Despite its awesome lightsaber duels and impressive visuals, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker can’t save itself from its disruptive Emperor-sized plot holes.
Overall Score: 5/10
Image: Lucasfilm / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
*WARNING: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*
The film starts by showing us Kylo Ren on his search for the recently returned Emperor Palpatine. The sequence proves to be relatively dark for a Star Wars movie (which I wish they had kept throughout the entire film *more on that later*) as it establishes that the Emperor somehow survived his “death” and has been behind the First Order the entire time. The Emperor then goes on to tell Kylo that he has prepared a new fleet called the Final Order and that Kylo can have it as long as he kills Rey, ending the sequence with an explanation that Rey is not who she seems.
While I admit that this particular scene was indeed terrifying, I couldn’t help but feel that too much was revealed too soon. One issue is that we finally find out who Snoke is, and, as it turns out, he was merely a clone! It was Palpatine pulling the strings the entire time. Since the release of The Force Awakens (TFA), Snoke was established as the replacement of sorts for Emperor Palpatine as he was completely shrouded in mystery despite heavily influencing that film’s plot. Then, The Last Jedi (TLJ) came out and completely obliterated him by having Kylo Ren slice Snoke in half (in what I consider a bold and conflicting move which ultimately pays off *more on this below*). Despite Snoke’s death being a controversial topic, The Rise of Skywalker (TROS) doesn’t do the character any justice as all it does is diminish his importance and purpose. Another issue I had with the opening sequence was the “big foreshadowing” of Rey’s true identity. It was hinted at when the Emperor laughs at Kylo’s question as to who Rey is, but I feel as if the effect of the reveal had fallen short. There was no dramatic “I am your father” reveal and I honestly feel that the entire subplot revolving around Rey and her family could have been explored in more depth.
This brings me to another issue. The Rise Of Skywalker seems to retcon a lot of the ideas established in The Last Jedi. Such is the case with the reveal that Rey is a Palpatine. In TLJ, we get an entire sequence devoted to Rey finding out who her parents were, only for it to end with her discovering that she and her parents are simply “nobodies.” The idea that anybody can become a Jedi is further cemented by the introduction of the “broom-boy” towards the end of the film. Now, while I honestly think that giving Rey a connection to another powerful household name in the Star Wars saga was a smart move, my initial reaction to this giant retcon was that it took away from everything The Last Jedi built towards. It doesn’t make any more sense when Kylo Ren reveals to Rey that she is a Palpatine; he claims that he’s seen inside her head and that she remembers more than she says. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t Kylo have known from the very moment he established his bond with Rey? Furthermore, if Rey truly remembered more than she said, why would she choose to keep the truth about her parents buried? Why go through all the trouble of finding out who her parents were, only to discover that she knew who she was all along? Likewise, Kylo’s development in TLJ is undone. I remember walking out of the theatre and realizing that the scene where Kylo destroys his mask was extremely powerful as it showed us that there was more to his character and that he was finally ready to step out of Darth Vader’s shadow. However, none of that development matters anymore as TROS simply throws all of that out of the window by giving Kylo his mask back (why would anyone want to keep a mask they had destroyed?). Sure, I suppose he does look cooler with his mask on, but it once again takes away from Kylo’s major character arc in TLJ.
Another major issue I have with The Rise Of Skywalker is that the first half of the movie felt utterly rushed and didn’t have the usual Star Wars “charm” to it. The only thing that came close to being Star Wars was a certain set of scenes involving Rey, accompanied by John William’s fantastic score (which unfortunately couldn’t save the film’s early moments). Also, a lot of the sequences seemed dragged out or unnecessary. For instance, after our first scene with the Resistance, in which Poe and Finn are fleeing from the First Order via the Millennium Falcon (with news of a spy in the First Order), the duo are joined by Rey back on the Resistance’s base. As our heroes greet each other and catch up, the situation quickly escalates into a not so vicious argument between Poe and Rey. I admit I was utterly confused at first as the film seemed to be hinting at the possibility that Poe and Rey were in a relationship. This notion was dropped, however, with no more confusing dialogue which would have led to the wrong conclusion. I also feel that the first half of the movie contained more than a few scenes that were unable to successfully tug at my emotions. A prime example of this is when Rey, Finn, and Poe run into Lando Calrissian, who is still active. What should have been a heart-warming scene ended up falling flat on every level. Lando’s return to the franchise should have been a more impactful one.
