STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
***
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenwriters: J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio, from a story by Abrams, Terrio, Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, based on characters by George Lucas.
Principal cast:
Daisy Ridley
Adam Driver
Oscar Isaac
John Boyega
Carrie Fisher
Joonas Suotamo
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 141 mins.
Australian release date: 19 December 2019
Previewed at: Hayden Orpheum Cinema, Cremorne, on 19 December 2019.
We’ve been waiting a long, long time for these characters from a galaxy far, far away, to fade, fade away, and now the end is here - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (episode nine of the series) has landed! If you were 12 years old when Star Wars was released in 1977, you’d now be 54. Think about that. You’d have known these people (and aliens and droids) for longer than most of the real humans in your life, so it’s very likely you’ll be sorry to see them go. Certainly Walt Disney Studios, the current owners of this cash-cow franchise, will be, so it’s hard to imagine that this is really, really the end and it seems certain that the SW universe will be reincarnated in other ways.
Talking about reincarnation, just about everyone who’s ever appeared in the three trilogies over the years manages to pop up in The Rise Of Skywalker in some form or other, be they holograms, visions or memories. The most important of them is, of course, Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Fisher died almost three years ago and her role here is made up of footage shot during the making of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which has been cleverly incorporated into the plot of this film. To mention some of the other returning personalities would be to reveal too much. The heart of the movie, apart from the usual ‘save the galaxy from the evil Sith empire’ sort of stuff, is focused on answering the question, “Who is Rey?” Viewers of the last Star Wars instalment will know that the conflicted Jedi warrior goes by the single name Rey (Daisy Ridley) because she was abandoned as a child by her parents, who never returned for her, thus she claims no last name. Getting to the bottom of this mystery involves putting the old band back together so she, Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), ‘Chewie’ (Joonas Suotamo) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) can charge from one set piece to another at hyper-drive speed, gathering bits of information or objects needed for their quest. Once all this action settles down, however, and Rey and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) meet up again, there is some real emotion to be explored. And, naturally, her origin story is inextricably bound up with the ‘save the galaxy from the evil Sith empire’ stuff, too.
Abrams and the other writers and story creators have done a pretty good job of wrapping the franchise up and neatly dealing with any loose ends. If there’s a problem, it’s that they’ve tried too hard to include every character and back-story. Rusted-on fans will be happy because all the elements of the series that they love are on full view once again in The Rise Of Skywalker – the famous opening crawl explaining where we’re up to, John Williams’ stirring music, the aerial dogfights, the Millennium Falcon, the weird-looking aliens, the usual heroes and villains and the laconic humour. If you’re not already familiar with the SW universe, though, I’m afraid you’ve left your (Kessel) run too late and you shouldn’t bother with this one. Many critics have been overly harsh on this final film and, yes, it’s not the best film in the franchise, but as a last gasp the filmmakers have done reasonably well performing a difficult task. At the very least, they’ve stayed true to George Lucas’s original vision of creating a fun, Saturday matinee movie for your entertainment.
Screenwriters: J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio, from a story by Abrams, Terrio, Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, based on characters by George Lucas.
Principal cast:
Daisy Ridley
Adam Driver
Oscar Isaac
John Boyega
Carrie Fisher
Joonas Suotamo
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 141 mins.
Australian release date: 19 December 2019
Previewed at: Hayden Orpheum Cinema, Cremorne, on 19 December 2019.
We’ve been waiting a long, long time for these characters from a galaxy far, far away, to fade, fade away, and now the end is here - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (episode nine of the series) has landed! If you were 12 years old when Star Wars was released in 1977, you’d now be 54. Think about that. You’d have known these people (and aliens and droids) for longer than most of the real humans in your life, so it’s very likely you’ll be sorry to see them go. Certainly Walt Disney Studios, the current owners of this cash-cow franchise, will be, so it’s hard to imagine that this is really, really the end and it seems certain that the SW universe will be reincarnated in other ways.
Talking about reincarnation, just about everyone who’s ever appeared in the three trilogies over the years manages to pop up in The Rise Of Skywalker in some form or other, be they holograms, visions or memories. The most important of them is, of course, Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Fisher died almost three years ago and her role here is made up of footage shot during the making of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which has been cleverly incorporated into the plot of this film. To mention some of the other returning personalities would be to reveal too much. The heart of the movie, apart from the usual ‘save the galaxy from the evil Sith empire’ sort of stuff, is focused on answering the question, “Who is Rey?” Viewers of the last Star Wars instalment will know that the conflicted Jedi warrior goes by the single name Rey (Daisy Ridley) because she was abandoned as a child by her parents, who never returned for her, thus she claims no last name. Getting to the bottom of this mystery involves putting the old band back together so she, Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), ‘Chewie’ (Joonas Suotamo) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) can charge from one set piece to another at hyper-drive speed, gathering bits of information or objects needed for their quest. Once all this action settles down, however, and Rey and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) meet up again, there is some real emotion to be explored. And, naturally, her origin story is inextricably bound up with the ‘save the galaxy from the evil Sith empire’ stuff, too.
Abrams and the other writers and story creators have done a pretty good job of wrapping the franchise up and neatly dealing with any loose ends. If there’s a problem, it’s that they’ve tried too hard to include every character and back-story. Rusted-on fans will be happy because all the elements of the series that they love are on full view once again in The Rise Of Skywalker – the famous opening crawl explaining where we’re up to, John Williams’ stirring music, the aerial dogfights, the Millennium Falcon, the weird-looking aliens, the usual heroes and villains and the laconic humour. If you’re not already familiar with the SW universe, though, I’m afraid you’ve left your (Kessel) run too late and you shouldn’t bother with this one. Many critics have been overly harsh on this final film and, yes, it’s not the best film in the franchise, but as a last gasp the filmmakers have done reasonably well performing a difficult task. At the very least, they’ve stayed true to George Lucas’s original vision of creating a fun, Saturday matinee movie for your entertainment.