For a Disney film, Surprisingly Hopeless

Rating: 3/10 (21 December 2019)

The Force Awakens was great, if contrived and simplistic. The Last Jedi was incredible, even with some unnecessary plot points. The Rise of Skywalker is a lesson in disappointment and hopelessness.
Since its original trilogy films up until now, the Star Wars saga has always been about hope. A hope that no matter where you come from you are important, a hope for the triumph of good and a brighter future, a hope for redemption, and hope for a happy ever after. What the audience receives in TROS rather is a complete destruction of these ideals: beginning with the idea that you don't have to have a fancy bloodline to be important, and ending with the idea that to be redeemed you must die. Many choices made in this film are entirely confusing, pointless, and disappointing.