The Rise of Skywalker - a Star Wars Fanboy's Review

Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2019)

I love Star Wars. Pretty much everyone who knows me is aware of that fact as I tend to repeat it as often as I can. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to, I didn't like the previous instalment in the main Star Wars storyline - The Last Jedi.
However, I loved The Rise of Skywalker. It hit me on an emotional level that I haven't felt from a movie for, well, longer than I can remember. Perhaps that's a factor of the movie's nostalgic tendencies, or the fact that is the "last" episode in what Disney is calling The Skywalker Saga.
The truth is, I don't really know why it affected me exactly nor do I care. The movie made me laugh and cry, it made me excited and scared, it made feel all the things and that's what counts.
The reaction to the last two Star Wars movies from the critics has been truly inexplicable to me. The critics loved The Last Jedi and are widely panning The Rise of Skywalker. The only thing this has reinforced for me is that movie (and TV critics for that matter) are terrible at their jobs and don't really understand why people watch movies and TV shows. Perhaps that's because they see so many movies and look at their individual technical pieces instead of seeing the story as a whole. Or perhaps they are just bored watching so much content that they only like something they think is "innovative". I don't really know. But it's clear to me they missed this movie for what it is and what it does best.
Rise of Skywalker is fun. Happily, thankfully fun. No, it's not really trying to challenge its audience (like The Last Jedi supposedly did). It's trying to entertain the audience and I found it entertaining as hell.
Now, none of this means this is a perfect movie. It's got a bunch of problems that reviewers have identified. Pacing for one, and plot holes so big you could fly a Death Star through them. There is also the problem of how this movie fits together with the sequel trilogy as a whole. Some reviewers have, accurately in my opinion, called out Rise of Skywalker as a sequel to The Force Awakens, rather than a follow up to The Last Jedi. For me, I'm pretty ok with that. But I also think Rise of Skywalker makes The Last Jedi a much better movie by expanding on the parts of it that worked the best while gently (or not so gently according to some) revising some of the plot points from that movie that didn't work.
There is also the problem of repetition, and this movie doesn't try to break out of that pattern. Rather, I think it leans into the Star Wars Ring Theory or the poetry of Star Wars that George Lucas has talked about. These movies definitely rhyme, but I loved the way this movie chose to rhyme with the others. I honestly believe that Rise of Skywalker, while being a mashup or pastiche of earlier Star Wars ideas, nevertheless reworks those ideas and themes in truly innovative ways. These ideas are in line not only with the overall tone of the Star Wars series itself, but also with the styles and themes of the old school film serials and classical myths and fairy tales that have always underpinned Star Wars.
Rise of Skywalker also had to fulfill the impossible role of closing out not just a trilogy, but a trilogy of trilogies. Being episode 9 out of 9 there is no way it could wrap up such a sprawling story in a way everyone would like. And there are parts of its ending that I would have done differently to be sure. But on the drive home, as I was talking to my wife about the movie, I realized that the movie gave me enough to feel ... closure, would have to be the right word. When I was a kid, all I would have wanted was to hear the next chapter in the story of Luke, Han, and Leia. But now, I feel like their stories are complete and finished in a way I feel good about.
Do I think Disney is done with the characters it introduced in the new trilogy? Nah, not really. But if I never saw those characters again, I would feel ok with this being the last chapter in their story.
So, yes. I loved this movie, and I've already seen it three times to make sure how I felt about. And yes, this movie has problems, and the critics are not wrong about the flaws that are easily seen on its surface. But focusing on those flaws misses the beautiful beating heart of a story that is trying to say something simple and pure and inspiring. This isn't really a movie that will make you think, but if you let it, it will make you feel.