Star Wars comes to an end with a show of Force
If Star Wars has to end, not that we want it to, Abrams’s grand finale is as good a way as any
As General Leia Organa, the late Carrie Fisher gets most of the best lines in The Rise of Skywalker. “Never underestimate a droid.” “Never be afraid of who you are.” And the ever-hopeful directive: “Tell me when you get back.” Between that and the occasional force-ghost, they might have been better off calling it Episode IX: The Dead Speak!
So where are we in this, the final chapter of the saga? Well, Kylo (Adam Driver) and the Knights who say Ren are scouring the galaxy for more potent evil power. Good news on that front; no giant killer space station in this one. The First Order has finally learned its lesson, and I half expected the soundtrack to include that ol’ Endor-ian folk song The Wreck of The Emperor’s Death Star.
Meanwhile, Poe and Finn (Oscar Isaac, John Boyega) are trying to make contact with a mole within the First Order, while Rey (Daisy Ridley) continues her Jedi training. There’s a lot of fast cutting from one narrative thread to another — I believe the technical term is lightspeed skipping — but what else can you do? It’s a big galaxy.
The Rise of Skywalker marks the return of J.J. Abrams as director, after Rian Johnson took the reins for Episode VIII. This gives the film an emotional, as well as a narrative, consistency with 2015’s The Force Awakens. In fact, one could almost skip the middle movie, though at the risk of missing out on the badass
Holdo manoeuvre, which is still spoken of in hushed tones in this chapter. Gripe all you like about George Lucas and his Gungans and Midichlorians (neither of which returns here) but there’s something to be said for a singular authorial voice running through a trilogy.
And speaking of continuity, John Williams’ score does little that’s new, but makes great use of the series’ themes at all the right moments. I particularly enjoyed his callback to “Music to Lift an X-wing Fighter Out of a Swamp to,” from The Empire Strikes Back.
The plot this time resembles an intra-galactic treasure hunt. The Resistance is looking for a fabled world called Exogol, and they need a Sith Wayfinder — basically an evil GPS — to locate it. This leads them first to a desert planet where you can find almost anything; I think it’s called Kijiji. Exogol, by the way, is a whole new biome — in a galaxy full of sand planets and ice planets and water planets, this one’s all lightning all the time. Perfect for evil lairs and nefarious plotting.
The film introduces a few new characters. There’s D-O, the requisite cute droid, who looks like a hair dryer riding a unicycle. Keri Russell (recognizable by her voice) plays Zorii Bliss, a masked character from Poe’s shady past. And Richard E. Grant is marvellous as the First Order’s Allegiant General Pryde. Allegiant
General? Somebody promote this guy to Grand Moff!
Oh, and there’s a tiny droid mechanic by the name of Babu Frik, who does some work on C-3PO that I’m certain voids his warranty. Babu is also the nearest thing to a Baby Yoda (or indeed any Yoda) in this movie.
But for the most part we follow Rey and Poe and Finn and Chewbacca in their quest to right wrongs and stop the machinations of the First Order, which is now calling itself — rather pessimistically if you ask me — the Final Order. And while I won’t be revealing any questions of parentage, rest assured the film will do so by the end.
Was it worth the wait? On the one hand, probably not.
After all, what mere movie can satisfy the urgings of a hundred million fans over the 42 years since the first film premièred? But this Star Wars devotee teared up twice during the action, and almost a third time in the final scene.
And if you’d asked the fans in 1977 how we wanted it to end, you’d have been met with blank stares. We never wanted it to end.
And in a very real way, it never will. Disney’s Mandalorian continues, and the studio will no doubt green light future films, some better than others.
No, we never wanted it to end. But if it had to, this is as good a way as any.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens across the galaxy Thursday.