In a spoiler-filed review, one Reality panelist gives his take on the final episode of the main Star Wars saga.

Warning: This review contains MAJOR spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker and some minor spoilers from The Last Jedi.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the ninth and final film in the core Star Wars saga, commonly referred to as the Skywalker Saga.

Starting in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope, the series has captivated audiences for generations, and continues to be a critical and financial success.

However, the previous film, titled The Last Jedi, was one of the most controversial films in the series, dividing longtime fans between those who enjoyed the film and those who felt betrayed by the narrative. In response, the latest installment in the franchise aims to reverse some of the key aspects of The Last Jedi, which leads to a choppy plot that spends more time on damage control than actual storytelling.

The Rise of Skywalker has received devastating reviews from critics and audiences alike due to the conflict with the prior movie. However, beyond how it worked to undo the plot of The Last Jedi, I was more upset with how it undermines the basic values and rules enshrined in the Star Wars universe, including the nature of the Force.

First, the movie introduces the use of the Force to heal injuries or even bring the dead back to life.

This occurs several times in the film; first when Rey heals a giant serpent in a cave, then to save the life of Kylo Ren and still later to save Rey herself. I have a major objection to this idea.

To quote Han Solo, Thats not how the Force works!

This new concept negates the idea of death in Star Wars. Since the Force can now allow somebody to be revived, there will never again be high stakes in a battle, as long as a Jedi is around. All you need is someone who is Force-sensitive near you during a conflict and they can just transfer some of their Life Force to you, meaning that characters essentially have immortality.

I was also annoyed that the first and last time we see this power is in the final movie. It seemed to have been thrown in as an afterthought, or a deus ex machina to save our heroine at the end of the film.

My other major objection to the film is the decision to revive Emperor Palpatine and make him the main antagonist.

It appears that the character of Palpatine was used as an excuse for the death of Snoke in The Last Jedi. When I was watching it for the first time, it felt as though the script writers had replaced Snoke with Palpatine in every instance to make up for Snokes death in The Last Jedi, which had angered so many fans.

But putting this aside, using Palpatine in this film brought into play an idea that has never been used in the saga cloning oneself and transferring ones soul into a clone body. This makes The Rise of Skywalker into something other than just another Star Wars film, as it delivers a concept never seen in any other movies as a major part of the plot and then just glosses over it as though it should be easy for the viewer to understand.

This movie was tasked with wrapping up eight movies worth of lore and decades of fandom, but by introducing the two new concepts of Force resuscitation and transferring souls into clones, the film fails at this task.

The bottom line is that the last movie in the franchise was not a place to experiment with new ideas. This was the place to conclude the narrative that fans adore, not to introduce new concepts that come off as underdeveloped and rushed.

This movie disappointed me because the characters I love from the new sequels were sidelined to make room for a new vision. But what is worse is that those powers have never been part of Star Wars lore, and they undermine the foundational myth of the series.

Originally posted here:

Reality: The Rise of Skywalker is a disappointing conclusion to the Star Wars saga - The Intelligencer