A disappointing conclusion to the iconic saga.

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2019)

A sterling soundtrack, brilliant set and costume design alongside spectacular effects can not save The Rise of Skywalker. This film has completely undone everything set up in the superior 'The Last Jedi' in order to cater to the group of fans who didn't get or appreciate what that film was doing.
Where Episode 8 masterfully dissected the genre and put it back together again, JJ Abrams has thrown a bucket of white paint on top of it. He has managed to cram two movies worth of plot into this expository-ridden, McGuffin filled, ridiculously fast-paced mess of grandiose events which bears little fruit. The film is overstuffed with mind-numbing video game action with a large injection of fan service to boot in order to make it bankable with the fundamentalist sects of the fanbase. It's hard to believe this is from the same man who brought us the brilliant and more grounded 'The Force Awakens' just four years ago. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Disney Board of Directors wrote the screenplay fearing further fan backlash.
The pace is staggering. I can barely remember how characters got from A to B, to C, to D, to E, and then finally F! There are too many new planets, too many new characters, too many unnecessary lines of dialogue, and too many events with little room to absorb and appreciate what on earth just transpired. It plays out like a very lucid dream from eating too much Camembert after watching the original trilogy before bed.
My main gripe is that the whole film is an apology for The Last Jedi. From the beginning, I tragically realised what I was getting myself into when the U-turns started coming and didn't stop. We're immediately hit by exposition from Darth Sideous himself. I don't mind Emperor Palpatine returning, it's just done so sloppily while simultaneously losing the whole mysticism surrounding Supreme Leader Snoke; Turning him into some laboratory cloning experiment as a vessel for the Emperor.
All we should be told (If we even really need to be told at all!) about Snoke was that he was a powerful force user, presumably a force sensitive inquisitor or admiral from the original Empire, that came to power in the vacuum left after episode 6. That's all! The same goes for Rey. It conveniently seems her parents weren't 'nobody' after all! Why does she have to be a Palpatine?
A better film would have had Rey being either a reincarnated Emperor (unknowingly of course) or a normal person with force sensitivity who somehow (Through whatever convenient plot device you could think of; An experiment, force radiation, etc.) has the spirit of Lord Sideous (Or shares part of the spirit with Kylo, explaining their connection) trapped inside her as she tries to come to terms with her unusually strong powers (Something the audience has recognised from the previous films) Eventually, with the help of Kylo (who is battling his own demons, Emperor/Darth Vader related or not) and her plucky friends, overcomes the malevolent influence, and discovers she can be just as strong without the Sith presence within her. The rest would play out similarly to what we got (A life sacrificed so another lives) and there we go! I've just created a better version of the Rise of Skywalker than what we were given while sticking to what was established in The Last Jedi. We don't need this "I am all the Jedi!" "I am all the Sith!" playground rant rubbish, but I guess I should be happy that it didn't try to emulate the Avengers Endgame finale; bringing everyone back for one big soulless scrap.
Saying that, what this movie does do right is the almost Shakespearean conclusion to Rey and Kylo Ren's relationship as well as Leia Organa and Carrie Fisher's final chapter in the story. Those scenes rightfully tugged the heartstrings more than anything else. Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are the strongest features of this film and I hope their careers continue to blossom. That said, all the actors did their best with what they had in front of them.
It was great to see Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, while the new characters, despite being shoved in and not given the screen time they deserved, were also intriguing. Another standout moment was C-3PO being given an arc that actually landed fairly well with me. However, Kelly Marie Tran insultingly plays a far smaller part this time around. Again, something I can only link to the toxic elements of the fanbase.
As a fan of Episodes 7 and 8 (Which are excellent in their own ways) I was really looking forward to this one. I was keeping my mind open, like I did with the others, just taking in whatever they threw at me. Nevertheless, the Rise of Skywalker tries to unnecessarily retcon too much and severly tramples over the tone, pace and legacy of the series in the process. It is an example of what happens when you give way to the unsavoury elements of the fanbase (With their woeful theory and speculation YouTube videos) while poorly planning out the overarching narrative of the trilogy. The film ultimately ends up stuck firmly in the nostalgia ridden tar that makes up the road that is this franchise.
It's everything I feared. A huge letdown and it saddens me to say, quite possibly the worst Star Wars film yet. I will eventually get round to watching it again, but I don't expect my opinion to shift massively.