Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – 2019 – PG13
All good things must come to an end. It’s been 42 years since Han, Leia and Luke, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 launched a cultural phenomenon that to this day sees closet shelves and dresser drawers across America stuffed with lightsabers, stormtroopers and droids. Collectibles! Some day, we all hope, they will be worth a fortune and augment our retirement. My son, born in 1977, grew up paralleling the Star Wars universe. Remember Boba Fett? The most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy once went missing in our household. To restore order to our universe we immediately went shopping. Being the pre-Amazon Prime era, it required firing the car up and ransacking Wards, Sears, Mervyn’s and Toys “R” Us until we finally lucked out at a K-Mart 20 miles away! The force was with us.
Star Wars ultimate finale, The Rise of Skywalker, concludes the epic triple trilogy that started a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Jedi Rey and First Order Commander Kylo Ren (Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver) Resistance fighter pilot Poe and Stormtrooper drop-out Finn (Oscar Isaac, John Boyega) wage a winner-take-all intergalactic scavenger hunt, the prize, a free universe. Rey and Ren dominate the film, blasting and battling each other (to the point of tedium) across the galaxy. Ren was not as maniacal as in the Force Awakens. I spotted a soft spot early on but had to wait until the finale of the finale to see if my hunch would bear fruit, last man standing, Ben or Ren? Redemption or revenge? No spoiler here but you won’t be disappointed. Rey matches Ren’s zealotry, lightsabership and scowls from dunes to oceans, islands to planets. Their ocean battle alone incredible. Death Stars rise and fall but worth the wait is when the most famous X-Wing in Star Wars lore makes a majestic reappearance. Just wow! Bringing a roar from my theater crowd is the scene following Poe’s reassurance, “We’ve got friends out there. They’ll come if they know there’s hope.” Look up! The Resistance meets the Empire, once and for all. For me, the absolute best moment of the movie.
There are lots of loose ends left for Star Wars aficionados to debate for years. The Rise of Skywalker couldn’t possibly get it all figured out or the movie would play more as exhausting eulogy than culminating trilogy. To love this four decade saga is to live comfortably with ambiguity. A blockbuster’s impact on pop culture is measured by the millions of water cooler arguments, opinions and observations that fill social media and social gatherings for common consideration and consumption. That’s the fun of it. Let’s test it out. I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but then I’m a biology matters kind of person. Luke (Skywalker himself) disagrees, “Some things are stronger than blood.” What do you think? Let it rip. Above all else, yesterday, tomorrow and four decades hence, let’s lay claim to what’s most important, “The Force brought us together.” Thanks for that reminder Finn. And may the force be with you all!
