Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – As the Resistance struggles to regroup after the events of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren teams up with the resurrected Emperor Palpatine, plotting to destroy all opposition with a newly raised army. Rey, Finn and Poe set off on a galaxy-spanning quest to locate the Emperor’s base and stop the attack before it‘s too late.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) – Director: J. J. Abrams

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61598068

Rating: 12

Running Length: 141 mins

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac

Genre: Science Fiction, Action/Adventure

REVIEW: ‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’

With the 9th film in the series, J. J. Abrams obviously feels the need to bring to a conclusion not only the new trilogy but also the entire run (to date) of Skywalker-centred Star Wars films. And this is perhaps the undoing of this episode: it’s a long, rushed, over-stuffed mess that tries to shoehorn in every character it can think of, pay homage to all its favourite sequences from previous films, and tie up every single dangling plot thread with a neat bow.

The cast are excellent, Ridley in particular, and a handful of scenes manage to offer us glimpses into the pasts and inner lives of Poe and Finn in their interactions with new characters Jannah and Zorii Bliss. But these quiet dialogue scenes are too few and far between, as the film races from one location and action scene to another without leaving us, or the characters, any time to breathe. This unrelenting pacing paradoxically makes the film feel very long and tiring; a blur of endless battles and garbled exposition.

Key plot points and character revelations offer a brief shock but then make no sense if you stop to think about them for a few seconds. Action scenes are messy and lack the clean, clear and inventive choreography evident in The Last Jedi and the earlier films. Even the lightsabre battles feel a little underwhelming, and the camerawork and editing are hyperactive and distracting. This is a shame as the effects and design work are as strong as ever and it would have been nice to be able to see some of it a bit more clearly.

Most upsetting is the way Abrams seems keen to undo some of the more interesting story choices made by Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi. At times it feels like he’s ignoring the previous episode altogether and making a direct sequel to his The Force Awakens. Particularly egregious is the complete side-lining of the character Rose Tico, who has so little to do in this film that she may as well not be there at all. Lando Calrissian gets more screen time, even though all he really does is show up and say “Hi! Remember me?”

There are some powerful moments here which will strike a chord with long time fans of the saga, especially during the final act, and the film works hard to tug at the heartstrings and leave you with a warm and fuzzy glow. It almost works. But there’s an overall feeling of déjà-vu, laziness and easy choices which make this episode something of a disappointment.

CONTENT: IS ‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The opening scene sees several characters mown down by Kylo Ren’s lightsabre, and at the end of the scene he is surrounded by corpses.

The Emperor’s headquarters is very dark and foreboding, and surrounded by thunderstorms. The lightning creates a lot of flashing light in these scenes, and the reveal of the Emperor’s decaying face and hands is staged like a horror film, and may be scary for small children.

In a cave a group of characters are threatened by a large serpent-like creature with large teeth.

A group of evil characters threaten others with guns and large bladed weapons, although we never really see them use these.

Stormtroopers threaten civilians who scream in protest. Later their planet is destroyed and it is implied, but not shown, that they all perished.

During lightsabre fight scenes some characters are killed by being stabbed through the torso. Later we see some detail of a wound in the flesh caused by this, but there is no blood.

One character appears to inadvertently cause the death of one of their friends, and seems very visible upset and guilty about it.

Rey has some blood on her face during later scenes, from injuries sustained while she was being thrown around by the Force.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’ FOR KIDS?

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ is a long and intense action adventure with a few scary and violent moments, but this is mostly suitable for children over the age of 8.

• Violence: 3/5 (some lightsabre and gun battles, dead bodies, some injury detail)
• Emotional Distress: 3/5 (characters distressed by the deaths of loved ones, or struggling with moral dilemmas)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (dark, spooky settings, loud sound effects, an undead character)
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (two brief kisses, one of them between two female characters)
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of parental abandonment, shock revelations about family and despair when fighting seemingly insurmountable odds.

Words by Simon Litton