A satisfying closure of 42 years of the saga; the final two words are gold

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2019)

Forty-two years! The first trilogy changed the world, making it a more interesting place. The second trilogy (chronically the first in the context of the story) was a bit of a let-down, a verdict hardly anybody disputed. The there was a time when all hope seem lost for the promised third trilogy to be made. Finally, dangling the mystery of the origins of the new heroine Rey (one fantastic Daisy Ridley), it was launched four years ago. Here comes judgment day (nothing to do with Terminators) - how will the fans receive the ultimate closure? Will they be happy with the revelation of who Rey really is?
From this point on, there is nothing but SPOILERS here, for the eyes only of those who have seen this movie. This is not even a user movie review. Call this a sharing of random thoughts after watching "The Rise of Skywalker".
Going back to the very beginning, Episode IV (1977) introduced a trio that expectedly turned into a romantic triangle. It was satisfactorily resolved in Episode VI as one guy turns out to be a brother. The new trio teases with romantic possibilities but is in truth platonic for all three. While each of the three has separate romance plot line, romance never plays an important part. In the new trio, Rey is the true star, while Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) are just strong supports.
The true love story is the Rey and Ren show (first name and family name respectively). They tele-psychi-communicate, Rey and Kylo Ren (son of Han and Leia, inheriting also his grandfather's dark side, alas, played by Adam Driver who has convinced me that he can do just about anything on screen). The feelings they develop for each other is, unfortunately, overshadowed by something ominously bigger.
But even the Rey and Ren show just goes so far. Eventually it is Rey Skywalker. Even the critical critics praise these two final words that say so much. Palpatine by blood, Rey is in every fibre of her being a Skywalker. Earned it convincingly. And the closure of these two words, with Ridley's winning smile, is pure gold.
To lighter things. The best sight gag has to be this. After they have fallen into a dark tunnel, Rey switches on her light sabre. Standing beside her, Poe switches on his flash light! Talking about light sabre, after all these years, it is still amazing how the moviemakers can still come up with ways of new angles for them, both figuratively and literally.
On the new character Zorii, Poe's old flame (of sorts, we never learn the full story), I must have had a temporary mental block, as I have read about it, but forgotten. The lovely voice and the slim agility are most tantalising as I was dying to see the face behind the mask (is she the first Mandalorian?) In the scene of intimate conversation with Poe, she goes as far as lowering her eye shields. Such a pair of bewitching, beautiful eyes. But even in the playful, teasing final shot, she keeps the mask on. It wasn't until checking IMDb afterwards that it was brought back to me: Keri Russell!
Interesting how the original three appear in this final episode. Late (and forever missed) Carrie Fisher's Leia appears in "archive footage", continuing Luke's job of training Rey to be a Jedi. The characters of both Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford are both already dead in this Episode IX and they appear in flashbacks. One more: fans will enjoy Billy Dee Williams reprising his character Lando, older, wiser and looking even stronger!
But if there is one name that I put before everybody else's (including George Lucas), it's John Williams. After 4 decades, it still brings goose pimples to hear his two Star Wars themes: one in uplifting major, bursting gloriously out in full blasts of heroism; one melancholic minor, emotionally charged, tugging at every heartstring. You will have your heart's content with these two themes in "The rise of Skywalker".