I understand and accept the criticisms because they are valid, but I enjoyed it nonetheless – Me, December 20, 2019.
In light of the return of the final movie in the sequel trilogy to Philippine cinemas tomorrow. I’m going to post this late (and I do mean late) review of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.
First off, I have to admit that considering the divisive nature of the sequel movies, I came in the cinema checking my brain at the door. This means that I just came in wanting to see how the sequel ends. I also wanted a few resolutions and loose ends tied since The Last Jedi.
The strategy worked. While the movie had tons, and I do mean tons of things I would normally scratch my head in confusion, or in frustration. Checking my brain at the door was the right move to fully enjoy the piece to the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
With J.J. Abrams at the helm for the last movie, I expected tons of callbacks from previous movies or parallelisms from Return of the Jedi. Since this was his already signature directing style considering his forays into the other “Star” themed reboot.
I was a bit off with the assumption.
It seemed that Rise of Skywalker was more of a cameo fest rather than a recreation of RotJ. This is a good thing, for me. Considering how much Rian Johnson‘s take on the Galaxy Far Far Away caused brain aneurysms to the loyal Star Wars fanbase. Abram‘s final movie at least allowed those who are still looking for some semblance of the Star Wars universe they fell in love with in the last movie.
Of course for others, that’s not enough. But for me it worked.
Taking into consideration a ton of deux ex machinas Abrams did to make the story move forward, Rise of Skywalker felt like the Star Wars I fell in love with.
As a backgrounder, I never thought the Star Wars movies as a cohesive storytelling masterpiece. Star Wars was always a fun romp into the universe Far, Far, Away where people with light swords are able to deflect laser blasts. Where a ragtag group of rebels was able to bring an expansive empire to it’s heels. Or an actual empire trusting it’s identured scientists being able to provide it’s flagship world destroying weapon without having a hilariously stupid weak point.
That’s what Rise of the Skywalker brought back which was for me felt missing from the first two films.
Was Rise of the Skywalker a good movie? It’s passable at best. But is it a fun movie? It unequivocally is.
Should you watch Rise of the Skywalker? If you want to remember what made Star Wars a fun movie to begin with, then yes, you should. But if you can’t get past the clear and obvious problems the movie had to use to complete the saga and the story, then I would suggest you wait for the release either in Disney+ or in Netflix (or whichever streaming service the movie will come out on.) than investing of going to the cinema.
Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker comes back to Philippine cinemas today. Go out and watch it.
Writers Note: Thank you Lenovo for the blocked screening last December 20, 2019.