The End of An Era
A review of the last, but surprisngly not the worst, "Star Wars" film.
So the end of 2024 is nearly upon us, and boy, has this year been a doozy. If you would have told me of half the things that occured this year - multiple assasination attempts on Trump, him winning the presidency again, the fall of Syria, an alien invasion in New Jersey of all places - I would have probably thought you crazy.
Though I haven't really come up with any predictions for the coming year yet, I thought I would use this opportunity to put down my opinions on the swan song of another era - the Star Wars era, that is.
I actually saw The Rise of Skywalker several years ago, and it came out all the way back in the idealic time of 2019, but hopefully having it percolate in my brain for a bit longer has helped solidify my opinion a bit better.
(Spoilers, by the way)
First off, yes, it's definitely not a good film.
The initial non-corporate shill reviews are basically correct about that. However, I am still sticking with my initial impression that it's not nearly as bad a film as some other reviewers have made out.
Perhaps it was because I was aware of it coming beforehand, but the revelation in the trademark plot scroll at the very beginning of the film that, as usual, Palpatine was behind it all, didn't bother me as much as it did others.
Yes, it's stupid. Yes, it's derivative. Yes, it basically undermines Vader's redemption arc over the course of the entire first two trilogies. But at this point, that's par for the course with this new series, and as a villain and raison d'etre for the plot it actually works pretty well. Of course, as others have pointed out, the fact that Ian McDiarmid approaches the role with such gusto and is such an enjoyable screen-presence helps immensely.
Another thing was the central relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren actually works quite well. This is a continuation from The Last Jedi, where their interactions were definitely the best thing about that steamy mass of offal. The almost Manichean approach toward the duality of good and evil, which is a central theme of Star Wars, comes together quite smoothly in their relationship, especially when her family background is revealed.
If this had been explored a bit more, that alone might have raised the film a few notches. Unfortunately, the writers and J.J. Abrams don't have the chops to really flesh these themes out, so we are left with a result that, while sufficiently satisfying, leaves you wanting more.
However, say what you want about Jew Jew, he knows how to keep a film going, and TROS moves along at a good clip. While several reviewers, especially the Red Letter Media guys, have made a bunch of hay out of how terrible it is that the plot moves too fast to develop things, they exaggerate the import. Entire characters and arcs are quickly brushed aside in order to cram the plot into the running time, but this actually works well to keep you from noticing the atrocious refrigerator logic of the story before you receive the emotional satisfaction of the finale.
But perhaps that's just me. I'm usually not one for picking apart faulty logic and general stupidity in a film, but that's basically a cottage industry anymore on the internet. And there is definitely a boatload of that to work with in TROS. Rey's completely inconsistent force powers are an obvious example, as is the the need for not just a one MacGuffin, but a Macguffin that leads to another Macguffin. And of course there is the consistantly atrocious dialogue.
All that being said, the whole thing basically hangs together, and ends on a fairly satisfying note. That's already more than can be said of either of the previous two films in the series.
Also, an added benefit is the relative muting of the SJW elements that have been pushed so heavily by Kathleen Kennedy and her ilk. There is a lesbian kiss, but it's consigned to a background couple (one of whom, is an unusually old, ugly woman actor, for some reason), and even Rey, though still a massive Mary Sue, doesn't come across nearly as obnoxious in this film. This is perhaps because Kylo doesn't immediately get his butt handed to him, as he has in every other encounter with her.
I actually came out of the film in a fairly positive mood, a welcome change from the last two films. That being said, I still can't recommend this film for the reasons mentioned here and in other reviews. However, if you are a hard-core Star Wars fan (do those exist anymore?), you might still get something out of this film - if nothing else than perhaps catharsis that the ordeal is finally over for now.