***NO SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, BUT SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUS FILMS OF THE STAR WARS SEQUEL TRILOGY ABOUND HEREIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***
So yeah. The Force Awakens stays Mr. Abrams' Magnum Opus. And The Last Jedi, while Knives Out appeals to take over as Mr. Johnson's Magnum Opus, remains the Magnum Opus of the sequel trilogy for sure. This could've been so good, and I'm not saying it wasn't...if only for a few little issues. And a big one for me in particular - one that I was in diametric opposition to my dear friend Speedy on, though there was one other development that disappointed us both.
But oh, you kid. You think I didn't like this movie? I most certainly did, ya moof-milkers. J.J. Abrams never goes wrong as far as I'm concerned, not enough to tank the movie, and The Rise of Skywalker is no exception. Not now, not ever.
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| Rey, my queen. And Ben, get that helmet off, I need to see how sweet you are too. |
Not unlike my review of Avengers: Endgame from earlier this year, I'm going to keep this one pretty short, to keep it spoiler free. For sure, though, I'm ranking Endgame higher in the Pinecones, because it's not got as much hamstringing it for me. This movie, as high-energy and speedy in the plot department as it was...well, if either this or Endgame should've been three hours, and only one, it should've been this one. There's simply so much story jam-packed into this one - probably because, unlike The Last Jedi, it isn't a direct follow-up to its predecessor, having a year's gap in the timeline - that it's hard to properly appreciate it all. It's at least fun when we get to have some National Treasure-style cave-hopping shenanigans with Rey, Finn, and Poe - who finally get to be a real Power Trio together almost to the level of Luke, Han, and Leia back in the day. And the climactic battle owes a hell of a lot to Independence Day and Ready Player One both - no kidding. But a lot of story details still come out of nowhere - not least of which being the by-now-very-well-known return of Palpy himself, Darth Sidious. I mean...wasn't it true that he had a ton of clones of himself in Legends? Something something clones, and plague in at least one of those Jacen and Jaina Solo adventure books I read in junior high. So as much as Palpatine's return makes no damn sense, it still kinda does, because Sith and all. After all, he learned from Darth Plagueis, right?
One thing that kinda ticks me off, though, is how poorly Abrams handles the romantic elements of this movie. It almost feels like what romance is there is tiny bits and pieces to troll the fans - and while I do love a little trolling, maybe not when it's my ship? Especially since neither of my ships, I had when I watched TFA. It was only in the time leading up to TLJ - and Rian Johnson playing one up in particular - that they really grew in my brain, helped along by my dear friends Sam and Ginny, of course. (Incidentally, one of those ships that Johnson played up, rather out of nowhere - a rare criticism of mine of TLJ - basically isn't there in this one, explained away in Rebecca Roanhorse's novel Resistance Reborn as Finn and Rose deciding they don't work as a couple, really.) (Incidentally-incidentally, read Resistance Reborn because Roanhorse needs to be in charge of Maz Kanata's backstory urgently, because Abrams and Johnson don't explore it for shit.)
But as always, Abrams shows off that singular gift of hyperkinetic action with some truly wild set pieces and chase scenes and epic duels - some of which truly defy the laws of physics when Rey and Ben start bilocating themselves and assorted objects in their possession. Wasn't bilocation one of the concepts that flashed up on the screen in the opening titles of Fringe? If so, I'll headcanon that as some pretty epic decade-long foreshadowing on Abrams' part.
The ending, I will not spoil here, of course. Other than to say...(insert X and Y names here in particular, but too many names in particular qualify) deserved better. Absolutely better.
Abrams may have tried a little too hard to be nostalgic - and relied on his usual "copy the broad story beats" approach from TFA a little too much too - but never let it be said he didn't make a damn fine, fun, inclusively-cast-as-2019-deserves movie. If only because he finally showed us where Lando Calrissian has been all this time. And didn't pretend that TLJ never happened - sorry crybabies, y'all gotta watch that movie to understand this one too. And for all those too many stories that weren't fully resolved, well, that's what spinoff films and novels are for. And fanfiction too, if you're not too busy writing Harry Potter fanfic right about now. Haven't dabbled in that particular segment of fandom in a while myself, but who knows?
To The Rise of Skywalker, I give an A- grade, and to the Skywalker Saga, with an ave atque vale, I wish all my faves well.
May the Force be with us all, Pinecones.
Godspeed, Rebels.
Till next time...
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| #FeedTheRightWolf |
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| Remember: Denis Leary is always watching. Always. |
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