It wasn’t until the second half of the film that I started to feel that The Rise Of Skywalker was a true Star Wars film. The moment when Leia reaches out to Kylo and ends up dying in the process is truly beautiful. Given the creative team behind TROS had limited footage of Carrie Fisher, they were able to pull off a memorable and well-executed farewell scene for Leia. This is accompanied by a powerful follow-up scene of a grieving and ultimately shocked Kylo Ren — who is then paid a surprise visit by none other than Han Solo (in the form of a memory). By remembering what both his mother and father stood for, Kylo is fully redeemed and returns to the Light.
After leaving Kylo on the ruins of The Death Star (which he somehow manages to get off of), Rey takes his TIE Fighter and lands it on Ahch-To in hopes of exiling herself, much like Luke did in The Last Jedi. The next few moments are shared between Rey and Luke, who is now a force ghost, as he tells her that hope is not lost. Luke then proceeds to show Rey Leia’s lightsaber and we’re given a delightful flashback scene where Luke and Leia are training together (through the wonderful use of CGI). Rey is then told to take both lightsabers with her as she boards Luke’s old X-Wing and heads for Exogol. At the same time, Rey’s allies back on the Resistance’s base receive the coordinates to Exogol from her and they all follow her there for one last mission.
As the film rolls into its third and final act, the Resistance starts its attack on the Final Order, only for several of its own to be gunned down. An issue I had throughout the film is that the Resistance didn’t feel important. Did they play a vital role in the movie? They sure did! But that doesn’t change the fact that they only seemed to be in the film for the sake of having a rebellion. Their lack of significance, I felt, was best illustrated during the final battle, and perhaps that was due to a huge lack of screen time. And to make matters worse, Lando (who is surprisingly absent from most of the film) swoops in at the last moment to “save the day” in the most unspectacular and uninspiring fashion. It’s as if the filmmakers had seen the “Avengers Assemble” or "Portal" sequence from Avengers: Endgame and thought that it was a good idea to try and copy that without any proper buildup or payoff.
Meanwhile, Rey comes face to face with her evil grandfather, the Emperor, who wants her to kill him in a fit of rage so that he can pass his spirit on to her (creepy stuff). He finally convinces her by telling her that this is the only way she can save her friends. Unknown to Palpatine, however, Kylo Ren, now Ben, has arrived on Exogol and is making his way to the room where the Emperor and Rey are. Along the way, Ben stumbles across his former followers, the Knights of Ren, who then attack him. As Ben is beaten to the ground, Rey prepares herself to kill the Emperor. It is at this moment that they acknowledge each other’s presence and, in what may be one of my favorite scenes, Rey passes her lightsaber to Ben, who goes on to defeat the Knights of Ren one by one. Thinking back, while I do love this scene, it’s kind of a shame to see another group of mysterious figures killed off so easily. The Knights of Ren don’t seem to have a purpose in TROS other than helping Ben earlier on in the film (as he searches for Rey) and stopping him from getting to the Emperor. Furthermore, Rey and Ben now have, for some reason, the ability to pass objects to one another through the Force. Why and how they are able to do this is never explained on-screen, and while the ability is cool, one can’t overlook the fact that too many new Force-related abilities are introduced in TROS without much explanation.
