Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Why is this one the best of the sequel trilogy? No, seriously. Why? This movie does so much right but at the very end. The Star Wars sequels find their identity finally in THIS ONE. What even? Let's unpack this one.

The story follows Rey, Finn, and Poe, played again by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac, as they try to find the mysterious Sith planet Exegol where Emperor Palpatine, played once again by Ian McDiarmid, who was supposed to be dead after Return of the Jedi, and who...is back...somehow, resides and runs the First Order from the shadows. Also, more tension between Rey and Kylo Ren, played again by Adam Driver.

Now, this plotline is simple but insane, because it honestly makes no sense. How do they explain Palpatine coming back? Poe literally says, "Somehow Palpatine returned." How does the plot move forward? Random circumstances. It's total laziness at its finest, and it feels like...eh, I don't know or care. This movie doesn't care either.

The best thing about this movie is actual character development for Rey and Kylo Ren. Rey learns some dark truths about her past and it sets her off, where she actually almost considers leaving the resistance behind, and she has to get right with those revelations, which is not easy. Kylo Ren, real name Ben Solo, has to contend with the fact that leading the First Order means nothing because Palpatine is...there...somehow (can't let that one go). He realizes the Dark Side always leads to subservience and decides to take destiny into his own hands.

Now the rest of the film is definitely style but little substance, with things Rey acting weird and destroying Kylo Ren's ship in a desert...because, or on the flipside, the amazing final battle on Exegol, which is one of the most visually stunning final battle sequences ever put to film.

Overall, this movie is entertaining...if you don't think about it too much. It's a brainless action movie with hints of brilliance that came too little too late. Still a fun movie at the end of the day, though.

Next time, we watch...a movie...where I don't know, something happens, I guess. Even the writers don't know. Something about Grindelwald and politics and wizards and Dumbledore. What is this confusion? Find out when I review Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

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