Disney chose to release the digital version a few days early, and I took my time rewatching it last night. This is a fast, dense film, and it can’t all be taken in at once. It really does benefit from subsequent viewings, and it’s a great ending for the saga.
We live in an unfortunate time. Everyone confuses being edgy with being sophisticated. Given the cultural enormity of the franchise, everyone feels compelled to weigh in and glue their biases to it. The discourse around the new trilogy has run the gamut from selfish to surreal to downright ugly. Alt-right trolls complain about the inclusion of strong female characters, self-declared fanboys gripe that these aren’t the movies they would have made, and people with no real interest in the movies themselves have to graft political allegories to them.
It’s all really tiresome, and it all misses the mark. Star Wars isn’t meant to be high art. It’s entertainment, and it has always excelled at that. Disney has done a great job picking up the enthusiasm of the original trilogy, and that’s on full display here.
The Rise of Skywalker is J.J. Abrams directing a Star Wars movie. It moves at a mile a minute, the characters often yell their dialogue, and there’s plenty of lens flare. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but as he did with The Force Awakens, he tapped into the most important thing that made the original trilogy great: the ensemble cast.
The original movies were about a rebellion against a galactic empire. Yes, politics came up in passing, but we weren’t engaged by that. What mattered were Luke, Leia, and Han. We watched them grow as they faced adversity, and we wanted to see how their stories played out.
(This was the failure of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. We were treated to endless static discussions about taxation of trade routes and revolution, but the characters were wooden, and there was no emotional hook.)
The new trilogy isn’t about Luke, Leia, and Han. Sure, they’re here. Sure, they play important roles. But ultimately, it’s not their story anymore. Each of their deaths has gravity, but we’re meant to follow Rey, Kylo, Finn, and Poe. Abrams and Johnson made them fun and compelling characters, and for the most part, their respective arcs get resolution here.
Of particular interest is Rey’s relationship with Kylo. Kylo Ren is the most believable villain we’ve ever seen in Star Wars. Darth Vader was an implacable, menacing monster and the Emperor was a cackling Flash Gordon villain, but Ren has depth. He’s a flawed, confused child who’s been manipulated and lied to. And now he’s pretty much in charge. Spoiler: it doesn’t go well.
The last two movies played the Sam/Diane dynamic between them, and it comes together here. He killed his own father in the first film, and that’s not something you come back from, but he does at least find a measure of atonement. It’s not the ham-handed, preachy redemption of Darth Vader we saw in Return of the Jedi. I think he knows he’s beyond that. But he can redeem himself to one person, and that’s Rey. Abrams makes the scene bittersweet without belaboring the point, and we have resolution. Well done.
What doesn’t work is the idea that Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter. It’s not necessary, and it’s really jarring. After six other movies focusing on the Royal Skywalker Bloodline being the center of all things, I thought we had broken away from that. The Last Jedi explicitly stated that Rey was the descendant of absolutely nobody special, and that grants a certain freedom, both to her and to the story.
For some reason, Abrams chose to walk it back and make Rey part of another royal lineage. Not only does it make little sense (why would he not keep his children close, and oh sweet Lord, who slept with the Emperor?), it’s not needed. Rey could have no relation to him and still be of interest because of her power.
It’s annoying, but it doesn’t ruin anything. It’s not like the other movies don’t have their flaws.
Elsewhere, Poe drag-races the Falcon. Our heroes go to the intergalactic version of Burning Man and get in a desert chase. Finn yells a lot and acknowledges he also has a connection to the Force. Ian McDiarmid chews up the scenery as the bad guy, as he always does with such enthusiasm. Lando Calrissian gets the band back together, and there’s a big space battle. Everybody hugs for a few minutes.
And that’s Star Wars. I’m entertained. Everybody got together, put on a show, and it turned out just fine. Better, in fact. Disney has introduced a number of new concepts and ideas to the mythology, and they’ve kept true to the spirit of the films. I may not be the five-year-old who marveled at A New Hope in 1977, but I won’t deny still feeling a dose of that wonderment at the new movies.
So, in summary, lighten the $%&* up, trolls. Try to actually enjoy something for a change, and you’ll be rewarded.