Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker - in review (Part one).

The ninth part of the Star Wars ‘Skywalker Saga’ has finally made its way to cinemas - and I’m here to review it. I say ‘finally made its way to cinemas’ loosely - the film came out over a month ago, but I’ve only just found the moxy to write about it. That’s not because I didn’t like it - I actually rather enjoyed it, especially compared to ‘The Last Jedi’ which came before - no, I’ve been suffering from severe laziness in recent weeks, at great detriment to my productivity. I feared this might be the case though, and so, as a precaution, I went to see the film twice, quickly noting down all that I found positive and negative about it as soon as I got home. As such, there is no need for you to question the veracity of the Jude Reviews Score I'll eventually give this film - none more than usual, at least. For us to even arrive at the Jude Reviews Score, however, I must stop jabbering, and begin reviewing. I will begin, then, by discussing all the negatives I picked out in this film.

I must mention first of all that I’m reviewing this film as a cinematic spectacle, as opposed to reviewing its standing as a coherent movie. In this regard, I will not be mentioning the negatives many other critics have picked out, like plot holes, or the fact that JJ Abrams (the director) has crammed two films’ worth of story into one movie - such details do not, in my opinion, affect the cinematic value of the ‘Rise of Skywalker’, and thus, I shall ignore them. Instead, I will highlight solely elements of the film which I felt detracted from its impact in the cinema. Establishing this, I can now impart which piece of this film caused me the most annoyance - or should I say, which piece that was missing from the film: the glaring lack of lightsaber action, particularly, the lack of a show-stopping lightsaber duel to end the film. Almost every Star Wars film has treated us with such a climactic battle - some better than others. Even the Prequels, for all the deserving ridicule they receive, managed to get this right, emphatically so with Darth Maul v Obi Wan and Qui Gon, and then Obi Wan v Anakin too, later on in the trilogy. It says a lot about this most recent Star Wars film if it can take something from the prequels as such. All the ingredients for a show-stopping scrap were there - the rejuvenated emperor and two Jedi with a supernatural link, but I feel as if this potential was not recognised, at great detriment to my enjoyment of the film. It would be inaccurate for me to insinuate, though, that this film was completely lacking in the lightsaber department: Rey v Kylo in the waves was a particular cinematographic treat, I admit that. Yet I couldn’t help but feel disappointed, upon leaving the Light, that the final film of this famous saga was bereft of a lightsaber battle fitting the occasion. This detail WILL be taken into account when I give this film a Jude Reviews Score.

In the same vein as my previous criticism, I was greatly disappointed by the damp squib Knights of Ren too. These characters, sinister in their shadiness, were kept in the fringes in previous parts of this trilogy, only to be shoe-horned into every scene of this film. This I wouldn’t have minded, if it wasn’t the case that the Knights amount to totally nothing in the grand scheme of the film’s plot. Once again, all the ingredients were there - the Knights of Ren with interesting weaponry, lined up against turncoat Kylo - but, once again, the rich potential was not recognised: Kylo defeated them within a matter of moments, as they put up less fight than Snoke’s Guards in ‘The Last Jedi’. I expected much better from evil Sith warriors (or whatever they are), especially given the fact that JJ used them as an instrument for tension repeatedly throughout the movie. We didn’t get the payoff we deserved for putting up with these fringe characters in most scenes of the film, cementing the real sense of disappointment I had upon leaving the cinema - especially as they looked capable of epic violence.

All the negatives I've given up to this point in the review must be taken with a pinch of salt - the Star Wars nerd in me is particularly sensitive to matters of a lightsaber nature. The criticism I'm about to share with you, though, can not be swept under the carpet in a similar manner, I'm afraid. The film's worst moment, the focus of this criticism, arrived with the final line of its final scene - making it all the more unforgettable (I recognise that now I've built this moment up so much, it'll end up sounding rather innocuous to the reader who hasn't seen the film in question - oh well, tough, I'm going to recount it in detail anyway.) Shortly prior to the film's closing shot, (a cinematographically excellent shot, I might add) Rey, the film's protagonist, is quizzed on her identity by a passer-by - a simple encounter, needing only a straightforward response. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, things became very complicated. After a suspenseful pause, Rey tells the passer-by her surname is Skywalker - and then the film ends. The problem is that her surname is not Skywalker - indeed, she's of no relation AT ALL to Luke or Leia - and so the moment makes no sense. It's almost as if the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it in this instance - they wanted Rey to be a Palpatine, but they also wanted Skywalker in the film's title. These things are mutually exclusive in my opinion. As such, It’s a totally preposterous way to end the film, I believe, contriving to leave audiences baffled upon leaving the cinema. I believe the parting shot of a film should pack a real emotional punch, or deliver some form of relief - this incident did neither for me (if they’d ended the film a few seconds earlier, it would’ve been a totally different story.) Unfortunately, this deficiency will be clearly reflected in the eventual review Score I give this film. 

This concludes my appraisal of ‘Star Wars, the Rise of Skywalker’s’ negative features. I recognise that I said, earlier on in the review,  ‘I actually rather enjoyed the film’, and yet, I’ve spent 1000 words criticising it. Indeed, I’ve devoted so many words to bashing the movie that I now deem it necessary to split the review into two parts - one for negatives, one for positives. That’s exactly what I’ll do. As such, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to wait a bit longer before being relieved by the Jude’s Review Score I give this film. With that settled, I’ll see you later in the week (hopefully) for Part Two of the review, in which I’ll seek to vindicate my claim that I enjoyed the film, along with producing this movie’s long-awaited review score. See you then.

Keep an eye on @TheMondayMusing (Twitter) for Part 2 (if you want to).

Thanks for reading!