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This, the third episode of the third “Star Wars” trilogy, brings the saga that
began more than four decades ago to a close, resolving the plotlines of its two
immediate predecessors—and the nine-movie series as a whole—while creating a
springboard for inevitable continuations and spin-offs. What else would you
expect from a picture that Disney is banking on to ensure a long future for one
of its most important franchises?
As you might remember, “The Last Jedi,” which split Star Wars fandom rather
badly, ended with the surviving members of the Resistance, led by heroic Rey
(Daisy Ridley) and Princess (or General) Leia (Carrie Fisher), on the run from
the evil First Order, the leadership of which had been seized by Han Solo and
Princess Leia’s wayward son Ben, aka Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who patterned
himself after Darth Vader.
But there’s a wild card in the deck: as the usual opening crawl informs us,
mysterious broadcasts have announced the return of Emperor Palpatine (Ian
McDiarmid), who was supposedly killed by Darth Vader in “The Return of the Jedi”
back when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was just a youngster; he’s rebuilding
Sith power and plans to restore his dark rule. The reports turn out to be true,
and Palpatine, with his lightning-launching fingers and maniacal cackling, turns
out to be a major figure here—so much so that a more appropriate subtitle for
the movie might be “The Emperor Strikes Back.”
Palpatine’s pretensions to dominance irk Kylo Ren, who determines to seek him
out and destroy him. Simultaneously the Resistance, as decimated as it is,
launches a mission to find Palpatine too, with Rey and its head but also
including ace pilot Poe (Oscar Isaac), ex-Storm Trooper Finn (John Boyega),
Wookie Chewbacca (Jonas Suotamo) and chatty android C3-PO (Anthony Daniels).
Their goal—to find the elusive planet Exogol where Palpatine lords it over his
Sith disciples—is complicated by their pursuit by Kylo Ren and his forces, among
whom Dohmnall Gleeson and Richard E. Grant are the most notable officers,
Generals Hux and Pryde. It’s also derailed by the fact that their only solid
clue is written in the Sith language that C3-PO can read but is programmed not
to translate, which requires a detour to a dangerous planet where the mechanical
man’s system can be rewired, with major side effects, to reveal the message.
In working out these various juxtaposed plot threads, the movie becomes a
succession of elaborate action sequences, including some light-saber face-offs
between Rey and Kylo Ren that are pretty spectacular, if not unfamiliar. The
effects throughout the breathless series of chases, explosions and air battles
are fine, though perhaps not quite as impressively grandiose overall as the ones
that filled “The
Last Jedi.” An added benefit is a series of appearances by old
friends—some in the form of ghostly apparitions (always impeccably timed to save
things at a critical juncture, of course)—but in the case of Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Carlrissian and Fisher’s Leia Organa, still very much alive although the
actress had actually passed away before shooting commenced (dialogue filmed for
previous installments but unused has been skillfully employed to create a
performance, though in a few instances stand-ins were obviously employed).
These—and one uncredited cameo—are undoubtedly designed to fulfill the
nostalgia-fueled expectations of faithful fans.
There’s also a genealogical revelation intended to be as much of a shock as the
famous one at the close of “The Empire Strikes Back,” as well as more than the
usual quota of reversals, double-crosses, hair’s-breadth escapes and dramatic
self-sacrifices. Expect also the obligatory moment when Rey decides to abandon
her destiny; the character who recalls her to her sense of duty trumpets a line
that seems to be something of a rebuke by Abrams to narrative choices made by
Rain Johnson in “The Last Jedi”—decisions to which many fans vociferously objected.
The culmination of all the hullabaloo, of course, is twofold. One part is a
confrontation with Palpatine in his gloomy, cavernous throne room, an
amphitheatre where he’s apparently surrounded perpetually by an army of cheering
acolytes (the crowd looks enormous in distant CGI shots, less so in the rather
puny close-ups). Whom he’s facing will not be revealed here, but McDiarmid
certainly takes the opportunity to have the once (and perhaps future) emperor
chew the scenery with unmitigated glee.
Then there’s the complementary battle in the sky between Palpatine’s vast armada
and the ragtag group of fighters on the Resistance side. Will our heroes be able
to overcome the might of the planet-destroying starships? Will reinforcements
arrive in time, or at all? What do you think? You can’t say that Abrams and
co-writer Chris Terrio haven’t aimed to hit all the bases in their summing-up
project.
To compensate, Abrams, abetted by his editors Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube,
adopt an almost relentlessly hectic pace, complete with some of those
old-fashioned wipes, hoping that the kinetic energy will distract you from any
such trivial concerns, and it mostly works. He also benefits from sterling
efforts by the crafts team—production designers Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins,
costumer Michael Kaplan and cinematographer Dan Mindel, as well as the huge team
of special-effects artisans. And washing over the sumptuous visuals is the
equally luxurious score by John Williams, which calls on his iconic themes to
enhance every scene.
Abrams also gets committed performances from his cast, especially Ridley, who
has to do most of the heavy dramatic lifting, and Driver, who tries to bring
some real anguish to the conflicted Kylo Ren. Except for McDiarmid, whose
outlandish villainy would make Ming the Merciless envious, the others give
mostly utilitarian performances, though it’s amusing to see Grant doing what
amounts to a snooty homage to Peter Cushing.
Despite all the efforts of cast and crew, “The Rise of Skywalker” doesn’t
recapture the almost magical vibe that “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes
Back” did in their time. But it’s really unrealistic to expect it to. With those
films George Lucas initiated a retro type of Hollywood storytelling, refreshed
with up-to-date technical wizardry, that’s now become the norm: every tent pole
movie the studios turn out unrelentingly today is a descendent of “Star Wars.”
Does “The Rise of Skywalker” ultimately stick the landing, both as a conclusion
to the recent trilogy and to the entire saga as a whole? I guess so. It is
easily the least of the current trilogy—it lacks the balance of excitement and
nostalgia of “The Force Awakens” and it never shows the daring and nerve that
helped make “The Last Jedi,” the best entry in the series since “The Empire
Strikes Back.” As a conclusion to the trilogy, it is undeniably messy and
sometimes frustrating but it has been made with skill and on some basic level,
it brings the storyline to a reasonably satisfying ending, which is more than I
can say about “Return of the Jedi.” As to its position in the series as a whole,
it probably lands somewhere in the middle—it doesn’t come close to approximating
the greatness of “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “The Last Jedi” or
“Rogue One” but the franchise has hit far greater depths than this one. Of
course, there will almost certainly be more “Star Wars” films in the future and
it will be interesting to see how they unfold now that the Skywalker storyline
has officially come to a conclusion.
One can’t blame Abrams for not being able to duplicate the spirit of juvenile
rediscovery that seemed fresh in 1977. What he’s delivered is a thoroughly
proficient if rather mechanical capstone to a series that, despite its ups and
downs, captured the imagination of generations of movie-goers.
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