"Rise of Skywalker" is a satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga

I was going to like this movie no matter what happened. The only question was how much was I going to like it. 

The answer is a lot. I love it A LOT. 

I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was 8 years old the first time I watched The Empire Strikes Back with my grandma. I wasn’t old enough to see the Original Trilogy in theaters and I didn’t make it for the re-release, but I’ve seen them all in theaters since the Prequel Trilogy started in 1999 and it’s usually an opening weekend priority. 

Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker was no exception. I like The Last Jedi quite a bit and I did my best to avoid spoilers for this one, despite wishing I hadn’t watched the last minute and a half clip that was officially released. The point is my hype for this movie was way up, given how much the franchise itself means to me personally. 

The thing is, that personal connection I have to it has never closed my mind to whatever story is told in the Star Wars universe by any creative, because despite my own personal expectations for a franchise, I believe in creative freedom above all else. This is why I wasn’t mad about Disney making the Expanded Universe stories not canonical, because I respect the studio not wanting their new movies to be adapted works people have already read. Granted I haven’t read any of the EU stuff, but still, just because Disney made it non-canonical doesn’t mean I can’t ever read it if I want to. 

This is a BIG reason why I thoroughly enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker in the midst of major polarization and “controversy” surrounding it. I don’t feel like “they didn’t do what I wanted them to” is a valid criticism to have about a movie, at least not for me it isn’t. So I went into the film with no expectations other than to enjoy what I saw, and I did. I surely did. 

Without spoiling anything big, I will tell you that this movie is the epitome of “It’s All Subjective,” because I’ve seen so many different reactions to it that I simply don’t agree with at all. Many are calling it “fanfiction” implying that it was a movie designed to appease the diehard fans only regardless of the previous films. 

No it isn’t. Not in my opinion. 

Others are saying that it was clearly designed for J.J. Abrams to undo almost all of what Rian Johnson setup in The Last Jedi. 

No it wasn’t. Not in my opinion. 

I actually think that this movie respects and utilizes quite a bit from The Last Jedi thematically and structurally speaking, not just because it was the next movie in line, but also because it made sense for the story being told. As for it being fanfiction…...I’ve never read fanfiction that was this coherent and organized, but that’s just me. 

So many different reactions to the film though, all over the spectrum. Mine are very simple: It advanced the storyline of the Sequel Trilogy characters in a way that maintained and preserved their connection to the Original Trilogy characters, while not rehashing major plot points or sequences from prior films. In fact the closest this film gets to rehashing anything is John Williams bringing back musical cues from the entire saga. That was fantastic and this score as a whole, his ninth and final Star Wars composition, might be one of his best in the whole series, which is saying a lot because his work has been the most impeccable aspect of Star Wars in my opinion. Pristine music from the maestro himself. 

There are moments in the movie that hit home for long time fans like me, no question. Very powerful moments that reward us for so many years of fandom with this franchise. There are other moments that are designed for the Sequel Trilogy audience of today and are very clearly meant to be that way. There are goodbye moments, especially with this being the “last Skywalker saga film,” for now at least. The pacing is a little frenetic to start off but toward the end of the first act and into the rest of the film, the decompression moments are definitely there and the strength of this movie’s story comes into play. 

I like the story that they told and to me it makes sense given how they started this Sequel Trilogy. My explanation for The First Order rising up as the neo-Nazi clones of the Imperial Empire has always been “history is forever doomed to repeat itself,” and while that still works as a reasoning, The Rise of Skywalker adds a logical plot device for why history repeated itself here. 

This also leads to the controversy regarding the parentage of Daisy Ridley’s Rey, which is fully addressed in this film and harkens back to both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi for reference. Again, I won’t spoil it here but I’ll tell you that I like it a lot, mostly because it allows someone like me to have my cake and eat it too. I had theories on Rey’s parentage from the end of The Force Awakens and while they clearly went in a different direction, they were able to give me what I wanted while still making a different, and in my opinion a stronger choice for how it ended up. Ridley plays this very well throughout the film turning on her emotions and showing us all how conflicted she is, going through all the same things her Jedi Master Luke Skywalker did before, but in a more heightened sense here. 

I have zero complaints about the cast of this film from top to bottom. John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, the droids, Keri Russell’s Zorii, Naomie Ackie’s character Jannah, the return of Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, and of course through the magic of moviemaking, the chance to see Carrie Fisher play Princess/General Leia Organa one last time from beyond. That warmed my heart, no doubt. 

Adam Driver gets full marks here though as Kylo Ren as we see his arc play out alongside Rey’s throughout the film and the two have some great work together emotionally that carries over from their previous films. There might be one thing toward the end I didn’t completely care for but it’s a nitpick and hardly ruins anything for me with the movie overall. 

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the return of Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine. This isn’t a spoiler because he was announced as being in the film earlier this year and was featured in the marketing for it. He hasn’t lost his touch for playing that character whatsoever in the last 36 years. 

There are cameos all throughout the movie that I don’t want to mention for spoilers sake, but they’re awesome. I got real giddy on more than a few of them and as far as endings go, this is arguably the most satisfying conclusion to a Star Wars trilogy that I have ever watched, surpassing the end of Return of the Jedi in my opinion. 

Not everyone is going to agree with me on this and that’s fine. I’ve already seen plenty of vitriol and hatred spewed Sith-style on social media, with everything ranging from the standard “they betrayed my trust again” to the more recent “fire Kathleen Kennedy and replace her with Kevin Feige” sentiment. Maybe you agree with those people. That’s certainly your business, but I sure as hell don’t and I’m seriously going to do my best to avoid arguing with spiteful gatekeeping attitudes like that. Having recently re-watched the entire Star Wars Saga chronologically for the first time ever in preparation for this film and now watching this one, I can confidently say that there is not a single Star Wars film that I don’t enjoy on some level or others. 

I love Star Wars. A lot. Thank you for more than four decades of brilliance with the Skywalker saga. I can’t wait to see what you all do next.