The Rise of Skywalker is a relentless cinematic onslaught. JJ Abrams’ script feels like a rush job due to the departure of Colin Treverrow, and could have benefited from one or two rewrites.
The bulk of the film is devoted to chasing one underdeveloped MacGuffin after another on a series of under-explored planets. The film refuses to slow its breakneck pace even once. Star Wars films are often fast and chaotic, but even the worst ones slow down occasionally to give us space to process what has happened.
‘'The Rise of Skywalker’' has powerful, dramatic moments: moments that would have been even more effective if Abrams had taken the time to build up to and come down from them, instead of sprinting frantically from one action setpiece to the next.
Strong character moments are lost in the cacophony. The best scenes in the film revolve around the connection between Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. This is unsurprising: their chemistry has been the emotional core of the sequel trilogy since its beginning, through all of its highs and lows. Their Force bond is taken in new and visually creative directions in this film.
However, the other characters are kept out of focus. Poe and Finn are chess pieces who exist in this story only to get from one place to another. And that’s to say nothing of how Rose Tico is- or rather is not- handled.
Two fan-favorites- Lando Calrissian and Emperor Palpatine- return as well, but both are criminally underused. Two of the most charismatic characters from the original trilogy are reduced to flatly spouting exposition in their limited screen time. Abrams decided to bring both characters back in order to excite die-hard fans, despite having no idea what to do with them. If you're excited to see Lando and Palpatine on the big screen again, you may want to temper your expectations.
The climax of the film is similarly disappointing. It cuts between three battles, but due to a rushed pace and a lack of visual and storytelling creativity (save for one neat trick with the Force bond), none of them achieve much emotional resonance. The threat the heroes face is graver than ever, apparently. Yet somehow, I'm more bored than ever.
And the final scene of the film, the last note in the Star Wars symphony, is a plane landing on autopilot: no bumps, but no humanity. It is drenched in the iconography of the franchise but has no idea what those icons actually mean.
The Rise of Skywalker was marketed as an epic finale, a celebration of the history of Star Wars: the good times and bad. It feels more like a futile attempt to win back the fans who were alienated by The Last Jedi. Futile because Disney should have realized that many of those fans were hoping for The Rise of Skywalker to fail years ahead of its release, and will respond to nothing short of seeing The Last Jedi removed from canon. On the upside, The Rise of Skywalker does have the potential to unite a broken fanbase: in dislike of it.
The Rise of Skywalker- All Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing (No spoilers)
The Rise of Skywalker is a relentless cinematic onslaught. JJ Abrams’ script feels like a rush job due to the departure of Colin Treverrow, and could have benefited from one or two rewrites.
The bulk of the film is devoted to chasing one underdeveloped MacGuffin after another on a series of under-explored planets. The film refuses to slow its breakneck pace even once. Star Wars films are often fast and chaotic, but even the worst ones slow down occasionally to give us space to process what has happened.
‘'The Rise of Skywalker’' has powerful, dramatic moments: moments that would have been even more effective if Abrams had taken the time to build up to and come down from them, instead of sprinting frantically from one action setpiece to the next.
Strong character moments are lost in the cacophony. The best scenes in the film revolve around the connection between Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. This is unsurprising: their chemistry has been the emotional core of the sequel trilogy since its beginning, through all of its highs and lows. Their Force bond is taken in new and visually creative directions in this film.
However, the other characters are kept out of focus. Poe and Finn are chess pieces who exist in this story only to get from one place to another. And that’s to say nothing of how Rose Tico is- or rather is not- handled.
Two fan-favorites- Lando Calrissian and Emperor Palpatine- return as well, but both are criminally underused. Two of the most charismatic characters from the original trilogy are reduced to flatly spouting exposition in their limited screen time. Abrams decided to bring both characters back in order to excite die-hard fans, despite having no idea what to do with them. If you're excited to see Lando and Palpatine on the big screen again, you may want to temper your expectations.
The climax of the film is similarly disappointing. It cuts between three battles, but due to a rushed pace and a lack of visual and storytelling creativity (save for one neat trick with the Force bond), none of them achieve much emotional resonance. The threat the heroes face is graver than ever, apparently. Yet somehow, I'm more bored than ever.
And the final scene of the film, the last note in the Star Wars symphony, is a plane landing on autopilot: no bumps, but no humanity. It is drenched in the iconography of the franchise but has no idea what those icons actually mean.
The Rise of Skywalker was marketed as an epic finale, a celebration of the history of Star Wars: the good times and bad. It feels more like a futile attempt to win back the fans who were alienated by The Last Jedi. Futile because Disney should have realized that many of those fans were hoping for The Rise of Skywalker to fail years ahead of its release, and will respond to nothing short of seeing The Last Jedi removed from canon. On the upside, The Rise of Skywalker does have the potential to unite a broken fanbase: in dislike of it.