Released a year ago today,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerwas endlessly hyped in the pre-release build up. This wasn’t just the conclusion of the so-called sequel trilogy, which started with 2015’sStar Wars: The Force Awakensand continued with 2017’sStar Wars: The Last Jedi, all of the marketing materials reminded us, but was rather the spectacular finale to the entireStar Warssaga. (Movies likeRogue OneandSoloweren’t canonically “saga” tales; they wereStar Wars Stories.) Admittedly, that’s a lot of weight to rest on one movie’s shoulders, especially a movie that had a notoriously difficult production that saw the original director (Colin Trevorrow) fired during pre-production and his script almost entirely thrown out, only to be replaced byForce AwakensfilmmakerJ.J. Abramsand the screenwriter behind the abominableJustice League. Sure, they were in a tough spot, but movies have survived lofty expectations and changes in leadership before. After all, this was meant to be a victory lap, a way of tying up loose ends and ending the mainStar Warsfeatures in a place that felt emotionally satisfying and creatively dynamic.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. A year after its release,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerremains a low point for theStar Warsfranchise and for big budget filmmaking in general. As it turns out, the saga didn’t end with a bang, but instead closed out with a whimper.
WatchingStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeragain, which isn’t something that I’drecommend, exactly, you’re able to still feel yourself getting tricked into thinking that maybe you’d missed something the first time. That the movie will, like some other films, reveal itself to be more complicated and lovable than you initially expected. Maybe you just didn’t see it the first time because you were so caught up in what it wassupposed to bethat you didn’t appreciate it for what itwas. Even though there were things that tripped my Spidey senses in the pre-release materials (whydid they need to bring back the Emperor?), I was still optimistic. I lovedStar Warsand firmly believe that the previous saga installmentThe Last Jediis a total masterpiece and one of the best movies of the past decade. But a year ago, at the world premiere of the movie in Los Angeles, I was totally let down. And I’m still let down now.
There were a number of baffling creative decisions made by Abrams and his collaborators. Many of them undid the hard work that Johnson had done in the previous film but just as many were boneheaded for completely separate reasons. Clearly time (and the lack thereof) must have been a factor; so many of the images and ideas were recycled from other places. A submerged Death Star was a part of the treatment that Abrams,Lawrence KasdanandMichael Arndthad cooked up forThe Force Awakens. The Emperor’s scary, spiky throne was a discarded design from original trilogy illustratorRalph McQuarrieforReturn of the Jedi. And a number of the story beats were simply Xeroxed whole cloth from the first films (Rey’s evil lineage; a wooded planet as the refuge of the Rebellion, sorry,Resistance, etc.) Everything was a copy of a copy and as such was dull and slightly worn. Even the actors felt removed from what they were experiencing. Just look atOscar Isaacduring the scene where the Rebellion hypothesizes how the Emperor has returned from the grave after being atomized inReturn of the Jedi. His face says it all.
We have covered the ways that the film undid theLast Jedi, but it bears repeating (in brief) again: they reversed course on Rey’s parentage; discardedKelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico; made Snoke a weird clone; rebuilt Kylo Ren’s helmet for no discernable reason; and mocked Holdo’s suicide run, amongst other things. For some Johnson’s film felt like a radical departure fromThe Force Awakens. That simply isn’t the case. It took the characters, ideas and themes and did something staggeringly original with them. There wasn’t a deliberate move to undermine any of the work that Abrams had done with the first film, instead expanding on what the new trilogy (andStar Warsin general) could fundamentally be. The specific plot points ofThe Rise of Skywalkermakes it seem like Abrams was petty and spiteful and looked to erase all that Johnson had accomplished. It was a bad move.
There are other things that will also annoy you aboutThe Rise of Skywalker– turning Poe (Isaac) into a morally bankrupt former criminal; establishing that an endless array of metal starships would be constructed and deployed on a planet defined by lighting strikes; that weird giant snake which would have been okay onThe Mandalorianbut doesn’t make a lot of sense in the conclusion of the saga; flying Stormtroopers. Even the flourishes that Abrams thinks are just fun, coolStar Wars-y things like the “lightspeed skipping” sequence early in the movie, just comes across as dumb and meaningless. Ditto the endless lightsaber fights between Rey and Kylo Ren. Conceptually the one where they are fighting while not physically close to one another is sort of neat, although it is built on a foundation laid by Johnson (and, again, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense). It’s all emptyflashand it’s telling that the best thing to come out ofRise of Skywalkerwere two new planet dentations in the Disney theme park Star Tours attraction. When its only obligation was to be a literal ride, it was finally kind of fun.
And it’s not like this kind of thing could have been wrapped up conclusively (and satisfactorily). Just a few months beforeThe Rise of Skywalkerdebuted,Avengers: Endgamewas released and somehow managed to be thrilling, frequently surprising popcorn entertainment that was also emotionally fulfilling and managed to conclude a storyline that had been threaded through more than 20 movies with verve and grace. It seemed nearly impossible, butAvengers: Endgamepulled it off. And what’s more, they made it seem relatively easy.
Unfortunately,The Rise of Skywalkeris so disastrous that it retroactively ruins the otherwise wonderful sequel trilogy and the experience seems to have been so painful for so many of the actors (again: just look at Oscar Isaac’s face), that it’s doubtful any kind of additional exploration of these characters will ever come to light, on Disney+ or in future movies. Instead,The Rise of Skywalkerjust sits there, a big fat space egg in the middle of the franchise, begging you to ignore it but so bloated and destructive that it’s hard to look the other way.Star Warswill be fine (see: all of the exciting projects announced at the recent Disney Investor Day event) but the sting ofThe Rise of Skywalkerwill remain.
