Let this be the end

Rating: 6/10 (24 December 2019)

The final chapter in the Skywalker saga and the final piece of the new trilogy. The Rise Of Skywalker has a mammoth task on its hands, trying to wrap up everything built up in The Force Awakens and the plot points that were either ignored or pushed aside in The Last Jedi all of this whilst being its own film and a satisfying conclusion for our characters and what has been built up to since 1977.
The film sees the surviving Resistance face the threat of a still alive Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and Kylo Ren's (Adam Driver) First Order as Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) & Po (Oscar Isaac) use the power and knowledge they have learnt from the generations behind them as the final battle commences.
Lets start off with the positives. Visually this film is jaw-dropping, the cinematography features several memorable shots that really give a sense of scale and epic-ness, Palpatine's lair is a horror inflicted nightmare zone filled with distorting strobe lights and giant statues and huge corridors, the colour filled upbeat celebration on the desert planet Passanna, the dark and snowy zone of Kijimi, the desolate and broken crashed Death Star surrounded by a thunderous storm and crashing waves and a spectacle filled finale battle. The sound design of the film is also excellent, the effects of the vehicles, explosions, creatures and sabers are brilliant and the John Williams score is solid and the nostalgic themes do still land.
The action scenes are solid, as I mentioned the final battle is a visual spectacle with the 'War' part of Star Wars really showing itself here, it brings in many aspects to the battle to make it memorable, even including horse creatures riding across enemy aircrafts. The chase sequence on Passanna is a fast paced riot, the shootout on the Star Destroyer is a literal and figurative blast and Rey & Kylo Ren have two memorable light saber duels which are well choreographed and visceral.
The acting is good here. Daisy Ridley conveys Rey's anger and confusion at her situation very well and she delivers in the action sequences especially the finale where she really shows her action hero chops. Adam Driver helps Kylo Ren's arc become the most interesting of the film, sure he is still mostly mopey and stoic, yet he has some great line delivery and the sound design of his voice in the helmet is still cool. He also features in possibly the best dialogue scene in the film with (remember, spoiler review) Harrison Ford returning as Han Solo in Kylo's head and he's not phoning it in, delivering a genuinely emotional speech. John Boyega & Oscar Isaac give enthusiastic performances, C-3PO has some of his best comic relief moments, we have a fitting send off for Carrie Fisher/Leia and Ian McDiarmid is once again chewing all the scenery as a Frankenstein Monster influenced looking Palpatine. Mark Hamill (like Ford) also isn't phoning it in with his cameo return delivering motivation for Rey.
However what really is the film's weakest aspect is it's plot. It's instantly apparent that Palpatine was never the real end plan for the series. The reason he is here is barely explained, it's just a rushed statement within the opening title crawl which expects the audience to just agree and accept it and move on. He does nothing until the final section, his motivations aren't clear at all and just comes off as generic and lazy. The only reason he is there is because it turns out Rey is his Granddaughter. This feels completely out of the blue (because it is) there is no build up no reference to it in the previous films, its supposed to be shocking but it doesn't feel it at all because it doesn't fee earned. Which is the case with a lot of story moments here. Rey and Kylo kiss and have apparently been in love this whole trilogy, which I really haven't felt whatsoever considering their conflicts. On the opposite end of this what does feel like a genuinely impactful and risky moment is when we think Rey has accidentally killed Chewbacca, she's finally lost control of her power and murdered her friend and an icon of the franchise, there is stakes and a feeling of 'did that just happen?' but no, he's fine because apparently there was another ship which we didn't see (which there definitely wasn't), this is the same where Rey temporarily kills Kylo and vice-a-versa, there's just no stakes or consequences here at all for a finale.
The plot structure is repetitive, as it is essentially go to one place find an item to help go to the next place, all the while with Kylo Ren force projecting to Rey so he can find them (with his completely underused Knights of Ren) and they can then escape and the cycle repeats. It does feel very much like a video game plot at times. The scene transitions and pacing is jarring, the first act especially is extremely rushed and fast paced with no development or focus at all. It completely ignores events from the previous film and goes for more of a direct sequel to The Force Awakens which just doesn't work considering the amount The Last Jedi added to the story. We meet Lando quickly then he goes onto add nothing until the finale which is just for fan service, General Hux who has been a staple of this trilogy as Ren's second in command turns out to be a mole for the Resistance, because...? He doesn't care but he can't let Kylo Ren win for some reason which is never explained. He is then replaced by a new boring commander character who I honestly can't remember the name of, this goes the same with Po's friend Zorii Bliss, she seems interesting and has a cool design but we get no time with her whatsoever and lastly Finn tries the majority of the film to tell Rey something important (I'm assuming "I love you." ) which he immediately forgets about even when standing face to face with her after the battle.
I don't hate this film, in fact there's some scenes I really love and it is never boring at all. The technical aspects are phenomenal, the cast give good performances but there is no denying that it is the product of a disjointed not fully planned trilogy with unearned and seemingly rushed plot points and character motivations. The Rise Of Skywalker is fine but it should have been so much more.