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Star Wars-The Rise of Skywalker: It's a Trapppp!

Updated: Jan 30, 2023


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Let's adress the huge whale in the room. The last Star Wars Trilogy has been a weak ride. The Last Jedi was a movie which left the fandom rived and confused. Star Wars was going in a direction never chartered before. For the first time since A New Hope the franchise was at a crossroad: pursue a new way or repeat the same formula again. Rian Johnson cornered Disney by killing the main antagonist and setting the protagonist on a arch of possible corruption. Theories came from all over the grid: Rey turning to the dark side and Kylo Ren redeeming himself, a greater presence of force ghosts, Rey being a clone, the Skywalker of the title not being a person but maybe a group of them and the balance being finally brought to the force. The fact was that there was a lot of pressure on LucasFilm and Disney to deliver a satisfying ending could have been what doomed this chapter and the faith of a multitude of fans. I don't know, it's hard to defend something so rotten, flawed and dumbily constructed.


PLOT

"The surviving members of the Resistance face the First Order once again, and the legendary conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches its peak, bringing the Skywalker saga to its end" or "It's like The Return of the Jedi ugly copy with worse characters and nonsensical sequence of events".


SCRIPT

Where do I start? The characters development is down the drain. Poe Dameron is there as a supposed Rebels Leader but he doesn't seems able to fill the void left by Leia Organa, caused by the actress premature death. He's given a "love interest" by introducing a forgettable character, who is trifling for the plot. Finn has disappeared in the background since the second outing. Here he's even more useless. He's a broken record who says with tedious redundance the frase "Rey, I have to tell you something..." or "Rey, you have to know something...". Overall he runs around shouting the name of other characters in a comedic way. He's also given "someone to love" after five minutes of interaction in a former female stormtrooper who rides horned horses. Her character is a blatant gender swap of Finn. I was forgetting, she is necessary to defeat the First Order by destroying a freaking battleship on horseback. Lando Calrissian is there for fan service and to be the deus ex machina in the climax(which is a copycat of Avengers: Endgame). Palpatine appears out of nowhere without the proper introduction and is used as a nostalgia's bait. He's supposed to be a clone but no one ever teased it. He's overpowered and his connection to Rey make you ask yourself a lot of dirty questions. He isn't the same as the previous trilogies or Clone Wars, but he seems a strong dumb down of a sharp character because he doesn't have a clear plan and prefer to change it as he likes. He also has a multitude of, like, followers who aren't explained and hides an army of Star Destroyer armed with Death Star technology. The last point is bonkers because it makes the movie seems more like a kid playing with action figures and models, rather than a fully grown man trying to conquest the galaxy. Rey could have been the second best character but she's wasted. She's overpowered and has Jedi powers which came out of the blue, something that makes Luke and Kenobi seems like Force's newbies. Kylo Ren, who is the best character in this crap, is screwed badly by the writers. At first he seems embracing his new role as Supreme Leader but he gave it up in the first minutes to Palpatine, who's supposed to kill. He becomes good in the end but his turn is too swift. Oh, yeah, in the last act he kisses Rey, to satisfy the fan fictioners and give a middle finger to who thought that he was going the main villain in the next trilogy. There're also the Knights of Ren, the dreadful order of Kylo Ren, who are easily defeated, reducing them to a joke. There's too much to write about here. A multitude of plot holes, characters who used to be relevant that now are sidelined, story archs unresolved, a Macguffin which is pretty convenient,....Too much to handle for a review.


Script: 1/10


ACTING

The cast does a good job with what it's given. Adam Driver is the usual star which shines over the others. It's hard to find something bad about it, even though the actors seems bored by the script. There isn't the same passion as The Force Awakens and all seems extremely forced.


Acting: 7/10


PHOTOGRAPHY

It's good but there's nothing interesting about it. Some scenes are well shot but the symbolism, although is lightly used, doesn't have a purpose. I find boring and redundant the fact that the villain has to be shot with a flash light or in darkness. You'll think that Palpatine is a DJ in a night club. The Lat Jedi was flawed but it was original, not like this one which seems a clear corporate product.


Photography: 5/10


EDITING

It's enough to say that technically is a decent movie. Fortunately the director didn't create a Star Wars: Holiday Special' s level work. As the photography, this is acceptable but he's boring. Usual slow motion, zoom ins and thing like that which are characteristic of the director's like.


Editing: 6/10


SPECIAL EFFECTS

The cgi is top notch but it's easy with that budget. Nothing really juicy is done with them so it's just a sufficient section. They could've done much better but risk isn't a thing of this movie.


Special Effects: 7/10


SOUNDTRACK

John Williams is a Star Wars staple and deliver a remarkable job. Even though he isn't tasked with doing something new with the theme, this is the strongest section of the movie. It's kinda sad that this was the last movie of Williams because his talent has been wasted for such a bad movie.


Soundtrack: 8/10


COSTUMES

Usual high quality. There're some good looking designs which aren't used as much, like the Knights of Ren and others creatures. They're good but it's a Star Wars staple and it's hard to say that's unexpected or ground-breaking.


Costumes: 7/10


CONCLUSION

Script: 1/10

Acting: 7/10

Photography: 5/10

Editing: 6/10

Special Effects: 7/10

Soundtrack: 8/10

Costumes: 7/10

AVERAGE: 5,85


Avoid it if you've been a Star Wars fan since the first movie. Even though is good looking by a technical standpoint, it presents a crappy script which collapses the movie and ruin the fandom. As a movie without context is below mediocre and it doesn't reward its audience while trying to be like other successful movies. I advise you to see it with a liter of alcohol on your side and friends because you can have a good time watching a "so bad it's good movie". This is the worst Star Wars movie if you don't consider the Holiday Special. This is Disney and LucasFilm barrel's bottom. Someone will save them, fortunately.



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Director: J. J. Abrams

Screenplay: J. J. Abrams, Chris Terrio

Cast: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong'o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams

Soundtrack: John Williams

Cinematography: Dan Mindel

Running Time: 142 minutes

Budget: $275 million










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