Movies|‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Review: Revolution No. 9
Resistance is futile. Rey, Finn and Poe are back; so is Kylo Ren. No spoilers here.
****************Credit …Lucasfilm / Disney
********************
Not that anybody has asked, but if I had to come up with a definitive ranking of all the “Star Wars” episodes – leaving out sidebars like the animated “Clone Wars,” the y oung Han Solo movie and the latest“Mandalorian” Baby Yoda memes– the result could only be a nine-way tie for fourth place.
You know I’m right, even if you insist on making a case for “The Empire Strikes Back” or “ The Last Jedi, ”to name the two installments that are usually cited as the best individual movies. (Please do not insist.) At least since “The Return of the Jedi” ( the point of each chapter has been consolidation rather than distinction. For a single film to risk being too interesting would be to imperil the long-term strategy of cultivating a multigenerational, multinational fandom. “The Rise of Skywalker” – Episode IX, in case you’ve lost count – is one of the best. (It opens Friday.) Also one of the worst. Perfectly middling. It all amounts to the same thing.
******************************************
Abrams is too slick and shallow a filmmaker to endow the dramas of repression and insurgency, of family fate and individual destiny, of solidarity and the will to power, with their full moral and metaphysical weight. At the same time, his pseudo-visionary self-importance won’t allow him to surrender to whimsy or mischief. The struggle of good against evil feels less like a cosmic battle than a longstanding sports rivalry between teams whose glory days are receding. The head coaches come and go, the uniforms are redesigned, certain key players are the subjects of trade rumors, and the fans keep showing up.
Which is not entirely terrible. “The Rise of Skywalker” isn’t a great “Star Wars” movie, but that may be because there is no such thing. That seems to be the way we like it.
(Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)
************************************************
************************************************
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings