4.5 star wars out of 5
I was 8 when the first Star Wars came out, so for better and worse, this has been my life, with an awful lot of time and mental energy invested. But, not like, nerd level. So if there are some plot and character inconsistencies from film to film, I honestly don’t care or, more likely, don’t even remember. It’s Star Wars, baby.
So when the trailer for this new flick first arrived, and concluded with the sinister laughter of Emperor Palpatine, I wasn’t all “hey wait, Darth Vader threw him down a shaft in Return of the Jedi.” No, it sent frickin’ chills down my spine. Palpatine’s back, bitches — the baddest mama jama in the galaxy!
Which totally fits in this trilogy, that has depended on the past and present melding together. The 8-year-old me and the 400-year-old me. When I was a kid, the battle of good versus evil was everything. Obviously, as I’ve matured, I’ve learned to understand that there are grey areas, life is grey, the worst people aren’t all bad, the best people aren’t all good. It’s pretty complicated. But at the end of the day, I still want to believe in Good v. Bad. And Rise of Skywalker gives it to us in spades. With some grey tossed in for good measure.
Plus we get cool action (fights and chases and even raging seas), many big laughs (C-3PO really steps up his game), and genuine emotion. I had tears in my eyes the last 30–40 minutes of the movie! J.J. Abrams had a lot of ground to cover, but neatly put all the pieces together in a very satisfying way. A joyous farewell to dear friends.
Jack Silbert, curator