Filled With Action Yet Lacking Any Heart

Rating: 5/10 (27 February 2020)

I've waited to review this movie so that I had time to take it all in. I cannot call this a bad movie. It's not lacking for action and spectacle yet somehow with all that is going on in this movie it forgets to make you care. There seems to be nothing truly at stake and at no point do you feel the heroes are in any real danger. Add to this a blatant and obvious hint early on at something which will come later and the expectation that the audience can swallow this pill and accept that what happens makes any sense at all and you have a big, full, beautiful empty shell of a story which also manages to undermine Luke's and Anakin's entire story arc. If you're fairly young and perhaps the newest trilogy was your first Star Wars experience and these characters are the ones you are invested in then you might love this. If you are older like me and grew up with the original than I advise you to stick to The Mandalorian to feel any of the magic you once associated with Star Wars. Even the prequel trilogy in its misguided and often cheesy glory somehow managed to retain some of the heart and emotion so absent from this film. Like so many I left TLJ feeling ok about it but over time I came to have bigger issues with it. However, this TROS has changed my opinion to considering it the best of the new franchise in the risks it took. You may say it disrespected Luke and maybe it did but it did give Luke the glorious spotlight for the final act of the film where TFA and TROS gave Luke 5 minutes of passing fan service. Circling back to how I opened.... this is certainly not a bad movie. It is beautifully shot despite serious pacing problems with jumping from one scene to another, has plenty of Easter Eggs to enjoy and there is no shortage of action but if you're seeking that special, magical feeling you used to get when those sprawling opening credits came before the original trilogy films I do not believe you will find it with this one. All in all an ok film on its own but a colossal disappointment in terms of living up to its title and closing out the Skywalker saga for good.