Ok so I saw The Rise of Skywalker.  I’m not going to mention anything specifically spoiler-y here in case my opinion might color your impression of the movie or if there are any user comments below that contain information, let this be a potential spoiler warning.

Before we talk about the movie, here’s a picture my girlfriend drew and I love it.

 

 

OK NON-SPOILER (MAYBE) MOVIE TALK TIME:

Initially coming out of the theater my opinion was that while I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun I had watching the movie and how generally on board I was with the thematic choices they made, there was one issue that stuck out like such a sore thumb that I felt it ruined all the decent things that they established.

This was the high point for my opinion of the movie.

The more time I spent thinking about the plot, the more and more not just the “trilogy” came apart at the seams but the entire established narrative of the main Star Wars series.  I’m not just talking about unexpected events: I’m talking about retconning major narrative points, I’m talking about removing the significance of the original trilogy, I’m talking about failing to understand the major thematic message of their own story.

Given that the sequel trilogy had the creative control change hands between each movie, this can’t really be called a trilogy at all.  The Last Jedi undid elements that were set up in The Force Awakens, and The Rise of Skywalker undid elements of The Last Jedi but could not save the seeds that were planted in The Force Awakens.  The end result was a set of three movies that are definitely fun on their own but are otherwise a confusing mess of plot points and characters that are constantly at odds with each other.

I’ll admit that I had a ton of fun watching The Rise of Skywalker, the setpieces were excellent and the action as fun and engaging.  The movie was a total nostalgia trip that had numerous “oooooh” and “ahhhhh” moments that made me giddy.

…but that’s all it is: a fun nostalgia trip that feels more like a really interesting fanfiction than the final act in a trilogy produced by a multi-billion dollar company that has every possible resource to make the best movie they can.