Uneven but entertaining.

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2019)

'Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)' is a bit of a mess, with an uneven pace and a contrived plot. However, its peaks provide more enjoyment than any 'Star Wars' story since 1983 and its valleys only just caress the quality of the best scenes in the 'Prequel' series. The movie doesn't get good, generally, until its latter half. It features some truly cringe-worthy dialogue and a lot - and I mean a lot - of heavy-handed exposition. It just doesn't trust its audience, reminding them of every last detail and implied motive from its two predecessors. Even then, it doesn't really pick up the baton from either of those pictures. Instead, it rushes its opening moments to quickly establish a new status quo at the cost of any real franchise cohesion. Bringing Palpatine back is clearly a complete last-minute attempt to ensure discontent fans still buy a ticket, feeling forced and kind of a cop-out. I mean, if the intention has always been to have Palpatine pulling the strings, he would've been in 'The Force Awakens (2015)' in some capacity. It seems that the entire thing is being made-up on the spot, written not to complete a pre-planned trilogy but to please even the most anti-'The Last Jedi (2017)' fans. Why is it catering to fans who simply aren't there? Fan-service is all well and good until it starts to feel obligatory and distracting. That certainly happens here, with as much of the stuff stuffed in as possible. As I mentioned earlier, though, the affair does have its moments. The third act is pretty great, once you accept the contrivances that lead up to it. It, along with a handful of earlier sequences, is engaging, entertaining and emotionally resonant. It also includes some minor subversion that prevents it from feeling totally stale, even though it is certainly predictable. It's a satisfying end to an unnecessary trilogy, but it doesn't come close to being as good as the actual ending we already have. The best parts of the entire piece revolve around Kylo Ren and his long-awaited, tumultuous arc. Rey's scenes, which are usually intrinsically tied to Kylo's, are a close second, giving us a glimpse at the more nuanced and affecting film we could've had if Lucasfilm hadn't been forced into damage-control mode. Sadly, they aren't given as much time as they really need. I mean, there's no casino sequence or anything like that, but the plot just continues to pull you away from its most interesting elements. It's unfortunate, as there does seem to be a really good film hidden somewhere in here. The end result is a mixed bag. Whereas 'The Last Jedi (2017)' had decent ideas executed uninterestingly, this has uninteresting ideas executed decently. As I said before, it's more enjoyable than any of its post-'Return Of The Jedi (1983)' peers. It isn't great but it isn't bad, either. It's pretty good, on the whole. 6/10