By, Matt Villanueva, Features Assignment Editor
On December 20, the epic Star Wars film series came to an astonishing, yet controversial conclusion with The Rise of Skywalker. The final installment of the series was a quintessential example of what a modern Star Wars movie should look like.
The film opens with the classic opening crawl. Emperor Palpatine is back, and Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, is searching for the late Emperor. He makes the treacherous expedition into Exegol, the Sith planet Palpatine has been hiding since his disappearance at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi.
Kylo has no intention of working with Palpatine but instead views the Emperor as an obstacle in the way of his power. He plans to eliminate Palpatine until he reveals his true plan— the Emperor has been building a secret army since his fall and needs Kylo to kill Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, the presumed last Jedi. Then Palpatine can transfer his force power to Kylo and he can rule the galaxy.
Meanwhile, Rey is training to battle with Palpatine, and General Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac, Finn, played by John Boyega, and Chewbacca are working to get a map to Exegol. They discover that they need a “sith Wayfinder” to navigate the galaxy toward the Emperor’s dwelling.
The crew travels the galaxy looking for clues on where to find a Wayfinder. They head to a desert planet, Pasaana, where they encounter Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams, and he explains how Luke Skywalker was hellbent on finding and destroying the emperor. Lando helps the crew until they encounter Kylo Ren and his army.
Chewbacca is captured, and in an attempt to save him, Rey uses the force to hold the ship back, but accidentally shoots force lightning, presumably killing Chewbacca. Until Rey uses the force to sense that Chewbacca is alive, and they perform a rescue mission onto Kylo’s ship to recover the Wookie.
While on the mission, Rey and Kylo battle as Rey discovers that she is Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter.
The crew discovers that the Wayfinder is on the second Death Star, destroyed during Return of the Jedi. Rey finds it but Ren, following the crew, destroys the device and the two duel. As the two are dueling, Kylo’s mother, Leah Organa, calls out to him through the force as she dies. Kylo is distracted and Rey impales him. At this moment, Kylo denounces the dark side of the force and Rey heals Kylo with the force. He then reclaims his identity as Ben Solo.
Distraught and scared, Rey flees to Ahch-To, the planet that Luke Skywalker found refuge. While there, Luke’s force ghost encounters Rey and encourages her to travel to Exegol to fight Palpatine. He gives Rey, his own and Leah’s lightsabers along with his old X-Wing, and the Jedi treks to the Sith planet to confront her grandfather.
As she arrives in Exegol, she sends R2-D2 her coordinates and the resistance follow her and battle with Palpatine’s army that he has built. As the resistance begins to falter, Lando leads a large crew of fighters across the galaxy to help with the cause.
Rey confronts the emperor, and he demands that she strike him down, then she can lead the sith and save her friends. Very similar to his proposal to Luke in the original trilogy’s finale. As she is ready to decapitate her grandfather Ben has found his way to Exegol as well and Rey senses his presence. Through the force, Rey hands Ben his mother’s lightsaber and the two battle the Emperor’s henchmen.
As the two stand up to Palpatine, he drains both of their powers and he is rejuvenated. He singlehandedly attacks the resistance’s fleet with force lightning and sends Ben off a ledge. Rey, then calls out to the Jedi of the past for strength. She returns to her feet and fights off Palpatine’s force lightning with both Skywalker’s lightsabers killing the Emperor and herself in the process.
As Rey lay lifeless on the ground, Ben climbs out of the trench and heals Rey by transferring his lifeforce to her, in turn, killing him.
The film concludes with Rey burying the Skywalker’s lightsabers at the spot of Luke’s childhood home on Tatooine. She is asked by a local who she is, she responds, “Rey Skywalker,” as she reveals her new yellow lightsaber.
The Rise of Skywalker is messy and, frankly, a lot. In just under two-and-a-half hours, director, JJ Abrams fits as much as he can while maintaining the aura of the most iconic science-fiction series in film history. Throughout the final trilogy of the series, he develops complicated characters such as Kylo Ren and Rey as he continues the trope of questioning self-identity found throughout the films.
The film had everything that a Star Wars fan would have wanted— intense action scenes, visually-appealing and diverse environments, cameos from older cast members and the return of the ultimate science-fiction antagonist.
The Rise of Skywalker is full of fanfare and callbacks to previous films but is ultimately an adequate conclusion to one of the most beloved film series of all time.
villanjv18@bonaventure.edu
