Kind of a mess, but still a beautiful mess

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2019)

"Star War - The RIse of Skywalker" (2019 release; 142 min.) is the 9th and last (?) chapter in the original Star Wars sage, always envisioned by creator George Lucas to run over 9 chapters.
Couple of comments: to say that The Rise of Skywalker has gone through development hell would be a major understatement. Rian Johnson, who had directed The Last Jedi, was to write the script but he came and went. Even more troubling was that Colin Trevorrow was bought on as director, but he eventually (a year into this) was dismissed, following unresolvable "creative differences" with producer Kathleen Kennedy. What next? J.J. Abrams (who directed The Force Awakens) to the rescue! As to the film itself, I have to say that the first half of The Rise of Skywalker is a mess, frankly. I had no idea what in the world was going on. Particularly keeping in mind the final scene of The Last Jedi, you'd think that we's find out what happened when Ren meets Luke Skywalker in that scene. But noooo... It's as if that never even happened. Instead there are so many other things going on that it is impossible (for me anyway) to wrap your arms around it. To Abrams' credit, the second half of The Rise of Skywalker is much, much better, once we finally understand to what kind of a final showdown we are working towards. The space action scenes (of which there are surprisingly few, considering everything) are "out of this world", pun intended. Where there once were some battleships in, say, A New Hope, there are now, literally, HUNDREDS of them, swarming like a bunch of mosquitoes. And the final, final scene is a worthy one too. (Please also note that composer John Williams, now a crops 87 yrs. young, already has announced that no matter what, this is his final Star Wars movie. Say it ain't so!
"Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker" opened a week ago, and we finally went to see it on Christmas day. The early evening screening where we saw this at in a mid-size theater here in Cincinnati was sold out to the last seat. But in the bigger picture, The Rise of Skywalker has not done well--taht is, within the context of the Star Wars universe. And let me ask this: given the enormous financial stakes for Disney, does anyone really believe that we have seen the last of Ray, Finn, Poe, C-3PO, Chewbakka, and the rest of the gang? I personally don't believe for a minute that The Rise of Skywalker was really the last of the "original" Star Wars trilogy of trilogies. Bottom line: The Rise of Skywalker is a bit of a mess, but still a beautiful mess for Star War fans alike, be they long time fans and new fans. Of course I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.