Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker turned out to be very vanilla; while it takes advantage of its mega-budget with some fantastic set pieces and effects, the story itself is the safest of the safe. When walking out from the theatre, I couldn't help but feel rather emotionless despite seeing an end to a saga which has spanned decades by now.
Despite a lot of re-introductions of classic Star Wars music, John Williams’ score in this one is still a gift to the ears. The movie throws so much new information in your way but the score makes the scenery transitions feel less jarring. The franchise is known for its ambitious set pieces and the production design does live up to it extremely well, it’s rather artistically combined with some of the best visual effects money can buy and viewers’ eyes are always treated with something worthwhile. As far as the acting goes, Adam Driver is giving his all to portray the relief and anguish his character Kylo Ren goes through, Daisy Ridley (as Rey) gives possibly her best physical and emotional acting so far seen in the trilogy and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) brings some levity and laughs that is much needed.
Where the movie really stumbles is the script and story decisions. The dialogue, written by director J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio, is filled with cliches, making it woeful and outright boring. There are some downfalls in the middle third that get resolved the easiest way possible which keep repeating, making nothing have any risks or sense of real danger. There are also plot conveniences that don’t really change anything about the story and return of Palpatine seems to be only for fans—a sign of desperation, maybe—as he never seems to be in control over his own actions.
Smileys: Production design, score
Frowneys: Screenplay, characterisation, story
Nothing to write home about but it might work for you if you just want to point at the screen.
