Reviewing - Star Wars: The Sequels
The next generation of Star Wars adventures has been met with widespread acclaim and intense skepticism. Whichever camp you come from, the pop-culture impact of this franchise cannot be understated...and these films are at the very least anything but boring. Witness the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga in this latest trilogy of the Star Wars universe.
The Best: The Force Awakens
The Worst: The Rise of Skywalker
The Force Awakens (***1/2)
In which Han learns the consequences of not shooting first
I was so excited for this movie to come out, and judging by the amount of money this film earned, so was the rest of the world. First of all, there are many who say this movie follows the plot of “A New Hope” too closely, and I suppose those are valid complaints. You’ve got a nobody on a desert world who might actually be a somebody (it’s never made quite clear) who gets thrust into a galactic war where a small droid carries valuable information...and so on and so on. But whatever! This is a good movie. Luke, Han, and Leia all come back, which is great, and the new story that begins to unfold is intriguing. This movie has its faults, but it successfully reignites the Star Wars franchise with a bang, and makes you excited about what is to come.
The Last Jedi (***1/2)
In which a lot of fans become very angry
This movie came under a huge amount of scrutiny for the bold decisions it made. Snoke? Doesn’t matter. Rey’s parents? Nope. They don’t matter. Luke Skywalker? Barely matters in the grand scheme of things. What matters is the present...what’s happening now. A lot of people didn’t like this direction, but I for one think it’s really cool. All through the movie you find your expectations defied, and that’s refreshing, to be honest. Now, just because I don’t necessarily like what the revelation about who Rey’s parents were IS doesn’t mean I don’t see the value in the decision. How’s the next movie going to go? I have no idea. And I like that. This movie was funny, spectacular in its presentation, and it showed us real growth in all of its characters.
The one thing I don’t get is what happened to Leia. Carrie Fisher died shortly after they finished filming this, and it seemed like there were many opportunities in this film for the directors to do a bit of work and end her story here. When her ship blew up and she almost died – she could have actually died. Or when Luke died and she sensed it...you could have killed her there. The fact that they’ve left this for the next movie to resolve was very interesting, because the next movie doesn’t have the advantage of a bunch of pre-shot footage. So it will be interesting to see how this galaxy says goodbye to its princess.
The Rise of Skywalker (***)
In which - wait - I thought that guy died three movies ago
The final chapter of the Skywalker Saga does everything it can to create a truly conclusive end to this trilogy and the story arc that began in Episode I. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty much as good as it could’ve been given the circumstances.
I can’t tell you how nervous I was walking into the theatre given the early reviews of this film. I’ve always loved Star Wars – as much as the prequels stunk, I’ve never lost my appreciation for this faraway land of lightsabers and Star Destroyers and droids. It’s a world of yesterday, tomorrow, and never all at once. There have been missteps every single step of the way, but I’m still here. Jar Jar sucked. Anakin’s teenage years were gross. Padme’s death was stupid. Leia kissed her own brother a few times. An army of teddy bears beat up battle-hardened warriors. Someone built a THIRD Death Star. Luke gave up on being a Jedi. And now…there are ten thousand Death Stars. All of these were certifiably bad calls. And yet, Star Wars is still here over four decades later. Why is that?
I think it has to do with something George Lucas once said about how Star Wars is a modern day fairy tale. Fairy tales are wonderful, problematic, enduring and puzzling stories. Try as we might to forget that Cinderella’s sisters tried cutting their heels off to fit into the slipper or that Belle fell in love with a jerk that kidnapped her, we can’t help but retell these stories because there is something magical deep within them that makes them last. I’m not here to examine what that magic is, but think of the moment when the Little Mermaid looks at her feet for the very first time or when Cinderella’s rags turn into her ball gown. That’s the stuff of fairy tale, and it sticks with you – even though Ariel is kind of a spoiled brat who betrays her own father. The image and the emotion is greater than the story, I think. I could be out to lunch, but there’s something about fairy tales that makes them enduring despite their flaws.
Star Wars has always been a fairy tale about resisting the call of the darkness within each of us and holding fast to the light. Anakin, Luke, and Rey each had the same challenge. Each were more powerful than they knew, and each had the capacity for great good or great evil. Anakin embraced this darkness out of fear. Luke and Rey almost did the same, but they ultimately rejected their inner darkness and vanquished an external evil. Star Wars has never been about “Who is Luke’s father” or “Who are Rey’s parents” or “How did Shmi give birth to Anakin” (as much as I’d like to know the answer to that third question). It’s always been about “Will this person choose good or evil?” That’s a simple conundrum, and in our hearts we really always know the answer well before it’s given to us…but there’s something about it that keeps this conundrum fresh. Maybe it’s because there’s a darkness in each of us, and every day we have the opportunity to give into it or to reject it. And maybe stories like this give us hope. Hope that like the heroes of the galaxy far far away, we too can make the right choice.
