Derivitive and Unremarkable

Rating: 3/10 (28 December 2019)

Rise of Skywalker is a movie that feels like it has the plot of a thirteen episode tv show cramed into a mere 2 hours. The plot moves at such speed that there is absolutely no room to think about or contemplate the meaning or consequences for the actions taken in it. As a result of the often meaningless action and hasty story, everything from the character arcs, motivations and plot devices is entirely convoluted and artifical.
Perhaps that is this movie's greatest fault; You never feel immersed in the story and are consistently aware that you're watching a film, as each story beat will force you to realise that nothing makes any sense.
The emotional beats often rely on characters from the original trilogy, such as C3-PO or Leia, rather than the new characters who should be leading the emotional charge.
That said, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren still remains as the beacon of light in the new trilogy; An actor who genuinely seems at one with his character and who is clearly giving it his all. Were it not for the rushed writing on his relationship to Rey, that aspect of the film could have shone a lot more than it did. But the potential to create real character drama was thrown away in favour of an unoriginal, manufactured threat. Even so, Adam Driver will make you feel something real in this unimmersive film.
The predictable and uninteresting return of Palpatine is entirely derivitive of both the original and prequel trilogy, and even the satisfying performance, given by Ian McDirmid, can not clear the water of this foggy, unexplained return of the character.
In spite of some good action scenes and breif moments of quality between Kylo Ren and Rey, there isn't a lot this movie has to offer because it never takes the time to slow down and let you relish in what it has.
We can only hope Star Wars remains in retirement until such a time as the creatively bankrupt Disney returns with ideas relating more so to passion than the money lining their wallets.