Star Wars – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Runtime: 141 minutes
Star Wars has been a massive part of my life since I was a just a youngun’. As a child, I watched A New Hope so many times my mother’s VHS tape wore completely through. This should be enough context for my mindset when I go into these films, and if you have read any of my Star Wars related content in the past, you would further understand my affinity for this franchise. Early this morning, at 12:02am, I sat down to watch the supposed last instalment of the Skywalker saga: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Being tired after a long day that involved helping with bathroom renovations, dealing with tradesmen working on said renovations, and entertaining an old friend visiting from overseas, I nestled into my leather chair next to my partner in the reasonably good seats I was able to score for this particular screening and thought to myself – well this is it. Hopefully, J.J. doesn’t fuck it up.
This is where I’m going to briefly mention my opinions on The Last Jedi. The Last Jedi doesn’t suck, but it is not a good Star Wars movie. There are elements in the film that work and a lot that really don’t. I left that film back in 2017 perplexed, wrestling internally to form an opinion. I did not let the anger flow through me immediately, but slowly over time, it began to. Finally, it has come to this; after seeing The Rise of Skywalker, I am now fully committed to resenting the hell out of The Last Jedi. As The Rise of Skywalker begins I sit silently. I watch. I endeavour to take as much in as possible (and boy is there a lot to take in). The film finishes. I walk out. My head is racing… but this time, it was not struggling. Why? Because I enjoyed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The film is overflowing from the crawl to the end credits. Once it starts it does not stop. The pacing is intense; J.J. has packed so much lore, story, callbacks, and conclusions in its two-hours and twenty-minutes that there is very little room to breathe. Scenes come and go, the story is ever progressing. The intense pacing is inherent to my biggest criticism; there was little time for our heroes to take stock of their situation and develop their relationships. The film could have used an extra twenty to thirty minutes to give the more emotional scenes time to breathe and provide the heroes with some more quiet or contemplative moments, and I can’t help but feel a more cohesive second instalment of the trilogy may have satisfied that itch for relationship development. Brimming with ideas and content, you would be safe to think that the film’s plot may not have stuck the landing. I’m of the opinion that it did. Some may argue that it was safe… and it was. I will argue that even if it was safe… at least it was Star Wars.
The acting throughout The Rise of Skywalker is solid. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac look to be having the time of their lives here and both embody their best-friend relationship perfectly. Isaac, in particular, looks to be much more comfortable here than in the previous instalment. Adam Driver continues to carry the series with his excellent portrayal of Kylo Ren (the man really can do no wrong) and is once again the most interesting aspect of the modern canon. The only downfall comes in Daisy Ridley’s performance, which at times, can feel a bit wooden. She is not terrible by any means but does not stand out like her co-stars. J.J. Abrams direction is solid, with nothing bad or exceptional standing out to me… this facet may require a repeat viewing for me to delve into further. One thing that did stand out though were the effects, the combination of practical and CGI continues here and at no time did I ever stop to think, ‘that looks fake’ every puppet is brimming with detail and every starship looks like it could float into the earth’s orbit tomorrow.
Call me an apologist or a fanboy, and I gladly accept those labels—I enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker. My enjoyment didn’t flourish because it erased the previous instalment, but because it knew what it wanted to be and tried its hardest to do it. While this may have been the cause of pacing problems, in exchange, we received a film full to the brim of interesting ideas, scenes and characters, and all of it felt natural to the world it inhabited. J.J. Abrams came to this project wanting to make a Star Wars film and that is what he has achieved, picking up the weird mix of pieces left behind by the previous instalment. He has managed to weave together a story and conclusion that is solid, but ultimately flawed. If only his predecessor had played ball, and pitched ideas well enough that J.J. Abrams could have hit a home run.
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