This star fails to rise

Johnson Thomas

Star Wars, like most other franchise series, has become a cinema of diminishing returns over every subsequent sequel/prequel issued. And even though we’ve reached the finale set-piece, the mechanics appear to be too slap-dash and discordant to make sense here. That’s not to say that it doesn’t provide a blistering joy ride for its fans. This film appears to be largely fan service - there doesn’t appear to be any other valid reason to stretch it thus far and that too with a younger set of actors (in the final trilogy) who even though they make sincere effort in keeping the myth going, fail to expand on the legend.

Episodes VII, VIII, and IX formed Disney’s new age version of the original trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker (Ep IX) doesn’t have the makings of a swansong though. Rey (Daisy Ridley) is unable to find peace because of a mystery in her past, and at the same time, the galaxy around her is exploding under the chaotic reign of the First Order. The villainous Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) finds an old Sith map to an unchartered planet (Exogol) that holds the key to the evil First Order’s domination over the galaxy.

The Resistance led by Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac) and a host of recurring characters are in a race to stop him, The Emperor and the Sith, from destroying everything. This is a Star Wars saga and obviously, the power of the mysterious force can never be underestimated.

This final film, in the 40 year expansion into a nine-part saga, is both energetic and visually proficient. The loose ends are tied up in glossing over fashion and there are so many jumps in logical continuity that the attachment comes unstuck. The narrative resembles an asteroid field as the plotting goes haywire getting to a reverential conclusion. Subtlety, consistency, smooth story flow, illuminating characterisations are missing big time here. What you get instead is a whole lot of fancy, cutting edge CGI. The light saber fights are choreographed well enough but their overuse diminishes their mystical importance in the scheme of things. The relationships between characters also seem a trifle forced even though we have the original mythology to fall back on. This movie feels far too rushed. There’s so much going on here that making sense of it all becomes a distant dream. The acting especially by Daisy and Adam Driver, draws us in but the lack of logical coherence makes it difficult to read their performances as meaningful.  As with the CGI, the sound effects and music make much more of this issue than it deserves. The 141 min runtime also feels stretched and tedium inducing. Though vigorously energetic and visually proficient, Rise of Skywalker, fails to live-up to the series’ luminous past glory!