Movie Review: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

When director George Lucas first unleashed Star Wars (1977) on an unsuspecting movie-going public, effectively creating an epic saga that would last decades and entertain millions of fans throughout the world, he couldn’t possibly have foreseen (inference intended) that his film would still be impacting cinemas today. Now, the third trilogy of the Star Wars saga comes to a fitting end in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker from director J.J. Abrams, who manages to rescue the series somewhat from the critical debasing that it suffered via Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).

The plot of this new, and final, installment of the current trilogy (this is the ninth “main” film in the series for the uninitiated) finds Jedi Knight Rey (Daisy Ridley) a Jedi Knight – trained by none other than Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) – doing battle against the recently resurrected Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and his protégé, supreme leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Luckily, she’s aided by old friends Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) as well several veterans of the series, including Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams. Add to that another fantastic score from John Williams and audiences are all but assured to enjoyed every minute of the film’s occasionally overlong two hour and twenty-one minute running time.

Adam Driver in “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.” Photo by Lucasfilm/Lucasfilm Ltd. – © 2019 and TM Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Director Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness [2013], Super 8 [2011], Star Trek [2009], Mission: Impossible III [2006]) returns after helming Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens back in 2015. Working from a story by Abrams, Chris Terrio (Argo [2012]), Derek Connolly and Collin Trevorrow (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom [2018]), Abrams and Terrio deliver a script that is a bit too dense in places and perhaps a tad heavy on screen time for some ancillary characters. But, for the most part, things move along briskly and the aforementioned running time moves along well during the majority of the film.

The driving force (pun intended) of this new trilogy has always been Ridley as Rey and her ongoing/developing relationship with Kylo Ren. That certainly doesn’t change with this installment as the pair give the film a resonant arc that was somehow not as well defined in earlier installments. Add to that the appearance of the many series stalwarts and you have a film that pays deeply emotional dividends to fans that have invested in these characters throughout the years.

Although Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may have some shortcomings, it proves a felicitous, and entertaining conclusion to the “Rey” trilogy and does provide long-time fans some serviceable moments of nostalgia provided by numerous twists and revelations that perhaps makes the film resonate a bit more than it probably deserves to.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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