DC and I went to the first showing of Rise of Skywalker last night, because I’m a firm believer in making myself as immune to spoilers as possible, and because seeing a movie with a bunch of fans in the audience is a great way to experience something like this.
Heading into the movie, I was a bit worried, since the reviews coming in on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic were mixed. (It’s got a 58% on RT and a 54 on Metacritic. Its imdb score is a 6.9 as of this morning.) Force Awakens got an 81% on RT, and Last Jedi got an 85%, so this was markedly worse. What if I went to the movie and thought it was awful, or (maybe worse) just sort of went “meh”?
To cut straight to the chase, I loved the movie. It was a roller coaster of a ride, full of adventure, intrigue, and fantastic special effects. It brought the whole trilogy of trilogies to a rousing conclusion, and I can’t wait to go see it again. (I’m still thinking about parts of it, and I’d like to see it when I’m not constantly worried “Will I stop liking this at some point? Will they screw it up?)
That said, I recognize that Star Wars movies are polarizing, and you should be aware that I seem to be completely in the new series’ wheel house. I had a blast in Solo, and I loved Last Jedi. If you hated either, it’s very possible we just don’t share the same vision for the series. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry, because it appears my enjoyment of the new movies has come at your expense. (But I’m not *that* sorry, because I just love these movies.)
“They’re retconning Last Jedi,” some will say about Rise of Skywalker. Those objections are misguided, I think. The trilogy was created in a way that demand retconning. No one had a whole vision and arc in mind going into it. Abrams set the table in Force Awakens. Johnson brought out a new course in Last Jedi, and now Abrams has brought out the finale here. It’s an approach that could backfire, for sure, but I think it’s one that succeeds as you take what was left for you from the previous movie and create something that works for you from it. In many ways, it gives the series a soap opera-esque feeling, and that might turn some away. Personally, I loved the twists and turns.
Anyway. That’s about all you need from me for a review on this one. It might not be everyone’s cuppa, but I had an absolute blast. As a Film, it’s not perfect, but as an Experience, it’s a 10/10 for me all the way.
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Megan didn’t see this in the theater, so leading up to it being available on video today, we watched from A New Hope on recently. I came back to your blog to remember what your take was, and was surprised to find only the spoiler-free review. Now that it’s been a few months, might I request that you write a spoileriffic review?