When Disney released its first Star Wars sequel, Episode 7 – The Force Awakens, in 2015 it was met with widespread praise from fans and critics alike and set records at the box office. It’s follow up feature, The Last Jedi, was more divisive. It was generally well received by critics, but many fans were upset by what they saw as fundamental changes to the lore surrounding Luke Skywalker and what was expected to have been a rebirth of the Jedi following the Empire’s defeat in episode 6.

Perhaps in response to these criticisms, perhaps in hopes of recapturing their previous box office success, Disney brought back The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams to bring the trilogy to a close. The question then becomes, did he succeed? Was JJ Abrams able to bring it all together into a satisfying conclusion that can be widely embraced?

The problem here is that I don’t know how good of a position I’m in to judge. I was genuinely baffled by the accolades for The Force Awakens, which I thought did a good job capturing the look and feel of a classic Star Wars movie but didn’t bring anything new the table. Rather than taking Star Wars in an interesting new direction I thought it chose the path of least resistance by simply rehashing a formula that had worked before. Once more the Empire was back, only this time with bigger Death Stars, and once again characters like Han and Leia found themselves as part of the resistance desperately fighting for freedom and survival.

From the standpoint of a studio wanting a safe return on its investment this was a completely understandable approach, but from the point of view of a story I found it utterly depressing. After everything the rebels went through fighting and defeating the Empire in the previous films, all of it was for naught?

Similarly, I am confused how The Last Jedi can be accused of destroying the mythology about Luke Skywalker and the Jedi’s return, yet this same criticism somehow does not get directed to its predecessor? While I agree with the basic criticism I think it applies every bit as much to Episode 7 as it did to Episode 8, which at least tried to take some risks and throw some unexpected twists into the plot.

It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that I found Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker to be hopelessly formulaic, utterly predictable, and a veritable paint-by-numbers affair. There was simply too much money at stake for the studio to take a risk on any sort of storytelling that might deviate from a comfortable formula. There are no real plot twists, nothing that feels fresh. The whole experience seems less like watching a movie and more like watching a marketing exercise that has been extensively reviewed by committee.

We see the return of old friends and an old foe, long thought vanquished. We see the passing of the guard from the old generation of Star Wars heroes to the new generation of Rey, Finn, and Poe. We relive climactic space battles between the forces of resistance and the newly revived Empire. Yet the whole exercise has a certain lifeless quality. We never grow to know and love the new characters, so much as we’re shown them and told we should love them. We never get to explore new and uncharted territory in this universe, bound instead to relive the ghosts of previous franchise successes.

As previously stated, I may simply not be the target audience for this movie. I loved the Star Wars films of my youth and would like to see the story progress beyond the formula of Empire versus Rebellion. Judging from the enthusiastic reception given to episode 7, though, mine is probably a minority opinion. If you were happy with Force Awakens, I see no reason why you shouldn’t love Rise of Skywalker. For myself though, as some previous fans have accused George Lucas of “ruining their childhoods” with the prequel trilogy, I find myself harboring similar sentiments towards JJ Abrams and this new trilogy.

2 out of 5 stars

Cast: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, and Billy Dee Williams
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenplay by: J. J. Abrams, Chris Terrio
Story by: Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow, J. J. Abrams, Chris Terrio