. I don’t blame Daisy Ridley’s presence, I blame poorly written characterization.
The Final Verdict: D-
All I can say is, The Rise Of Skywalker is an insult to a beloved franchise inspiring countless filmmakers. What I witnessed is a colossal disaster since “Dark Phoenix.” If you’re a longtime Star Wars fan like me, you’re gonna be appalled. If you’re just a casual movie goer willing to have a good time with your friends and family during Christmas month, go ahead and give it a try. As a warning, you’ll be mortified.
I hope The Clone Wars’ upcoming season on Disney Plus better not have the same reception like The Rise Of Skywalker. I’m counting on Dave Filoni. (showrunner of The Clone Wars animated series) All we can do is cross our fingers. In the meantime, “The Mandalorian” is worth your spare time if you have a Disney Plus account.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 
“Too powerful to be a jedi” I haven’t seen this but I could agree – it’s like saying that Princess Zelda is a warrior when in my eyes she’s only an archer, ESPECIALLY the Ocarina of Time younger Zelda – she had NO fisticuff/sword fighting experience, and she had a bow and/or a crossbow concealed from the player. If she wanted to fight close quarters she’d either use a crossbow or a spear. My sources come from a gossip stone claiming she’s a tomboy, she mentions let’s defeat ganondorf, saying “she couldn’t delay any longer”, she gives you light arrows, she apparently taught Link archery between OoT and MM, and also she’d never let someone hurt Impa. This all sounds kinda weird but Zelda is a fantasy land like the mushroom kingdom and there aren’t any rules. Yeah I know that’s off topic but I’m just using that as a reference.
Rey was definitely a little ridiculously powerful in The Last Jedi when in Force Awakens she was perfectly fine as an apparent tomboy. I mean who the hell was she trying to be in that movie? Elastagirl? I’ll just wait for this to show up on Disney+, not going to a theater to watch this. All in all even though I’d put this trilogy above the prequels, I feel that this should’ve just been a different tale or something instead, and the skywalker saga should’ve just been limited to the 6 movies (or better yet just the original trilogy since the prequels were kinda trash) but I found the standalone movies better. Princess Leia and even Padme were both tomboys and not feminists.
So before I see this, HOW the hell did Darth Sidious SURVIVE the death star 2’s destruction and FALLING in the shaft? This makes Vader’s move COMPLETELY NULL AND VOID. And I was wishing Luke was still the vicious fierce warrior he was in the original trilogy, and not someone who just went “HI EVERYBODY!” and just disappeared out of nowhere. I get it that George Lucas apparently was going to have it this way 30 years ago when he intended for nine movies but it’s not like I was born in 1972 when I could easily understand this. I’ll still put Last Jedi above the mess that was the prequels, but they should’ve done a little more talking with George Lucas or spearheading something a little better.
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