In a galaxy far far away, The Rise of Skywalker presents a dull finale that feels more like fan fiction then a final chapter

Rating: 4/10 (26 December 2019)

Have you watched The Mandalorian yet? This is something I get from not only Star Wars fans, but just from people in general who have said that the new streaming series is closer in tone to the original Star Wars movies then the new sequel trilogy has been. I took a look at the first episode and I did find myself more engaged then I though I'd be. It's also the first thing Star Wars related that people seem to genuinely agree is amazing without another side claiming it to be the worst thing. The expected anger would have come from the same group of people who also said so of The Last Jedi.
I had originally phrased The Last Jedi and saw it again before I saw the next chapter, and though I don't dislike it like a lot of people do, it is more flawed then I remember. I won't go into too much detail, but it feels like the first part of another trilogy rather then the second part of another. So now that J.J. Abrams is back for another, will he be able to follow up on two different stories to bring things to a proper conclusion? Let's see in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Sometime after The Last Jedi, the resistance is once again hiding from the First Order. Having killed Emperor Snoke before, Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) manages to discover a still living Palpatine (played by Ian McDiarmid) who is aware of Ray and how she carries the last of the Jedi legacy. Kylo Ren is in search of her, but is unaware she is in Jedi training by General Leia (played by Carrie Fisher). Poe (played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (played by John Boyega) return to reveal that Palpanine and a hidden army are located on Pasaana. Now they need to figure out where that is.
They uncover through Luke Skywalker's notes that a Wayfinder can locate Pasaana. While Leia stays behind to continue leading the resistance with R2-D2, the rest of the crew, along with Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO, all head out on the Millennium Falcon to find the Wayfinder. Throughout the mission, they find Lando Calrissian (played by Billy Dee Williams), encounter flying Stormtroopers, and continue to fight for the resistance. With there be starship fights and lightsaber duels? You probably know the answer.
Rise of Skywalker has a lot to live up to. It's meant to close bother the original Skywalker story and conclude the sequel trilogy. On it's own, it's only okay at best. As a part of a bigger picture, it's bad. I can't blame J.J. Abrams completely as the last two movies felt like setups and they have to somehow figure out where everything was going to lead. I can say that a part of the story, some things are addressed and some others not.
I'll say that Adam Driver's saga is the only one I really liked. Along with the actor being charming, you get a lot of sense of conflict with this guy. He reminds me of Ewan McGregor from the prequel trilogy, who was one of the best elements in a so-so series of movies. It seemed like there was a lot of potential for Daisy Ridley as Ray, but I'm not sure what her arc was other then denying the past. Finn becomes a throwaway character as does a lot of the newer characters. Even the older characters like Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and Emperor Palpatine either seem tired or don't offer much new. The only one that did something unique is C-3PO, which I wont spoil.
The actions sequences are neat and the special effects are cool, but you kind of expect that at this point. Maybe if this was done ten years ago it would be groundbreaking. Now it just seems like every other blockbuster movie out there, even when compared to other science-fiction.
My main gripe with the movie is it's overall place within the Star Wars saga. Unlike the other movies, which had an episodic chapter tone, this feels like it's throwing a lot of fan theories at us to see what sticks. It's clear that nothing was planned, as a lot what happens in Rise of Skywalker is never hinted at in the previous movies. I'll bet a million dollars that there was no plan...or if there was one, it wasn't built as well. Perhaps they should have taken notes with what Marvel has done with their property.
I'll give this four star destroyers out of four. The more I thought about it, the duller is was and less I remember. The second half does has some good action, but chances are, ill be watching it in clips rather then the full movie again. It's not the worst Star Wars story to come out and it'll have it's fans. But I don't know how many would pick this over the original movies or even The Last Jedi, which at least tried something new. I'll be going somewhere far far away from this movie.