Like many, I became a Star Wars fan when I was very young. My parents got me the original trilogy on VHS in a three pack collection and I got tons of toys of various characters as well. The original trilogy are classics and I appreciate them the more I get older and rewatch them.
The prequel trilogy is a bit of a rough spot, but I think each of the films had something positive to look at. "Phantom Menace" had one of the best lightsaber battles in Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi against Darth Maul. "Attack of the Clones" is what I consider the worst of the series, with poorly aged CGI, too many plotlines going on, and Anakin's whiny and creepy behavior; Yoda's lightsaber battle was pretty awesome though. "Revenge of the Sith" was the best of the lot by a mile and was at a time my favorite of the franchise.
When Disney bought the franchise and announced a sequel trilogy, it took me quite awhile to get on board. "The Force Awakens" would become my all-time favorite Star Wars film, combining what I felt worked best from both of the previous trilogies. "The Last Jedi" divided the fanbase, but I'm of the camp that thought it was good. I enjoyed how it subverted expectations, was more politically topical than what came before, and it featured one of the most badass Luke Skywalker moments ever. The only thing that keeps bugging me about it was Haldo's "don't tell anyone the plan to save them" thought process, because that just caused a ripple effect that got more people killed.
Now we've come to "The Rise of Skywalker", the ninth and final film of the main series...and boy do I have some thoughts on it.
Honestly, the story isn't as strong here as it was in the previous two installments, and I feel it was due to the fan response to "The Last Jedi." If that didn't scare Disney, then the box office failure of the Han Solo spin-off sent them into a panic, with the goal of making sure Episode IX made everyone happy. While I thought "Last Jedi" had a pretty epic set-up for the end of the trilogy, I felt somewhat underwhelmed with what we would end up getting and it can get predictable at times. A lot of elements brought in seem meant to appease fans, but it can come off hollow or too "fan-fic"y, like Finn apparently becoming force sensitive all of sudden. Strangely enough though, it appears to want validate part of "Last Jedi" as Poe also seems a little more dickish in this movie compared to how he's been before, almost like they were trying to justify Haldo's treatment of him in that film. And even though I thought it was genius to bring back Emperor Palpatine (who's looking a bit like Davros from Doctor Who), revealing that he's been pulling strings the whole time and cementing his spot as THE villain of the franchise, it doesn't have as much grandiose as I expected. They revealed his involvement in the trailers, but I at least expected it to be built up instead of bringing him in the first five minutes. Lastly, while I didn't realize the parallels "Force Awakens" had to "A New Hope" until it was pointed out, I was constantly reminded of "Return of the Jedi" throughout "Rise of Skywalker"; hell, even the climax is eerily similar to "Avengers: Endgame". Still, it at least doesn't have any glaring story problems that "Last Jedi" did.
Between Disney and the fans, I think both sides are to blame for the film's problems. Disney didn't have a course plotted for the trilogy (planning one film at a time), fans held on to their fan theories too obsessively, and Disney over-course corrected to the level of "Justice League" trying to please everyone.
What did I like though? Well, for one, we finally have Rey, Finn, and Poe (the trinity of the trilogy) working together for an extended amount of time. As a whole, all the new main characters introduced in the last few years have some pretty good moments in the film, bringing their stories to a close and parallel moments from the beginning of the trilogy to bring things full circle. And of course there are some pretty exciting moments, including the speeder chase in the desert and the fight between Rey and Kylo Ren on Endor.
"Rise of Skywalker" also does a good job at bringing a sense of finality to the decades spanning story and doing so in epic fashion, particularly the climax. From the Resistance rallying and going into battle with the Sith Fleet and Rey and Ben confronting Palpatine, it felt like a true culmination of what came before in both the original and prequel trilogies. There are also some nice callbacks from said trilogies, one of which finally gives some payoff to the story of Darth Plagueis from Episode III. Between being a life long fan and having rewatched all the movies beforehand, despite the problems, I really thought "Rise of Skywalker" as a whole was a satisfying conclusion that can bring all fans together.
Overall, "Rise of Skywalker" leaves more to be desired as a stand-alone film, but it succeeds more as the final chapter to the overall saga. This is really just an initial reaction, and I may look at it a little better on a second viewing or marathoning the entire sequel trilogy; hell, I may have gone into this as a critic opposed to a fan. For now though, I'll just say this: I love Star Wars as a whole, originals, prequels, sequels, and all. Are all the films perfect? No (hell no in some cases), but I can see in each one that the people behind them tried to make the best story they could because they cared as well. In any case, the Skywalker Saga is a story that will stick with me for years to come.
My Ranking of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga:
1. The Force Awakens (VII)
2. Revenge of the Sith (III)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (V)
4. A New Hope (IV)
5. Return of the Jedi (VI)
6. The Rise of Skywalker (IX)
7. The Last Jedi (VIII)
8. The Phantom Menace (I)
9. Attack of the Clones (II)
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