A Mixed Bag

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2019)

Let me preface this review by saying that I've always been a "Star Wars" fan: the original movie from 1977 changed my life, and I've seen "The Empire Strikes Back" more times than any other film. While I didn't always like the movies that followed, I still dedicated my time to seeing them because I love the mythology that George Lucas created.
So I'm approaching this review from the standpoint of a fan, not someone who wants to tear the franchise apart. I was looking forward to seeing Episode 9, not just because of "Star Wars" but also because I wanted to appreciate J.J. Abrams' visual style and I was curious to see how he'd continue the story from "The Last Jedi." While there was a lot that I enjoyed about "The Rise of Skywalker," there were so many things that I didn't. I'll start with the good: the direction, special effects, action sequences, performances, and musical score are all excellent. I liked seeing Abrams' bold visual style on the big screen, and the action - in particular the lightsaber duel - is great. On a technical level, I have no criticisms of this movie.
Where I do have problems is with everything else. The storyline is a needlessly convoluted and lazily-written retread of "Return of the Jedi," with not only many of the same plot points but even specific scenes taken straight from Episode VI. I could easily predict where the plot was going right from the first scene. By the third act, when I should have been cheering for the main characters to win, I found myself totally uninterested in the plot because I knew exactly how the story would end. As a conclusion to an epic nine part saga this movie fails - aside from the Emperor's appearance, Episode 9 has almost nothing to do with any of the movies that came before it. The old characters, even Lando, get almost no screen time while the new characters, especially Kylo-Ren, are handled so poorly that I couldn't believe a group of adults wrote the script. I won't spoil anything, but I chuckled when I found out where they decided to end Kylo-Ren's journey.
On top of all that, this movie has serious pacing issues. If you thought "The Last Jedi" was too long then get ready for Episode 9: this movie is even longer, and boy do you feel it. It seems like Abrams and company felt the need to cram as much as possible into this movie to make it a worthy end to the saga, but the result is a choppy and unfocused beginning and a drawn-out ending. "Return of the King" didn't take as long to end - and that movie is 4.5 hours long! So do I recommend you watch Episode 9? Yes and no. It was a fun movie going experience with enjoyable action sequences, but it served as a disappointing end to a classic movie franchise. 6/10.