A new hope

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2019)

There are plenty of haters out there, eager to chuck Rise of Skywalker out with the rest of the Disney trash. However, I can't help but feel that they're looking at it wrong. Shift perspective and RoS becomes a third attempt, rather than a third instalment. When you look at it as more of a sequel to Return of the Jedi then a sequel to The Last Jedi then it sits much better. In fact much of the film seems to stick a finger up at its predecessor, Kylo Rens' opening quest tells The Last Jedi how it's done; get map, go to destination, find Palpatine - Tick! So instead of moody dialogue, a painfully slow two hour space chase and irrelevant errands to free horses we have quick quests, intense pace, action, drama and heart. Lots of heart.
The film successfully builds on Jedi lore and expands the range of Jedi abilities while still keeping it feeling real enough. You do get a sense that Rey and Ren are focal points in the force and this is conveyed surprisingly well by Ridley and Driver. Both characters lean toward both sides during the course of the story, keeping the tension ramped up nicely throughout. Palpatine is back as the series' seminal baddie and for the first time since Return of the Jedi there's a real sense of threat in the movie. The chemistry between Ren and Rey is on point and from Palpatine's point of view these two seem at odds, when in fact, they compliment each other. This lack of insight into the light side quite rightly proves to be Emporer P's undoing, (again). Whilst it delivers on most fronts it's not perfect. Like any good Jedi it has it's flaws. Palpatine was severely underused, the final confrontation felt rushed and Kylo Ren's sacrifice left a sour taste. (Why is turning to the light side always a death sentence?)
However, the film itself is immensely satisfying, (if you ignore the previous 2), at the end you feel like a chapter has been closed. There's a finality to the last scenes that resonates well and you go away thinking, now that was a Star Wars film.