STAR WARS: RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019)

12/19/19 - Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019) - 4+/5-/10

 

Nostalgia fueled vacant romp. I can’t say that I loathed it, but I certainly didn’t like it; it just isn’t motivating enough to procure anything more than a limp ‘meh’. It is not a good movie, but I it is a supremely flat safety-net for a falling franchise.

Strangely, in the finale of this trilogy, there is the least amount of character or true progression. The closest we get is expository plot blabbering as they plow through the “adventure” of each. And most of that, like the whole, is routine and hokey. I truly believe that when the most moving character moments come in the form of a tired, forgotten droid that none of the cast cares about and is limping towards the end.

Glutinous in its need to both smear old Star Wars“tried and true” sauce on these empty calories and course correcting from the Last Jedi, fairly blatantly at each turn. Relationships, plot machinations, character definitions and the complete physics of the universe get a “reset to factory settings”. For better or worse, it pulls no punches by pulling all of the last film’s punches.

The dance between Last and Rise for me is the question of pushing things but flailing, yet being different vs just retreading the tired path of before, but in an empty base entertaining fashion. I think both are wrong which is why I don’t think either films work. This one is just an inconsequential quick “fine”. Rise is convenient and stakes-less, but for me, I was so uninvested in the storytelling by midway that I just didn’t care. It just passed by my glazed over eyes, like the ghost of my lost Star Wars phasing through my hardened heart.

Note:

The abandoning of rules in service of poor plotting to make their story work has been the consistent through line of this new trilogy. Creating new physics, new powers, new character dynamics, all without a lack of consistency or seeming purpose other than to “make this other thing work”. I don’t care enough to shake my old geek fist too hard, I just wish all of these changes had felt less pointless.

STAR WARS RANKINGS:

1. Empire Strikes Back

2. A New Hope

3. Return of the Jedi

4. Force Awakens

5. Rogue One

6. Rise of Skywalker

7. Last Jedi

8. Solo

9. Episode 3

10. Episode 1

11. Episode 2