Much has been said about the final instalment in the Skywalker Saga. Our family has looked forward to the film by watching the previous 8 films on Disney+. There are some beauties and a shocker or two. Rise of Skywalker lands somewhere in the middle, neither the best nor the worst, but a fitting tribute to all that came before.

All I cared about going into the film was “Who is Rey”. Episode 9 answers that question in style. As Wenlei Ma put it in the paper, from the famous opening title crawl, it feels like the film is shouting at you, and I think the earlier films benefited from quiet scenes where we shared more intimate moments with the characters as we got to know them. Ep 9 just wants to wrap up a 3 trilogy story arc as neatly as it can, and does so with spectacular visuals, lots of laughs, some thrilling sequences and some excellent dramatic moments. And killer lightsaber duels.

Story-wise, The Emperor has returned with a fleet of zombie star destroyers all equipped with planet busting weapons. Poe and Finn et al must put a stop to this while Kylo Ren and Rey wrestle with their feelings for each other, and the Force.

3 & ½ Stars“A Fond Farewell to The Force”