Damage Control or Satisfying Conclusion?

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2019)

This is an entertaining and heartfelt, if messy and rushed, addition to the Star Wars universe. The Rise of Skywalker is not nearly as bad as the critical consensus will have you believe, but there are a couple of consistent points of criticism that ring true:
a) It is a departure from and a significant retcon of the events of The Last Jedi. As a result, if you disliked The Last Jedi, you are somewhat more likely to enjoy this film, and vice versa.
b) It has some pacing issues that are likely the result of J.J. Abrams trying to fit as much of his original plot ideas for two films into one film as he could, while also shoehorning in Palpatine due to the untimely loss of his principal big bad, Snoke.
Opinions on The Last Jedi tend to polarize fans, but in order to evaluate The Rise of Skywalker, you have to put the film in the context of a trilogy that many fans, myself included, did not entirely believe needed to exist.
Rian Johnson took significant risks with The Last Jedi and made a film that many enjoyed, but it served to undo much of what the first film in the sequel trilogy-and the preceding six films, frankly-established. I wholeheartedly believe that The Rise of Skywalker is a damage control film that mostly succeeds on its own merits. It's fun, it's nostalgic, and it has the feels.
Now, please let us move on to some Star Wars films that explore the vast, rich universe that George Lucas created and its enormous timeline of nearly infinite stories somewhere and some time other than this incredibly narrow corner we've explored for 42 years.