Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker directed by J.J. Abrams was easily without a question my most anticipated film of the year. I went into this movie with a lot of anticipation, fear, and excitement. If you know me even just slightly, you know that Star Wars is my favorite franchise and holds a very close place in my heart. After walking out of the theater for the first time, I was overwhelmed and very moved by the movie. After my second viewing, I can confidently say that I love this movie despite it's plot dump, rapid pace, and sometimes confusing message it is trying to deliver.
I will not spoil this film in any way in this review. This movie takes place roughly one year after the previous film The Last Jedi. The crawl and opening moments of the film will very quickly inform you of the state of the galaxy, what's important, and where this movie will take you. Again I do not want to spoil that because it will probably surprise some. It definitely caught me off guard. This movie moves at very fast paced, but eventually pumps the breaks enough to keep the pace going but to focus on some of the more intimate moments with the characters.
All of the actors and actresses were spot on brilliant in their roles. Anthony Daniels has probably his best performance in all of the films. I was extremely impressed once again with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. These two individually and together create such dynamics that it makes you want to never look away from the screen when they appear. Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca delivers on every emotion and gives it his all as well. John Williams delivers his best score of the franchise creating new pieces while putting together elements from ALL of the previous films. It is truly a work of art. My biggest gripe was that it was extremely fast paced, almost too fast. I get why this had to be done but this answered a lot of questions while also creating new questions. These questions will be explored most likely in the books, comics, and shows but the general public audience will be left in the dark if not explored on the big screen again. Besides that and cutting out two plot points, I was overall satisfied as the conclusion to the trilogy but not as the saga as a whole.
Overall, The Rise of Skywalker is a fantastic Star Wars story and a good Star Wars movie. It is far from a great film and has several flaws. Through these flaws. beauty is shown through the performances, the score, and the visuals. I know I will see this film many more times and I know each time I will love it a little more. The Rise of Skywalker is a satisfying ending to the sequel trilogy while not fully closing the door perfectly on the saga as whole.
Score: 7/10
I will not spoil this film in any way in this review. This movie takes place roughly one year after the previous film The Last Jedi. The crawl and opening moments of the film will very quickly inform you of the state of the galaxy, what's important, and where this movie will take you. Again I do not want to spoil that because it will probably surprise some. It definitely caught me off guard. This movie moves at very fast paced, but eventually pumps the breaks enough to keep the pace going but to focus on some of the more intimate moments with the characters.
All of the actors and actresses were spot on brilliant in their roles. Anthony Daniels has probably his best performance in all of the films. I was extremely impressed once again with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. These two individually and together create such dynamics that it makes you want to never look away from the screen when they appear. Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca delivers on every emotion and gives it his all as well. John Williams delivers his best score of the franchise creating new pieces while putting together elements from ALL of the previous films. It is truly a work of art. My biggest gripe was that it was extremely fast paced, almost too fast. I get why this had to be done but this answered a lot of questions while also creating new questions. These questions will be explored most likely in the books, comics, and shows but the general public audience will be left in the dark if not explored on the big screen again. Besides that and cutting out two plot points, I was overall satisfied as the conclusion to the trilogy but not as the saga as a whole.
Overall, The Rise of Skywalker is a fantastic Star Wars story and a good Star Wars movie. It is far from a great film and has several flaws. Through these flaws. beauty is shown through the performances, the score, and the visuals. I know I will see this film many more times and I know each time I will love it a little more. The Rise of Skywalker is a satisfying ending to the sequel trilogy while not fully closing the door perfectly on the saga as whole.
Score: 7/10