During the final battle, Rey and Ben team up against the Emperor. Ben, unfortunately, is struck down, leaving Rey to stand on her own. Palpatine sinisterly proclaims that he is “all the Sith,” to which Rey replies, “I am all the Jedi.” Hmmm… again with the Avengers: Endgame similarities *facepalm*. The Emperor dies, the Final Order is destroyed, yada yada yada… The film then ends with Rey, now equipped with a yellow lightsaber, who declares herself “Rey Skywalker.” Right…
The film, unfortunately, suffers from a lot, with one of the key negative factors being an overload of underdeveloped characters. All the new characters seem to have very minor contributions to the bigger story, and the already established ones are either left unexplored or given new backstories (which don’t make that much sense and don’t add to the characters themselves). Such is the case with Poe Dameron and the revelation that he was once a “spice-smuggler.” Does this come as a surprise? Yes? Maybe? No? Does this do the character and his initial lack of development any justice? That’s definitely a big fat NO. Unfortunately, none of the other supporting cast members are any better off. Rose is limited to only a few minutes of screen time, and General Hux, played by the talented but sadly underrated Domhnall Gleeson, falls victim to the same fate that befell Captain Phasma in TLJ. In both cases, we’re given a character that has potential, but he or she is then weighed down by weak development and poor explanations for certain actions. I don’t know why they decided to make General Hux the spy, let alone have a spy in the movie at all. The only thing I remember him doing is helping our heroes escape, before being killed by another general (who is another character that just pops out of nowhere). Hux’s reason for helping the Resistance? Something along the lines of “I only want to see Kylo Ren lose.” We know that these two characters have never really seen eye-to-eye, but a sub-plot of this nature certainly deserves more development. And finally, we have Finn. The former stormtrooper turned resistance-fighter has always been teased to have some sort of connection to the Force (he was able to defend himself briefly in TFA) and TROS finally solidifies this theory. In certain scenes, Finn states that he knows what to do just by having a “feeling.” However, none of this is actually confirmed (which is a shame), and a lot of Finn’s screen time is spent teasing the fact that he has something to tell Rey. Whatever it is that Finn wanted to say, the film never elaborates. Was it a declaration of his undying love? Seems unlikely at this point. The most likely scenario is that Finn was going to tell Rey that he has a connection to the Force. Sadly, we may never find out what it was Finn was going to say. To further complicate things, we’re introduced to a whole new set of rogue stormtroopers who, like Finn, defected simply due to an “instinct.” This takes away from Finn’s development in The Force Awakens as the previous films depicted him as someone who chose to defy the cause he was raised and trained to serve. What does this mean? Is Finn no longer special?
Some may argue that the original trilogy also suffered from the same problem. Take, for example, Boba Fett! When did parts 4, 5, and 6 ever explore his background? All those movies did was establish the fact that he was a bounty hunter! But the thing is, times have changed and modern audiences simply expect more. Characters like Boba Fett were left unexplored because each movie set out to tell a simple narrative and audiences back then felt that those characters had served their purposes in each story. However, this clearly does not apply to the new trilogy as each film has introduced massive storylines which require lots of explaining. And in the grand scheme of things, supporting characters who are introduced and left unexplored often leave audiences unsatisfied and wanting more.
Another thing is why and how did the Emperor return? Is he a clone? Or did he somehow survive his fatal fall? Would that explain why he’s hooked up to life support? Also, who are his followers? Where did all the new Star Destroyers come from? Where did the giant army of Generals, Officers, and Sith Troopers come from? Were they cloned? Are they what’s left of the original Empire? Sure, perhaps all of these questions can be explained away in the novelization of TROS, but a good movie should not have to rely on additional media/books to explore its unresolved plot lines.
While I could sit here and nitpick all the plot holes and flaws in TROS all day, it would be unfair to deny the movie credit where it’s due. All negatives aside, the film does accomplish a certain amount of good things. The action sequences are pretty cool and fun to watch, and the acting is almost always on point (with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver serving as strong and powerful leads). It’s a shame that the last entry in the Skywalker saga ended up being a messy and undercooked movie, but The Rise of Skywalker manages to hit all the right spots in most of its dramatic moments and redefines the new trilogy’s overall tone by going dark.
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