Re-Run

Rating: 3/10 (30 December 2019)

You would think this being the last Star Wars in the series, it would be EPIC. But this fell way short of expectations. This new plot is a recycled plot from "Episode VI - Return of the Jedi". Remember? Back then, the Rebel Alliance heads out to destroy yet, another Death Star. This time the evil Emperor Palpatine is on board the Death Star overseeing the construction himself along with his prodigy Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones). Like in the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV), there is a huge celebration by the Rebels for their victory over the Galactic Empire and the motley crew of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) are awarded medals for saving Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) from what would have been certain death at the hand of Lord Vader.
The destruction of that last Death Star happened in 1983, now fast-forward to 2019 in what appears to be the last film in the Skywalker/Han Solo saga. These are the parallels between "Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" and "Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker", the Luke Skywalker character is replaced by Rey Palpatine (Daisy Ridley) and the Darth Vader character is replaced by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). The Han Solo character became Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and the evil Emperor? Well, he is still around, sort of. Except for these changes in characters and absent a few Ewoks the plot is almost exactly the same as "Return of the Jedi" including Lando Carlrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Leia Organa who is now a General in the First Order.
The Galactic Empire is still a threat except now it's called the First Order. Thanks to the almighty, there is no Death Star or Death Planet a la "Episode VII - The Force Awakens". No this time the Emperor has done one better, he amassed a huge fleet of Star Destroyers outfitted with planet-killing cannons. Like in "Return of the Jedi" a small group of Rebels, from the New Republic lead by Fin (John Boyega), must somehow infiltrate the main Star Destroyer to disable technology meant to protect the rest of the fleet. Without rehashing the last two Star Wars films, there is still that battle between good and evil. Rey the light of hope, is struggling with her destiny, while Kylo embraces the dark side. He is even more intent on destroying Rey at the urging of Emperor Palpatine who somehow still survives after being tossed into the reactor core by Darth Vader in Episode VI.
As Luke and Darth Vader fought in Episode VI, so do Rey and Kylo on the planet Kef Bir where the second Death Star fell 30 years earlier in "Return of the Jedi". In the end, there was peace and redemption between father and son, as Anakin Skywalker lay dying on the floor of the crumbling Death Star. Watching the energy between Rey and Kylo in the latest film was Déjà vu from "Return of the Jedi". However, the battle between Luke and Vader played was much better because it was real, as there was no CGI in 1983.
Like I said before, I was expecting the end of the Skywalker saga to be epic not a rehash of "Return of the Jedi". Was this playing it safe or was there no more story to tell? This was a huge disappointment re-watching what I saw 36 years ago. Perhaps, for the new generation, this is refreshing and exciting. For die-hard fans, I can not recommend this film. But it will make a ton of money for Disney.