A Final episode and a fitting tribute to Carrie

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2020)

My Review : Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker
My Rating 8/10
I've enjoyed The Star Wars franchise for 32 years since Episode 1 The Phantom Menace but wouldn't by any stretch call myself a Skywalker or what ever term is used for Star Wars groupies.
However the last one I saw Episode 8 The Last Jedi I didn't enjoy as much I found it confusing and very dark. Confusion I think is understandable considering Episode 8 was set 34 years after the first episode A New Hope. It's a little like the Chinese custom of reading a book from the back cover to the front.
I really did enjoy this final instalment I thought it was exciting , perhaps I did absorb more of the Last of the Jedi than I thought because I wasn't as confused in this movie . I notice The Rise of Skywalker has a different Director JJ Abrams (Ryan Johnson directed The Last Jedi).
I thought this film got back to the Spirit of the earlier Star Wars I liked so much especially the joyous final scenes.
Speaking of "Spirits "I can't think of any movie where a cast member Carrie Fisher, known for her portrayal of Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars saga who passed away on December 27, 2016 appears so effectively and seamlessly in a film 3 years after her death.
I thought it a fitting final tribute to an iconic character and more importantly to Carrie Fisher herself the miraculous way technology allowed her final screen role and her character to at last Rest In Peace.
Though Fisher passed away prior to Episode 9 beginning filming, J.J.Abrams knew he needed to keep Leia in the final Skywalker movie's story. "What are you going to do?" he said on stage at the Episode 9 Star Wars Celebration panel. "You don't recast that part, and you don't have her suddenly disappear."
J.J.Abrams realized that he had enough unused footage of Fisher from filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) that he could create a story around Leia and still have her play a significant role in the movie. From the way Abrams explained it, Leia's entire arc is built around the story he could form from her archival footage, which meant they didn't have to resort to any other storytelling tricks like CG recreations of Leia to fit her into the Episode 9 story.
Footage of Carrie Fisher from the prior two films was incorporated through the process of rotoscoping, or digitally removing the background of footage and superimposing it elsewhere. Visual effects were also used to change her wardrobe and add gray to her hair so the footage from the films would match.
I found this aspect of the film one of the most interesting especially that Carrie Fisher's daughter had given her blessing for this final tribute to her mother.
I also enjoyed Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren more I this film than the last
One day when I have a reason to devote an entire day to spare I'll watch them all in order now that I have a correct viewing list .
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (set 32 years before A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (set 22 years before A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (set 19 years before A New Hope)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (set about a decade before A New Hope)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (ends moments before A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (set three years after A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (set four years after A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (set 34 years after A New Hope)
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (set 34 years after A New Hope
Star Wars Episode 1X : The Rise of Skywalker.