Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ★★★ 1/2

Reviewed by Max Minardi on Episode 154

The Christmas season brings another and this time final installation into the Star Wars saga. Will good conquer evil? Listen, of course it will. We all know that. That’s Star Wars. But the excitement lies in the journey. And journey, we do. The rise of Skywalker catches up with Daisy Ridley’s Rey, a girl with weird hair, Jedi powers and daddy issues, as she trains for an inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver), a boy with sith Powers, a sparkly red sword and also daddy issues. Upon their discovery of the survival of Emperor Palpatine, a wrinkly old nut sack with lightning fingers and probably some daddy issues too, Rey and Kylo must race against time and each other to reach the hidden planet of the Sith.... (Siths?) to either save the universe or control it depending on which one of them you ask. 

I’m historically very ambivalent towards Star Wars movies. I like most of them, I wouldn’t say that I love any of them and "The Rise of Skywalker" doesn’t change that for me. That said I had a great time in the theater, I found that what this movie did get right was capturing the tone and magic from the original three films in a way that felt new but still paid homage to the things that people love about Star Wars. I know (or at least I’ve heard that plenty of people are upset with the way Abrams came in and course-corrected the Rian Johnson vibe created in “The Last Jedi,” but I think it was completely and utterly… well, fine. Again, Star Wars has never blown me away for any traditional movie craft reason. It’s always about the worlds and characters. While those characters often have very cheesy dialogue that would be unforgivable in other films, in Star Wars, those lines work.

Personally I really enjoyed getting the chance to spend some more time with Kylo Ren. In the past two movies he’s always struck me as EXTREMELY one dimensional; just a big ole ball of angsty rage and super powers. Even after some of the more humanizing tribulations that he faces in the previous films, he’s never really broken through to me. Having just seen “Marriage Story” a couple weeks ago and loving Driver in that, “Inside Llewyn Davis” and everything Baumbach, I have to blame the writing and not the performer. I don’t know what changed in the writing room this time around but it’s clear something did. Daisy Ridley, on a similar note, delivers wonderfully on everything Rey has been trying to become (and sometimes not become) in Episodes 7 & 8. 

There is an undeniable moral weight to the situations of both Kylo and Rey. The film’s willingness to (in my opinion) FINALLY explore some of that weight is what separates it from its predecessors. Again, this is Star Wars and while there was no convincing me that the “good guys” wouldn’t come out on top by the end of all of this, the movie did have me questioning whether or not our characters would all be the same by the time things were all said and done.