Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

I can't call this movie good. I yawned my way through the first half and when it finally started telling a story in the second half, I hated the story they told. I shouldn't be surprised from what they did in the previous movies though.

I just wish they respected the history of the movies and didn't try so hard to outdo everything that came before.

3 stars.

I'm not even sure why it gets three stars. Let's see...

1. Occasionally it is pretty to watch 2.

3 stars is a stretch, ill be honest. While technically it's a well produced movie with great visuals and the phenomenal star wars sound track, each of these are borrowed from better films. And that's it. The only pro. Borrowed kudos.

But, in all the ways that matter, this film is a hot mess.

The story is just a poor fetch quest followed by a sprinkling of nostalgia bait. That's it. My dog could have made a better film.

The folks at Disney that made this film should feel ashamed and find another calling.

Unfortunately, this movie somehow reflects the way society's been going on for the last 15-20 years - the ever growing trivilialization, consumerism and regurgitation of works of genius from past generations who paid blood, sweat and tears for their works to be seen, heard and fealt - all of this now to get a quick buck at the local mall. Shameful...shameful...

You should probably disregard any review that gives this a 1/10 or a 10/10. It is not a terrible movie, nor is it legendary. For the average movie-goer I suspect it will fall somewhere between 6/10-8/10. Highly enjoyable in terms of visuals and plot twists, but not enough to stick around with you for years to come like the original trilogy.

Where the Mandalorian feels like somebody taking their own beloved Star Wars fantasy and putting it on screen, this feels like a marketing product. While the direction is enjoyable, the actors are doing a great job, the writing and the story is just checking boxes.

Retcon what the fans hated in the last movie? Done. Callbacks to the originals? Done. Cute new animals and droid for toys to sell? Done. New stormtrooper looks for game skins? Done. Are we blowing up random planets? Sure...

Best to get your SW fix from the expanded universe stuff. Pehaps where the company didn't spend a billion dollars on marketing, there's still room for a kid to look over the setting alien suns of his planet and dream of something more.