Brandon’s Review:
Due to the holidays and travel times, I wasn’t able to rush out and see The Rise Of Skywalker when it was initially released like most devoted nerds to the franchise. I made the effort to avoid any and all spoilers/controversies centered around the finale of the episodic Star Wars saga. Occasionally I’d see headlines pop up on my phone stating that “so and so was not featured enough” and “why fans hate *insert spoiler here*” and dismissed them immediately because not only did I want to go into the movie untainted (giggity) but because nine times out of ten, opinion pieces and reviews online are often inaccurate and emotional reactions. There has yet been an online film critic that I can totally trust. Rotten Tomatoes has become the official/un-official rating system often cited in trailers and online promos to help promote movies, and even that system is wrong a lot of the time, in my opinion. With all of that said, when I finally got around to watching The Rise Of Skywalker, I was excited to escape for a couple of hours without any preconceived notions for what to expect or controversies to look for. The escape was a success and I found that Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker was a very fun and enjoyable movie! I’m going to withhold from giving any major spoilers, but I enjoyed it when the history of Rey (the main character, training to be a Jedi) is revealed and we find out who she is related to. Overall, I don’t feel like this is a groundbreaking Star Wars movie that will go down in history as being the best of them all, but I do feel like they wrapped up this franchise nicely without leaving any loose ends. To be honest, I’m pretty fatigued with all of the Star Wars movies and how it seemed like they milked every ounce of the story they could. I’m more excited about the off-shoots and spin-offs that are being made from the franchise. The favorite of which is The Mandalorian on Disney+ which released it’s final episode for the season and it is already confirmed that season 2 will drop in the Fall of 2020. If you haven’t watched The Mandalorian yet, you are seriously missing out.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker synopsis: When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
This was a fun Star Wars movie with everything you’d expect and want if you are a fan. For those fans that didn’t like it, I see why you didn’t like it and I think your gripes are valid. Just remember, it’s Disney property now, so of course everything was going to have a happy ending to follow the age-old Disney formula. I will not be re-watching The Rise Of Skywalker as much as I do The Empire Strikes Back (the BEST Star Wars film ever made), but I didn’t hate it either. Thumbs up!
