Tim Basaraba After Seeing the New Star Wars: Sky Walking on Sunshine (And Don’t it Feel Good?)
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega
By Tim Basaraba
Forty-two years in the making, the Story of the Skywalkers comes to its long awaited end with 2019’s polarizing Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. If you’re keeping score at home, this is the ninth and final part of the original Star Wars story George Lucas conceived of, preceded by parts 4 (A New Hope 1977), 5 (The Empire Strikes Back 1980), and 6 (Return of the Jedi 1983); followed by parts 1 (The Phantom Menace 1999), 2 (Attack of the Clones 2002) and 3 (Revenge of the Sith 2005 ), and then more recently J.J. Abram’s part 7 (The Force Awakens 2015) and Rian Johnson’s 8 (The Last Jedi 2017).
Would all the ups and downs of this space opera end on a unified high note? Or would the nerd schism do battle over its worthiness like the previous film?
This may have been the quickest one hundred and forty two minutes of my life. The film is so well paced that the mental marks I made of which scenes I liked and disliked dissolved, and I was forced to just watch and enjoy. The dialogue isn’t as sardonically meta as Rian Johnson’s Masterpiece, (the aforementioned Last Jedi), but the return to nostalgia feels more authentic than J.J.’s first crack at the franchise in 2015.
The action sequences are unrelenting and breathtaking; the CGI is seamless. To compare the prequels would be unfair, but I assume twenty years from now some “mindblogger” will be saying…um thinking the same things that I’m thinking about this film. Regardless, the progress in technology from the Canto Bite scene in Last Jedi to similar scenes in this film is mind jarring. In just two years, the difference proves that the exponential rate of progress in technology will surely doom us all to obsolescence, or at least give us the most amazing visuals effects ever.
None of my reviews are spoilers, but I think we all knew Daisy Ridley’s Rey had linage that was important even with the misdirection of The Last Jedi. This revelation plays out organically and believably. Not feeling like a RETCON is a huge service to fans. Speaking of service to fans, there are some notable “guest appearances” that some may call fan service. Let them. As a last hurrah, these are done tastefully as is Carrie Fisher’s role and departure.
For anyone that loves technology and being immersed in a galaxy far far away, this is a must see. For the Star Wars fan, it is a must see twice. Trust me the second viewing is even quicker. Not quite as quick as a twelve-parsec-Kessel-run, but close.
If Empire Strikes Back and Last Jedi are an A+…
and New Hope and Return of the Jedi are A’s …
and Force Awakens is a A- …
and Revenge of the Sith is a B …
and Attack of the Clones is a C …
and Phantom Menace is a C- …
Oh Hell! Even if Rogue One and Solo are an A- and B, respectively …
Then Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker is an A …