Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Review

It's been a bumpy ride, but here we are, the third Star Wars trilogy has finished, and it's a mostly satisfactory conclusion. After the overwhelmingly mediocre second entry, "The Last Jedi," we return to the world of Lightsabers and blasters with forward momentum on energetic visual tricks, though with a regrettable backwards handle on story and script.

Ultimately every major beat is a variation of "Return of the Jedi," except only when it's completely retreaded, and that's the biggest disappointment here. Nostalgia is a powerful movie making tool, but here it's practically exploited; this is Episode 6 with a bigger budget, bigger special effects, bigger everything.

Some franchises can survive this sort of self cannibalization, like James Bond and Alien (well, most of the time), because the new cast and crew inject their view on what it means to be part of the series. With "The Rise of Skywalker," returning director J.J. Abrams and our new and returning characters appear to be going through the motions, succumbing to what corporations think fans want.

Yet the wrinkles in the returning format have some standouts, particularly the conclusion with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who's journey ends obviously but elegantly. Our heroine Rey (Daisy Ridley) does as well, packing a punch that's as emotional as it's routine.

None of this really matters in the world of Star Wars- these are space operas with a fetish for advanced special effects. And we get a lot of that here. But for all the wonderful of the visuals in a technical sense, it's style is stale; it's less of an evolution of the original trilogy and more of a continuation. Even the much-mangled prequels had their own visual identity, with imaginative aliens, starships and setpieces; the only moments here that filled me with wonder was the doomy dungeon of returning baddie Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

Fortunately, even when the narrative driving the domesticated spectacle is old hat, there is an inescapable sense of fun. This is a film who may not know how to treat its fans, but it knows how to treat its legacy. And unlike its predecessor, the script's humor is left for the comedic relief characters- if there is a joke to be told, or to befall, it's on the likes of C3PO or something. Thank goodness for that.

This latest trilogy might wrap up a bit too cleanly, and it never seems to trust its audience's appetite and acceptance towards anything new, it'll do. It mostly fills what it set out to do, and what I've ultimately come to expect from the brand since the 2012 Disney acquisition, it's equal parts a shame and a triumph.