Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (Some spoilers at the end: will WARN)

REVENGE!!!

It hits the screen in bold print, and the big spoiler is that the Emperor is back and he intends to burn the entire galaxy to a cinder. Everyone is afraid, the Resistance is desperate, and Kylo Ren is on the hunt for the man who could threaten his power. After having been written into a corner by Rian Johnson, JJ Abrams is forced to rush several answers to The Force Awakens lingering questions: Who is Snoke? Well, there are a couple dozen "Snoke" clones rotting in a few vats. What secrets did Vader promise Kylo Ren? No, it was the Emperor. Who is pulling all the strings here? It's the Phantom Menace himself, who Kylo meets within the film's opening moments. How did he survive? I think the real question is whether he really did survive... I'm not even sure that's an important matter when telling the story here. He is back.

Rey, meanwhile, has continued her training with Leia. In what, to me, was one of the more awkward disappointments in the film- Leia's footage is obviously cobbled together from unused footage taken during The Force Awakens. There's no way of getting around this: It's not the performance she would have delivered and the actors were trapped acting opposite footage that was clearly meant for other scenes.

But all is not awkward cuts and pulpy returns- Finn, Poe, and Rey must race to find Palpatine, and to do that they need a device, and to find the device they have to race across the Galaxy. The cast is on a mission in a last second leap to save the galaxy. And, I'll be honest, I wish we had this character dynamic to play with earlier in this new trilogy.  I like these three- they have humor, compassion, warmth, and a general sense of camaraderie. And Rey is faced with setbacks, trauma, and an actual character arc in this film!

The relationship between Rey and Kylo is the statement that this film tries to make. The effect they have on one another, the reason they are drawn to one another, and I thought it worked. I thought it was built throughout the film and was one of the few things that wasn't rushed for the sake of making up for lost time. And, I may be a sucker, but the film's finale- from the battle in the upper atmosphere of a planet to the battle below, was pure pulp goodness and made me happy.

8 out of 10




*****



SPOILERS





*****

There is a lot of seedy hate on this film. The last film pretty much divided the fandom straight down the middle and I thought it wrote the third film into a corner. But this film does attempt to course correct on many of the things Rian Johnson did WRONG. A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect, an actual arc for Rey and some reason why she is being pulled so strongly by the darkside, the importance of actual STAKES when it comes to the First Order, some kind of answer on who Snoke was supposed to be, a general sense of respect for the fans of both previous trilogies.

Also: Neither my wife or son picked up on this- But did ANYONE pick up that Finn and the rebelling Stormtroopers were all Force Sensitive? They planted that seed way back in TFA, but it finally saw some fruit in this movie. But my wife didn't pick up on it and it may have been too subtle- drop a line if you picked up on this. I'd like to know if I'm not the only one. 

Okay, there's a lot of negativity online about this movie and a bunch of Frequently Made Complaints. So I thought I'd offer my perspective on many of them.

1. No, this does not attempt to wash away, erase, or in any way diminish the legacy of OT or the destiny of Vader. Anakin Skywalker brought balance to the Force. He destroyed the Jedi, he destroyed the Sith, and he destroyed the Emperor. His return does not diminish those acts or that trilogy and Rey is NOT the "chosen" one. Her story is not of Destiny fulfilled, but that of Destiny denied.

2. "shipping"- I hate that phrase. But let's address it here- Rey and Kylo were drawn to one another since the first film and his eventual redemption had to have a pay-off. Did I want them to have a relationship? Wouldn't have bothered me if they didn't- but I'm also not going to shit on this story arc because it makes sense from the threads begun in TFA.

3: "shipping vol.2" - I still hate that phrase- WHY THE HELL DID ANYONE THINK POE AND FINN SHOULD BE A COUPLE?!?!! Two guys can have a perfectly fine relationship of respect and friendship without sex being involved. So could two people of the opposite sex. It doesn't actually serve the story- so why? Whatever... I wish the film had closed with the two of them holding hands as the twin suns set in the distance. But I'm a softy.

4. The Return of the Emperor: Did you know that George Lucas did Star Wars because he couldn't do Flash Gordon? Did you know that Emperor Ming was killed at the end of each Serial before finally being killed for good in the last serial? You know why? Because he's Ming the Merciless!!! Star Wars isn't Shakespeare in the Park... this is based on serials and pulp space opera so expect bad guys to come back when they're thrown down dark tunnels. Also... sorry, not sorry, a fucking planet of goddamn SITH clones???

5. "Representation"- It's a word that was kind of flung out there and is getting some traction regarding a kiss between a homosexual couple in the film's final moments. Some people are upset that it's happening at all (Those are homophobes) and others feel as though it's mere tokenism. I don't really have a horse in this race- but I will say that the character was a major supporting character in the past two films and a high ranking member of the Resistance. Doing a brief google search on the actress, I'm pretty sure she is very proud to have been shown providing that representation in the Star Wars universe and I don't think people need to be kissing every moment to show that they are, in fact, homosexual. (Side story; a gay friend of mine in a play we were in was told to act "more gay", to his shock and astonishment and lamented "Should I suck someone's dick or something?".)

***

Not a perfect film, but enjoyable. But I did have one lingering question when a certain actor popped up as if he had been in the trilogy the whole time... "Get that fucking hobbit out of my Star Wars!"