⭐⭐⭐½ðŸ’–
We have reached the end of the Star Wars road! "The Rise of Skywalker" is the (not so epic) conclusion of the entire saga. This will also probably be my last review overall with spoilers, unless it's one about a classic that most people are already familiar with.
I sometimes look at Rotten Tomatoes ratings when I'm either on the fence about watching a movie or when I'm just curious what others think. The latter was the case for the second two movies in the sequel trilogy. I had already planned to watch them no matter what the ratings were, but I looked at them anyway.
It's interesting to note that in the case of "The Last Jedi", critics gave it a notably higher rating than general audiences did. However, in the case of "The Rise of Skywalker", the opposite is true. General audiences liked it better than critics did. For both movies, I am in the general audiences camp. While "The Rise of Skywalker" doesn't completely rise to the occasion, I did enjoy it more than "The Last Jedi".
To be fair, the team that created this movie had a gargantuan task to accomplish. This is a saga that began in the late seventies and turned into something I'm not sure anyone anticipated. We've come to expect a lot from Star Wars. I don't think anything will fully satisfy our expectations. With that in mind, while I was excited to see this movie (I first saw it at the movie theater when it was released in 2019), I don't think my expectations were as high as the typical Star Wars fan. I liked it then and I still enjoy watching it today.
There were two main things about this movie that surprised me. One is that I went into it thinking Luke Skywalker would somehow come back to life in the physical form (or we'd find out he didn't really die) and he would be the one to rise. To my surprise, while Luke did come back in some form, this was Rey's movie. She was the "Skywalker" who rose.
The second thing that shocked me was finding out Rey is Palpatine's granddaughter. Yikes!! I certainly was not expecting this at all. I love how we saw from this movie that we are in control of our present and future no matter what our past is.
There are some really touching moments in this film and the scenery is top notch. I love that Leia used all that she had left in her to reach out to Kylo Ren. Ultimately, it was Leia who rescued him from the dark side. And then it was Ben Solo, the former Kylo Ren, who saved Rey. Both Leia and Ben in turn made the sacrifice to ultimately save Rey.
Of course, Carrie Fisher had already died before this movie was made. Some of it was actual footage they had of her that wasn't used in previous movies and some of it was computer generated. I couldn't tell the difference visually, but in my heart I knew it wasn't the same without her actually being there. I think they did her character of Leia justice in the way that she died. I just really felt the void, though, especially knowing she never got to see the conclusion of the saga.
The battle scene with Kylo Ren and Rey is epic, but the music not so much. I kept thinking to myself that something was missing from that scene and I realized it was the music. Yes, there was music playing, but to me it didn't fit the amazing scenery and atmosphere.
As for the conclusion of this epic saga. I am satisfied. I think one thing that Star Wars teaches us is that even in despair, there is always hope. Hope is how they managed to get as far as they did. When something or someone was lost, they picked themselves up and carried on because they knew they had a mission to carry out, a purpose to live. And they worked together to make it happen even when they weren't physically together. Of course, they also had a little movie magic, luck, and the Force on their side, too, but we can still take the overall lesson to heart.
I will most likely re-watch the sequel trilogy next year and no other movies before it. If my thoughts change or I have more to add, I will post new reviews then. Until then, I'll be watching and reviewing the Star Wars series (along with everything else NOT Star Wars-related that I'll be watching). I'm starting with episodes 1 and 2 of "Obi Wan Kenobi" today. I think going back close to the beginning (picking up where the prequel trilogy left off) will be an enjoyable experience. I'm looking forward visiting with some old friends from the Star Wars universe. So my next Star Wars review will be close to the end of June.
Until then...
May the Force be with you.
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