Elevated the Trilogy as A Whole

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2019)

I liked Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker and it did justice to complete what The Last Jedi left off. The Rise or Skywalker firmly states that one doesn't need the precious Skywalker bloodline to be the master of your destiny, so to speak. Even if you're the offspring of the most evil person in the whole universe you can still be good. A Palpatine adapting the Skywalker name isn't a slap in the face for the viewers. It is the most Christ-like thing ever happened in Star Wars. The Skywalker siblings gradually give Rey a feeling of family, which she's lost since her childhood. I know what happened to Luke in The Last Jedi didn't make him so much of a father figure initially. But didn't he come to accept his misjudgments and acknowledged Rey's optimism to bring Ben Solo back to the good? "Let the past die, kill it if you have to." refers to the remorse or obligation one has for one's lineage. It works for both the light side and the dark side. Ben Solo kills his past as he was betrayed once by his uncle. But Rey's parents also try to kill Rey's past by saving her from the hands of Emperor Palpatine. This is a neutral quote but rather meaningful. It refers to the regrets we had made in our lives that we deliberately try to erase. However, in the end, destiny (or the Force) always brings us back to face our greatest fear. Skywalker finally becomes the embodiment of Jedi in this. Rey can be a Skywalker just like all of us can be Skywalkers. Rose's quote in The Last Jedi is not a throwaway line. Ben Solo turns good not by fighting what he hates, but saving who he loves. Ben Solo's grandfather Anakin Skywalker's greatest wish was to save his wife Padme from death. That was the reason why he fell to the dark side. Ben Solo succumbed to the dark side because he wanted to finish what his grandfather started, which has been to save the ones he loved since the very beginning. Ben Solo realizes that in the end and raises Rey from her death. This act completes the Skywalker arc. The setting matches the Space Opera in which George Lucas proposed. The title doesn't misguide the viewers. I think it's a very good film and isn't just a course correction like many have said. It actually elevated the trilogy as a whole.