Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

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Here we are at what has been promised to be the last film in the 9-movie arc George Lucas started in 1977.  What a gargantuan task this is, ending what is arguably the most popular series of all time in a way that makes everyone (anyone?) happy. Not surprisingly, many have not been happy.  On Metacritic, almost 1/3 of critics gave it a perfectly middling score of 50, and fans also break almost exactly down the middle whether they liked it or not (1608 to 1654). Even Lucas has repeatedly griped about this new series. The original “Star Wars” series has become such a sacred cow that apparently nobody (including Lucas) can do it justice. Well, all of those caveats said, I really liked this film. Not as a stand alone film, but as the final in a venerated series. I saw it with someone who has not watched most of the other films. He was lost right from the first scene and felt like the film just jumped from one action scene to the next. He isn’t wrong. The film starts with a fast-moving set of scenes involving Kylo Ren that feel like a manic montage; they are meaningless without context. In fact, the first third of the film was where it was weakest for me. However, things got better as the story progressed. As with many of the films, the plot sometimes felt unnecessarily convoluted, but as the story focused toward a core story line, it also got more engaging. There was some terrific CGI on display. The battle on the ocean planet was particularly engaging. I was also amazed by the CGI around Leia. Had I not known she had passed away prior to filming, I would have thought Carrie Fischer had been in the film. I would love to know how they used archival footage to give Leia as large a part as she had. Writer/director JJ Abrams is a highly sentimental director. You can see this footprint in many of his films (including “The Force Awakens“). Where Rian Johnson (whose work I love) was more interested in breaking sacred idols in “The Last Jedi,” Abrams wants to revere them. And that is exactly the right approach here. Now is not the time to reinvent the series; now is the time for closure. Closure is closely married to sentiment, and Abrams has loaded this film with sentiment. He brings back every critical character from the first three films (even those who are dead or should be). The audience either sees or hears from Luke, Han, Darth Vader, Anakin, Yoda, Obi Wan (young & old), Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Snoke, along with those who are more central to the plot. Abrams also takes us back to classic locations and gives us glimpses, however brief, of classic alien races. This may feel manipulative or cloying to some, but it felt exactly right to me. I was especially pleased (and, dare I say, even moved) by the final moments of the film. It ends where it all started 42 years earlier in a scene that was as close to perfect as any Star Wars scene has ever been. I hope we continue to see other films and tv shows taking place in this universe, but I hope I never see another Skywalker film again. This one brought closure to an incredible journey.