An enjoyable, yet unsurprising amusement park ride

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2019)

The Rise of Skywalker walks back on or hastily retcons some points of The Last Jedi during its first few minutes and that is the biggest problem with the new trilogy. It's the problem that plaques many tv- series, the uncertainty of direction. When a tv- show starts, the creators and the writers don't necessarily have any idea where the show is going to go. Anything could happen during a long production, especially with a show that spans multiple seasons. The same goes with this new Star Wars trilogy. There doesn't seem to be an overall agreed theme here. Rian Johnson made some of his own decisions about the direction of the trilogy in The Last Jedi and here J.J. Abrams takes a step back and goes off in another direction.
Maybe the biggest turnaround which doesn't sit well with me is the decision to go back to the point of Rey's parentage having some significance. It was a mistake go on in that direction in The Force Awakens in the first place and Johnson nicely concluded it in The Last Jedi, but here we jump right back to it. And in the end, it makes no difference. It doesn't add anything to Rey's character nor to the movie. In fact, nothing here actually adds anything to the characters, because it's not about them. The Rise of Skywalker is one action set piece after another, whereas The Last Jedi was more about ideas and the characters. Here the plot moves the characters and not the other way around.
Skywalker is still a very good-looking film. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver shine from the rest of the cast, although their characters go through familiar dilemmas from the previous two films. The film does feel like its rushing. Granted, it bears the task of bringing the saga to a close, which it does in a satisfactory albeit unsurprising way. The film feels like an amusement ride. There are some emotional moments throughout the film, but the film doesn't linger in them long enough. It's in a hurry to get to another action set piece. The Rise of Skywalker is enjoyable film, but unsurprising and safe. It is like an amusement ride, without much everlasting feelings, but some visuals combined with John Williams' classic tune is still enough to strike an emotional chord in me.