This movie knew what Star Wars was all about, which is why the central plot of this film had to do with Rey’s battle for her own soul. At the heart of this movie was a woman who had to decide who she was going to be, and that’s what Star Wars has always been about. For that, I applaud J. J. Abrams.
That said…
I have to admit that I have never really cared about anyone in this trilogy apart from Rey and Kylo. Finn and Poe are fine, but they never had a story arc compelling enough for me to root for them. The lovable bickering that we saw in the original trilogy between Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie isn’t present in this new trilogy, try as the filmmakers might to create some playful chemistry with our new characters. There’s just something about our main cast that falls short for me, which is a shame. Emperor Palpatine coming back is a great IDEA, but it’s almost like ‘too little, too late’ for this trilogy. Palpatine was central to the first six Star Wars episodes, so it makes sense that he’d tie the whole thing together as a central antagonist for all generations. But if you’re going to go that route, you should’ve given us some kind of foreshadowing or SOMETHING in the previous two episodes. The fact that Abrams was course-correcting the franchise from the negative fallout of ‘The Last Jedi’ is all too evident. It’s as if you had a major assignment due tomorrow morning. You wrote a killer introduction, but your partner did absolutely nothing in his segment. You are now forced to stay up all night trying to piece together something good. The lack of cohesion is unfortunately obvious, although I admire how hard Abrams and the team worked to make it look intentional.
Let’s get back to Palpatine for a second. He’s a great villain, and even if his resurgence is a bit on the under-explained side, he’s still a screen hog. You can’t help but love to hate the guy. I especially liked the new idea of how all the Sith lived on within him, and how his plan for immortality had to do with a sort of Sith-possession of Rey. That’s a cool idea. It makes you wonder if this is why the Sith have always had this “Rule of Two”. One Sith contains all the previous Sith souls within them self, and when the apprentice is ready, they kill their master and absorb all of that. So if Palpatine really was Darth Plagueis’ pupil, how much of Palpatine’s character is himself – and how much of it is the result of the generations of Sith within him? Likewise, Rey having connection to all of the Jedi before her was very cool and an awesome fan-service moment. What was interesting was how this duality of ancestors played out between Jedi and Sith. For the Sith, it’s heavily implied that the connection to their ancestors looks a lot like demonic possession. For the Jedi, it’s more of a spiritual connection – an empowerment without burden. I really liked that, and it was a cool way to raise the emotional stakes during the final battle.
Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter was fine as far as final answers go, but I have to admit that the revelation made me go “Uh…okay” as opposed to “Oh, WOW”. Again, this reveal may have worked better if there was more foreshadowing in the previous two movies. I think she was only really Palpatine’s granddaughter because it was the best way to solidify the Emperor’s return. I spent a lot of time in the minutes following the reveal thinking, “Okay, so who did Palpatine have a kid with? Where was the child raised? Why did the kid choose light instead of darkness? Did he have Force sensitivity as well?” These questions will likely be answered in a novel, comic book, or television show, but for now, we just have to roll with it. That’s a bit of a letdown.
I’m impressed with how well the filmmakers made the most of their remaining footage of Princess Leia. It’s clear that they didn’t have a lot to work with, but they managed to give her a fitting send-off and answer some important questions about what happened to her between episodes 6 and 7. There’s a de-aging bit that I really enjoyed – although I’ve noticed now for the second time that they seem to have an easier time de-aging men than women. Something about Leia looked a bit off back in ‘Rogue One’, and the same was true here.
As the Skywalker saga finally comes to a close, I have to say that the Original Trilogy still is the best one. But while the Prequel Trilogy has a more evident and coherent connection to the original’s story arc, I do think that this Sequel Trilogy is better than the Prequels. There’s no dialogue that’s made me want to vomit, and although there are some bits that strain credulity (WHY DO ALL THESE STAR DESTROYERS HAVE DEATH STAR GUNS?!?!?), the return to an emphasis on practical effects and original-trilogy design make these ones worthwhile.
You may hate what Star Wars has become, and that’s fine. I see the flaws that have turned people away, and I get that. But I will never get tired of a story that shows us how to conquer the darkness within us. Especially if there’s lightsabers in it.
To see what I thought of the Original Trilogy, click here.
To see what I thought of the Prequel Trilogy, click here.
This post was originally published December 23rd, 2019.