Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Review

"The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural"

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the latest entry into the highly popular and successful franchise and is the last entry into the Star Wars saga bringing the Skywalker sage to an end. The film was directed by J.J. Abrams and stars the likes of Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Issac, Anthony Daniels, Richard E Grant, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong'o and Ian McDiarmid. The film follows the surviving members of the resistance fleet that face The First Order one final time, whilst the legendary conflict between the Jedi and the Sith comes to a fitting end.

Now the Rise of Skywalker was released way back in December but unfortunately we were not able to get round to reviewing the film when it was released so well here it is! on the benefit we are able to talk about spoilers in this review so that's a benefit.

The Rise of Skywalker had a very tough job in following where The Last Jedi left off after apparently tying up lo0se ends and to bring a conclusion to the overall Star Wars Skywalker franchise as a whole but personally I believe the film does a good job of delivering a fitting conclusion, sure there are issues along the way but in my opinion it does a good job. First thing to point out that this film has some stunning visuals and battle sequences throughout the film with what is left of the resistance taking the fight to The First Order which one presumes have taken control of the galaxy, there a lightsabre battles and chases in the remains of the second Death Star with waves crashing against the remains to an epic aerial showdown with the remaining resistance fleet taking on Emperor Palpatine's Final Order fleet (made up of cool looking red Sith Troopers) which leads to what is being called the Galaxy's fleet coming to their aid in there hour of needs. Hang on did you say Emperor Palpatine…. Yes you heard me, Emperor Palpatine makes a surprise comeback and overall I personally thought the filmmakers handled his return well and gave the film much higher overall stakes and tied the prequel, original and sequel trilogies all together as one story.

The cast also did a good job, Daisy Ridley impresses as a full formed Jedi and Adam Driver continues to deliver a solid performance but in this film, it is really Carrie Fisher that mangers to steal the show. Sadly, before The Rise of Skywalker was even shot Carrie Fisher sadly passed away, but The Last Jedi left her story open, now this was always going to be tricky as to how the filmmakers would handle the situation. To my amazement they manage to give the character a fitting send off and also use modern CGI techniques and unused footage from both previous films to construct her own personal narrative that gives the character a worthy send-off whilst being respectful to Carrie Fisher.

Whilst The Rise of Skywalker was a certainly a fun and fitting ending to The Skywalker Saga and a celebration of all things Star Wars but the last episode does have its drawbacks. Personally I would have loved a more detailed explanation to how Emperor Palpatine survived his fall in The Return of the Jedi rather than it being rushed over and just thrown in there, this honestly could of been set up during the rest of the previous sequel films which would of made his return more powerful. We now know that he survived using essence transfer to a clone body to survive before he is able to bring Rey and Kylo Ren together to bring about his full resurrection. The film is also extremely fast paced, the film has a lot to cram into its runtime and doesn't hesitate to jump around to make sure it covers as much as possible to finish off the story.

A slight nit pick would be during the final battle of the film when Rey is contacted by the Jedi gone before here, whilst this is a lovely moment whereby we hear the voices of past Jedi not just from the films but also from The Clone Wars and Rebels TV series but in my opinion it would of been really nice to have actually seen the characters obviously in force ghost form but it would have been more impactful seeing them all physically come together to finally defeat the Sith.

Overall The Rise of Skywalker is a worthy entry into the Star Wars franchise and ties up the Skywalker saga nicely, obviously the film has its flaw at times but it is a fun and action packed film that will still keep you entertained.

Verdict:

4 out of 5 stars