‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ is the fall of a mighty saga

The finale of the nine-chapter “Star Wars” Skywalker saga, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” has finally been released. After a series of polarizing films released by Disney, can this entry satisfy the fans while concluding this beloved franchise?

Strange calls from the once thought dead Emperor Palpatine begin ringing throughout the galaxy, with both the Resistance and First Order being alerted to the messages. Now it is up to Rey and her rag tag group of rebels to discover where these distressing calls are coming from that may just put an end to the on-going war.

“Rise of Skywalker” is a film that is split in various directions, not knowing exactly what story it wants to tell and conclude, leading to a very, very messy and frustrating experience. Director J.J Abrams struggles to decide whether to follow up on the story beats set up from his entry, “The Force Awakens” or to continue with the narrative from Rian Johnson’s previous film, “The Last Jedi.” This unclear vision results in a film that throws everything but the kitchen sink to appease its audience while doing its best to balance the mess this franchise has become, yet still somehow ends up ringing hollow in the long run.

The film grasps at straws to find organic concepts to build upon from its predecessors, so turns back to much of the same formula of the previous trilogies to conclude things, yet does little to earn such a finale. The first act attempts to bundle a lot of this set up and several action set pieces in a short amount of time, beating its audience over the head with information that never takes its time to breathe, resulting in a lack of flow. The latter acts, while slightly better paced, suffer from a very pieced together series of events that fill themselves with contradicting moments and numerous characters that end up feeling jammed in and ultimately meaningless. There is also a massive lack of stakes throughout the story that a film such as this needed to truly hit home. Several moments pop up throughout the movie where our characters are at true risk, but thanks to numerous frustrating plot conveniences, these moments end up feeling empty and worthless by the end.

Despite the film having so much going on, there is still shockingly little for many of the characters to do within the narrative. Finn and Poe, while having a little revealed and hinted at regarding what could be done with them, are ultimately left wasted. Rey’s arc, at its core, is an intriguing one. A certain plot twist is revealed regarding her lineage that could have made more sense given the previous events, but is transparently an attempt by the filmmakers to appease fans and ultimately comes out of left field. The handling of the Emperor is also strangely underwhelming. Ignoring the fact that bringing him back contradicts the point of the story being told from “The Phantom Menace” through “Return of the Jedi,” the explanation for his reappearance and his plan are almost laughably cartoony and the character himself lacks presence.

The strongest element of the film, outside of its visuals and aesthetic, has to easily be Kylo Ren’s story, which has been the most consistently strong element throughout the entire trilogy. The character’s arc through this film is expertly handled, not only by Adam Driver’s excellent performance, but also in the way his emotional state of being and struggles are realized. These moments were also the best paced of the film, with each of these scenes having the most breathing room to be fleshed out.

As sad as it is to say, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is not worth seeing. While far from a terrible film, this is a massively disappointing venture that, in its desperate attempt to satisfy fans, quite ironically, did not live up to the massive legacy this saga has left on the world. So unless you hope to walk out of the theater with a Wookie sized headache, this is an entry that you can take a lightspeed jump away from.