Rich with incidents and nostalgia

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2019)

"No one's ever really gone." Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)
Nor is the Star Wars franchise, which, in Star Wars: Episode IX--The Rise of Skywalker seems to go on like the universe, forever. J.J. Abrams has directed the alleged end of the main stories, which started over 40 years ago. My kids are grown but not forgetting their first experience in the '70's, which the recent "rise" replicates in spirit if not in richness of characters.
The old heroes are still here, with Oscar Isaac's Poe the obvious heir to Harrison Ford's Han Solo, for instance. Even Princess Leia is here even if in archival-edited form (Carrie Fisher is dead). Han Solo in the form of the real Harrison Ford makes a cameo appearance as he faces off once again his son, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). These are all memorable characters as is the swashbuckling Jedi hope, Rey (Daisy Ridley).
The new characters like an abused droid and Poe's masked and brief love interest leave no legacy. In fact, too many characters people this space, like commuters on a NYC subway line. And that goes for the number of incidents, which bring plenty of action but rarely thematic significance.
What is significant is the recurring theme that through cooperation, friendship, love we can win against the dark forces. The contemporary relevance is just as fresh as it was generations ago. If you band together, for instance in the ballot box, you might gain happiness, peace, and bring down a wicked old Sith emperor. The applications for good people banding together are many in the real world as well as fiction and science fiction.
Star Wars: Episode IX--The Rise of Skywalker is an enjoyable holiday adventure rich with episodes and, for many of us, nostalgia. Just take time to prepare the history for your young ones before they get lost in space.
"Your journey nears its end." Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)