At the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Skywalker saga comes a rather unexpected conclusion in the form of "The Rise Of Skywalker". From director J.J Abrams, we finally have a worthy close to the nine film anthology that began over four decades ago and truly brings the franchise full circle.
"The Force Awakens" began a whole new story whilst also giving closure to the characters that began their journey's back in 1977 with the first departure from the sequel trilogy being Han Solo, played by the magnificent Harrison Ford. "The Last Jedi" continued this tradition in a rather controversial way with Rian Johnson killing off Luke Skywalker, having spent the entire movie being an angry, reclusive shell of his former self because of his failure to restart the Jedi Order.
"The Rise Of Skywalker" was always going to have to find a way to give General Leia a send off fit for royalty after the passing of Carrie Fisher in December 2016 and through the use of unused archive footage, a little bit of digital jiggery pokery and some impressive CGI, it's safe to say that Abrams and Lucasfilm give Carrie Fisher a most poignant exit.
After the sheer divisiveness of some of the creative choices in "The Last Jedi" and the departure of Colin Trevorrow from the final movie (simply titled Episode IX at the time), to say that when J.J Abrams was bought in to helm "The Rise Of Skywalker", he had his hands full might well be an understatement.
What the movie manages to achieve though, is truly incredible. Despite the premise being a rather sharp turn in a different direction to the world building of both "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi", "The Rise Of Skywalker" still manages to bridge itself to both movies well enough and even manages to course correct some of the most questionable elements implemented by Rian Johnson, essentially making "The Last Jedi" a better, less convoluted movie by proxy.
On top of that, it answers a lot of the lingering questions that were spawned by the first two entries in the sequel trilogy to a consistent and believable extent. That said, the entire story still seems somewhat forced with a lack of actual build up before the opening credits. Despite the flaws of "The Last Jedi", at least i can fairly say that the transition between it and "The Force Awakens" feels very consistent and natural.
Ultimately, "The Rise Of Skywalker" manages, despite its inconsistencies, to be the strongest of the sequel franchise and one of my favourites of the Skywalker saga. It connects each era of the franchise well, with throwbacks to the prequels aplenty and some great nods and references to the original trilogy whilst also doing its own thing and providing some strong exposition to the main characters of this trilogy.
There's elements that i loved, some i disliked but this is still, in my opinion, a movie for every Star Wars fan. Regardless of your opinions on the prequels or how you feel about "The Last Jedi" etc, i'd encourage everyone to go and see "The Rise Of Skywalker". It isn't perfect, but no Star Wars film is in my opinion. It is glorious though and features some truly stellar acting all around and a great deal of fan service and it goes without saying that John Williams knocks it well and truly out of the park with his final Star Wars score.
There's a lot that this movie has to offer for Star Wars fans, of all eras, everywhere. Go see Star Wars this weekend. You'll thank me later. Probably.
Spoiler-Filled Review
coming next Thursday!
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