Star Wars. The Rise of Skywalker. Review.

There was a viral tweet that people were making fun of recently where a person claimed that in order to be a real Star Wars fan you needed to invest time i’m in a lot of extra curricular Star Wars material (books comics video games etc) to be a Star Wars fan. The tweet didn’t seem to acknowledge anything beyond this stance and was a very easy target as a result. If I was to guess a large chunk of the audience have a lot invested in the films as something they grew up with but will have little to no knowledge when it comes to extended universe stuff. On the next level dwnso you have someone like me who has seen all the films but doesn’t have any particular emotional attachment to them. That said I call out terrible films when I see them regardless of franchise or emotional attachment and The Rise of Skywalker is absolutely atrocious.
I enjoyed The Force Awakens. It was a straightforward and fun space adventure. I appreciated The Last Jedi’s ambition but I don’t think it entirely works and it has one of the most misjudged endings I’ve ever seen (Star Wars or otherwise.) That said after Rise of Skywalker i’d like to apologise for every criticism I gave The Last Jedi. Never have I seen a film so willing to bend over backwards for an endless parade of fan service and yet feel so Hollow and devoid of any heart or soul. It’s the filmic equipment of being pestered by a marketing executive for 140 minutes whose one stock response to every question asked of him is “here is something else you might like.” it’s laughably written and the plotting is absolutely all over the place. It looks as slick as ever for a Disney era Star Wars film and the cast is trying their best with the dreadful for material but I honestly felt sorry for them because with the exception of Daisy Ridley (if the ending is anything to go by) why this will likely be their final foray into the Star Wars universe. I honestly found the film insufferable and it’s the kind of thing that I can only imagine Star Wars super fans defending. A friend of mine compared it to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (second time that play has been mentioned in a review I will post this week) and on a script level he is absolutely right. Both are misshapen, horrendously plotted,fanfic style disasters that use copious amounts of hollow fan service to paper over the cracks.
The Rise of Skywalker offers an embarrassing ending to the sequel trilogy that make you want to apologise for any criticisms might have had of the first two films. It makes you you feel sorry for the cast and creatives who may never get the opportunity to work on a franchise of the scale again. Unless you are a die-hard Star Wars fan avoid like the plague.
3/10