Like good frozen Pizza

Rating: 6/10 (4 January 2020)

For me "The Rise of Skywalker" tasted like frozen Pizza. Good frozen Pizza, mind you. All the ingredients are there - and well declared on the package. You essentially get a remake of most of the most iconic scenes of the previous 8 movies in the franchise with a little extra twist. But nothing more.
There is no heart, no daring, no artistic vision I could discern, just a desire to tick off all the boxes the average moviegoer expects from a Star Wars film. There are actually hints of really interesting new ideas that, fully developed, could have made a great movie. But the almighty hand of some studio boss was all too obvious: you don't just do daring stuff with a multi-billion dollar investment.
So the story meanders from scene to scene that all feel vaguely familiar to culminate rather predictably with an ending that gently prepares us for part 10 of the saga.
But at least (minor spoiler!) the wookie finally got its medal.