The fall of the Skywalker Saga

Rating: 1/10 (20 December 2019)

The idea of reopening the Skywalker saga was a very questionable one to begin with. Return of the Jedi has long cemented it's place as one of the most beautiful pieces of closure in film history; the flawed prequel films only adding to its gravitas. Despite the evident perils of undoing this, there was barely any fan that wasn't excited to see this saga continue. Beyond the dangers lay potential of expanding the lore, of exploring the mysteries we'd not gotten answers to, and of learning about the legacy of the Skywalkers. Unfortunately these new films have not only utterly failed at fulfilling that potential, but have also managed to sour the two trilogies that precede them. The Rise of Skywalker is, naturally, the culmination of this souring: it's the final chapter of the trilogy that was meant to tie all 9 movies together, an endeavor doomed from the start in the absence of a (good) plan.
What's most jarringly bad about this movie is that it's an absolute frantic mess from a story-telling point of view. This is most obvious when the big bad abruptly shows up with zero build-up to this moment in the previous two episodes, and with no explanation given as to how he survived a trip down an exploding Death Star shaft. Sadly it's not only the pacing that feels rushed, it's everything - even the characters. Our Emperor is yet again a good example: the beloved character feels like a mere caricature of himself, spewing all too predicable lines and cackles. Where once he stole every Prequel scene he was in, he now felt as hollow as the movie he's in; his anti-climactic reappearance only matched by his anti-climactic ending. You would think Palpatine would have learned by now not to get zapped by his own lightning, but then the writers would have had to come up with something original.
Aside from originality, sense and logic can also only be found in traces in this film. Again, it's hard to list everything, but let's consider the fact that Jedi like the Chosen One himself, who have been trained since childhood by the best of masters, do not seem to challenge the power of a scavenger whose resumÃ© consists of a 1 year of questionable training at best. In this installment, Rey now not only boasts impressive combat powers, but has also, out of nowhere (sigh), gained the power to shoot lightning and to heal. An unconvincing explanation of some sort of a Dyad is given in a manner that's characteristic for this film when it actually does try to explain something: rushed, shallow vocal exposition that's only there to immediately give way to the even more rushed, shallow action. Granted, maybe we could interpret Rey's powers as a result of her retconned lineage, but the whole point of this movie is that lineage doesn't matter. Ironic.
But let's focus on the trilogy's most interesting character - Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. We were told that he would have an opposite arc to Darth Vader's. Well now we're at the end of the line and the big picture spells out the exact same arc. Would it not have been more interesting to for once have a darksider live with their sins and try to atone for them instead of simply be given an easy way out in to the Force Ghost netherworld? The rehashed story offers no satisfaction and Ben Solo not showing up in the final scene end was baffling. It's also hard not to be bothered by another character's absence. The pivotal character of the first six films, Anakin Skywalker, does make an appearance in this film, but only as an easter-eggish voice cameo that will require repeated, captioned viewings on Youtube to be properly heard. His importance has thereby been equated with the likes of other Force Ghost voice cameos such as the irrelevant Luminara Unduli and Adi Galia, who by the way should not have been able to do this. What's really inexcusable is that we've been robbed of Kylo having a chat with his grandfather, because who would understand this person better? Alas, Anakin can apparently only be bothered to talk to Rey and we instead got Han Solo showing up as, well, no one knows what exactly. He's not and can't be a Force Ghost, he's not a dream and can't really be vision since Ben Solo, who we presume to not have schizophrenia, is perfectly conscious at the time.
It's obvious that the writers are keeping their fingers crossed that the film will not be dissected too much and that they'd be seen as telling a profound story. It's obvious they believed that the message of our lineage not defining us would be so powerful we could overlook the laziness done in the name of delivering it. And perhaps it would have been so, if not for two things. First, we've already seen this all before in the original trilogy with Luke and Leia rejecting their father's twisted path. Secondly it could have been done without destroying the Skywalkers... and without positively solidifying their legacy as that of failure, contrasted by the unwavering success and perfection of a Palpatine - a Palpatine who will now carry their name.
There are many more faults to be listed and even admittedly some positives, but that's a good story for another time. In spite of all the erroneous takes on Star Wars fans, the fandom is not a-priori negative and has harbored much hope throughout the course of this trilogy, even until the very last installment. Ultimately the fans hae been failed by people who have no real understanding about what this is all about and who have in their lack of vision, creativity, and imagination to deliver satisfying Star Wars films above all shown their arrogance. As with all misplaced hope, all that is left now is a bitter taste, delusions that this trilogy is not really actual canon material, and the determination to cease financially rewarding this IP holder who has managed to tarnish the old, all the while bringing almost nothing new to the table.