A lot of empty space

Rating: 6/10 (25 December 2019)

STAR WARS IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: Aside from John Williams rousing score, IX is a resounding bore and I mean put-you-to-sleep, boring. There is nothing new here except for a cute little WALL-E wanna-be robot who ads nothing to the story, as paper thin as that is. Except for Daisy Ridley who's just passible and who's asked to do little more than lightsaber fight (again we've seen this a thousand times) and physical action (which she does in wonderful fashion), the acting across the board (direction) left me cold, especially Oscar Isaac who just doesn't cut it. There's just something about that guy that doesn't register with me. He's simply miscast. Adam Driver does a good job of looking threatening/mean and little else. Carrie Fisher is the best thing in the movie probably because her scenes were from another movie. Mark Hamill phoned in his one scene and looks like he just woke from a nap and could barely be bothered. The biggest disappointment of the film is the lack of relationships between the characters. Whatever their previous history was, it's just not evident here, so we just don't care. I will admit there was a two minute scene very near the end that got me. The action sequences are redundant and if you've seen one, you've seen them all. This franchise has run it's course for sure and if I never see another one, I won't regret it. Score: 6. Don't go. A lot of empty space. 12/24/19