Review Summary: An entertaining and satisfactory (if very imperfect) conclusion.
There's certainly been multiple disturbances in the Star Wars movie universe in the past few years. Elitist, mythology-diehard fans have certainly shown their true colors over how they have felt about certain creative choices. And with two movies in six months' time, general audiences showed they could only handle so much of the force (cough Solo cough cough). Now, Rise of Skywalker arrives with what seems likely to be a sense of closure for its' main storyline. It was certain to drum up hype. But wait, hasn't overall hype for Star Wars in general died down over the years? (and no, this does not count the well-received adventures of Mandalorian and Baby Yoda)
Well, any answers to these problems and questions aside, Rise of Skywalker definitely succeeds in creating a finale that (for the most part) entertains and engages. After the (refreshingly) different direction The Last Jedi went, J.J. Abrams (who directed The Force Awakens as well as two Star Trek movies) brings everything home with the right amount of fan service, plus an overall lighter and more whimsical tone that keeps things more entertaining. There's several hysterical moments in the script that hit their mark too. These all help balance out the more nonsensical elements that seem a bit harder of a stretch logically than anything these movies has attempted before.
At the same time, with so much pressure and stuff to fit in (and questions to answer), this also leads to what might be the most inconsistently-paced Star Wars movie to date. It starts off at full blast through its first hour, with the plot moving at a solid rate. Then, about halfway through, it slows down considerably. A subplot involving one character believed to be killed off wasn't exactly necessary. It becomes also clearer later on that it was just added in to add extra suspense and extra to the running time. And like some movies in the franchise, it has an ending battle scene that goes on much longer than I might would have wanted.
However, the character development is much improved from the last two movies. Rey's past is given more of an explanation, and we are given more of a believable struggle that she faces. And this film is also Daisy Ridley's best performance, showcasing different sides of her character we haven't seen before. Finn's (an always great John Boyega) growth comes through strongly with his budding bromance with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who gets some much-needed backstory here too. Even Kylo Ren is given his emotional arc yet, with Adam Driver once again delivering.
The decision to bring back the late Carrie Fisher through archive footage deleted from The Force Awakens was one that created a bit of a mixed response. She appears more towards the beginning, with a couple of scenes that definitely play a strong part. But, this approach doesn't always work. The amount of footage she had can only go so far, I'm sad to say. Towards the end, you can tell the script struggles a little bit with the limited dialogue they had to work with. But, her appearance is still an overall highlight for the film in general.
If there's a bit of a downside to the casting, its' that the new characters don't really stand out here. Keri Russell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) is a strong casting choice to play a former flame of Poe's, but we never see her face and she's not in the movie enough to make too much of an impact. It's nice to see Billy Dee Williams again as Lando, but his role is fairly inconsequential to the plot. Honestly, the most memorable new character here is a hysterical tiny character mechanic.
Visually, Rise of Skywalker carries more modern CGI than previous installments, which can be a tad overwhelming. But, in the right places (which in this case, if I were to go into it would involve major spoilers), it works well. Occasionally a practical effect appears, but they play a much smaller presence here than in the last two movies. These effects are mostly used for callbacks to previous films, which work but I wish I could have seen more of.
Then there's the surprises, which are prevalent right from the start. And boy, there are several of them. Most of them are very well-executed, eliciting many gasps and shouts from the crowd. If The Last Jedi was any indicator, Rise of Skywalker does rely a bit on the shock factor. But, it's not quite as heavy of a dependence on this as it was for Infinity War for the Marvel Universe.
Like previous installments, there's some cool camerawork including several uses of the classic cutbacks and swoop-ins from the earliest movies. And, John Williams returns to score one last time with several callbacks and strong original moments too. At 87 years old, the 51-time Academy Award nominee still proves he has what it takes to compose a strong score. I would not be surprised to see another nomination here at all.
Of course, there are plenty of other strong things to talk about. But I will leave this review without spoiling anything else. Rise of Skywalker is not the best Star Wars movie and I didn't find it to be quite as memorable as Force Awakens or Last Jedi. But, it at least gets its (seemingly insurmountable) job done pretty well, if not exactly spectacularly.
My Score: 7.9/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing:
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and action)
Recommended age range: 9 years and up (depending on child's sensitivity and if he/she has seen other films)
Language: Four uses of "h***" join two "d***" and one "move your metal a**!"
Adult Content: There's a couple of hints that Poe might have had an intimate past with another character. A few kisses (there's also a shot of two females kissing each other for a second).
Drugs/Alcohol: A couple of jokes are made about Poe being a "spice runner", which could be a wink towards drug selling.
Violence: This is the most problematic section, with the overall violence being about the same if not a bit more intense than previous installments. The film starts off with Kylo Ren straight-up massacring a group of soldiers (we see a severed arm off one and many impalings). A few high-speed chases involve gunfire and exploding speeders. We see someone missing a couple of fingers. Stormtroopers find many ways to try and take down their opponents. Several spaceship chases lead to several crashes. Lots of gunfire and explosions. Rey is seen with a gash on her head at one point. Someone is impaled (and then we see the wound healed by Force powers). A character has some of his skin fly off his face in a slightly gory (and disturbing) fashion. Light sabers cause other repeated injuries. More bodies dead (pretty much bloodlessly). More explosions. A spaceship explodes due to force powers. At least one major character dies out of sacrifice. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Other: The Force is a mysterious spiritual power whose explanations still seem pretty muddled. There are a few moments where it appears it has the power to heal the injured and bring the dead back to life. Ghosts appear. Someone has the ability to drain life force to restore a deceased character. Some characters deceive each other for personal gain.
