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Review: ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Chooses Style Over Substance

One of the most anticipated movies of 2019 is finally here for the holiday season. J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the final installment to the sequel trilogy as well as the Skywalker Saga that began all the way back in Episode I. This concluding episode follows the final battle between the Resistance and The First Order, Rey and Kylo Ren, and the Light and the Dark side.

Just like in The Return of the Jedi, there’s a significant time gap between this movie and its previous installment. Even though the classic crawling text intro catches us up, the movie spends a significant amount of time explaining the events that lead to the ultimate showdown. As a result, it feels disconnected from The Last Jedi, instead feeling like a sequel to The Force Awakens, which was coincidentally also directed by J.J. Abrams. Additionally, the pacing of the film is inconsistent. As portrayed in the final trailer, Palpatine is brought back to be the main villain of this movie. The Rebels go from planet to planet searching for him and finding clues that lead them to more clues. This scavenger hunt is too fast and rushed, primarily because the next step or clue is always spelled out for the characters. The pace then abruptly slows down in the last act and the final battle is far too stretched out.

There are a few recurring characters from previous films along with a couple of new characters. Ian McDiarmid reprises his role as Emperor Palpatine. His return is a surprise, but a welcome one nonetheless. Both Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver give amazing performances as Rey and Kylo Ren respectively. Although the movie primarily revolves around these three characters, John Boyega as Finn and Oscar Issac as Poe Dameron are great as supporting characters. However, they had more potential and their overall arc feels incomplete. This is also the last appearance of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and her character is given a satisfying end. There are also a few cameos by characters from previous trilogies.

The main criticism of the film is that it is plot-driven. Except for Rey and Kylo, most of the characters aren’t explored further than what they were in The Last Jedi. There aren’t a lot of scenes where we see character conflicts or dramatic decisions that add complexity to characters. The first act would have been interesting, for example, if there had been some emotional conflict between characters instead of a blind chase to find Palpatine. The film also attempts to ignore the previous installment in overriding the themes that were built in The Last Jedi.

One thing that is consistent throughout all the Star Wars movies is the amazing soundtrack. John Williams, the composer for the score, has used themes from across the franchise and also composed new pieces for this movie. Recurring character themes like The Imperial March and The Emperor’s Theme bring back the nostalgia from the original and prequel trilogies, while the newer additions accompany the fight sequences perfectly by making them feel energetic.

This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the lightsaber duels. Where the movie lacks in character development, it makes up for with action and visual effects. Dan Mindel, the cinematographer, and Abrams have reaffirmed their prowess with classic, fast-paced action sequences. This movie brings new elements to the classic lightsaber duels along with new force powers that make the duels interesting to watch. In one particular scene, Rey fights a TIE fighter with a lightsaber in what is a visually appealing and exciting scene to watch. The excellent cinematography and soundtrack make the lightsaber fights the most satisfying part of the movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker seems good as a stand-alone film; however, it doesn’t fit well with the previous installments. The trilogy as a whole feels disjointed and inconsistent. The Skywalker Saga has finally come to an end, but, this is certainly not the end for the franchise. Lucasfilms is now focusing on other media with The Mandalorian and the recently announced Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. There are still a lot of stories to tell that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

3/5 STARS

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Review: The Big, Loud, Stupid Movie that is Pacific Rim Uprising

After Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro was on to direct the sequel to his 2013 surprise hit Pacific Rim: an action sci-fi film that borrowed from both Kaiju and Mech films and blended them into one. The original was pulpy, but in the sea of comic book movies that were just starting to hit their stride that summer, it stood out as a carefully crafted blockbuster that knew what it was while maintaining a degree of nuance that prevented it from devolving into another Transformer film. However, in 2015 Legendary Pictures was sold to Wanda Group, forcing delays and causing del Toro to leave the sequel for a little picture called The Shape of Water instead. The artistry and enthusiasm that del Toro brought to the table was lost and the fate of the film given to Steven S. DeKnight.

And here in lies the problem with Pacific Rim Uprising: it forgets what it is and what inspired it. Del Toro is passionate about the creature feature, and it showed on the screen. This film is nothing more than a shell of its former self. This is simply a big, loud, stupid movie that goes all in on the blockbuster tendencies that make the Transformer franchise so insufferable while ditching the subtleties that came from a caring creator and its influences.

Cailee Spaeny as Amara Namani and John Boyega playing Jake Pentecost.

For the last ten years, humanity has been free from the Kaiju threat. As cities rebuild, scrappers scour the destroyed remnants of cities for old jaeger parts to either sell or repurpose for their own fighting machines. Enter Jake Pentecost (a Jaeger Ranger exile who is the son of the first film’s hero Stacker Pentecost) and Amara Namani (a talented young pilot who crafts her own robots after losing her family to Kaiju). When the two get caught stealing, they are thrown into the Jaeger Pilot Academy as redemption. From there, the two rogues engage in head butting antics with more in-line cadets until a new danger emerges: Rogue Jaegers. With looming peril, the two must harness their skills and put conflicts aside with other cadets in order to ready a new generation of pilots to defend Earth from its biggest threats.

The problem is how nothing outside of the fights matters at all, making the film one big drawl. There are interesting elements injected into the film, such as talk of drone use, a globalized defense force, and residual fallout from the initial Kaiju attack, but they are never leveraged into something meaningful or thematically relevant. Instead, the audience merely waves past them as they barrel toward a baffling central narrative that’ll have you scratching your head with its erratic nature and an emotionless subplot that follows Pentecost and Namani both trying to live up to expectations set upon them (which doesn’t work because either: A) they never get enough time to come to fruition, or B) the interactions given to the characters are dull and meaningless).

When in motion, all scale is lost.

And that isn’t to say that the action is good either. The film predicates itself on selling big monster fights, but it doesn’t even seem to do that right either because by the third act it felt as if I was watching a bunch of toys clanging together. The spectacle generated from seeing massive mechs take on Kaiju is all but lost in the sequel, and its blandness makes for a boring viewing experience. This is destruction porn at its finest and I was astounded by how much it mirrors the Transformers franchise in terms of haphazard construction and repugnant styling.

The tipping point is when the film decides to insert the Trololol song, and I couldn’t tell if it was mocking itself for how bombastically insane it was, or laughing at the audience for actually seeing this movie. Regardless of its intent, at that point in the film I didn’t really care how the rest of the story panned out because I just wanted to go home.

Score: 1.5/5