The Rise of Skywalker: Let The Past Return, Revive It If You Have To

There comes a moment when a wayward prince, a highborn child with powers beyond measure, must face the spite caused by his past actions. He has to contend with a legacy of suffering left behind and choose how to move forward, should he be given the opportunity. It's a moment with no clear solutions.

Oh wait, this isn't a review of Avatar: The Last Airbender. No such moment exists in The Rise of Skywalker - a title that continues to confound me. A more accurate title (read no further if you don't like spoilers) would be The Rise of Palpatine, as the only true villain in the franchise returns from the dead to reclaim his devilish mantle.

And from that sentence stems all the movie's problems.

In his two outings as director, J.J. Abrams found a way to include another Death Star in Starkiller Base and to resurrect Palpatine. He would like nothing better than to remake the original trilogy under the guise of something new. It is an easy thing to do. Like no other major franchise, Star Wars banks on nostalgia. Referencing the old is a move that goes over well, but it should just be that, referencing, not a wannabe cover album of The Return of the Jedi.

Despite this overt love for the original trilogy, Abrams's biggest accomplishment in Rise of Skywalker is to take the three movies that changed Hollywood and render them irrelevant. Darth Vader didn't kill the emperor. Han and Leia didn't end the Galactic Empire. Luke didn't...do anything except lose his hand in a battle that didn't matter. They were never gone, just hiding in the shadows and developing more planet destroying technology.

That is a far, far worse crime than any Rian Johnson stands accused of. For all the fans' gnashing of teeth over his handling of Luke, he set the stage for a saga finale that didn't include a one-dimensional puppet master controlling everything. Adam Driver's Kylo Ren/Ben Solo would have had to come to terms with killing his father, being rejected by Rey, who seems to understand his inner turmoil, and becoming the Supreme Leader of an army fighting Rey and his mother.

We all know from how skilled an actor Driver can be. Let him and Daisy Ridley take the story in a new direction and provide a more satisfying conclusion than yet another "destroy the Death Star and the emperor" story.

Furthermore, the return of the emperor feels more like an impression of the ever meme-able villain than the earlier iterations of him. He's more one-dimensional than ever, and that's saying something. Here, he just cackles and shows off his lightning-empowered force abilities. He even says, "Do it!" in the comical way we all know. If you are going to make the ill-advised choice to bring Palpatine back, can you at least get him right?

What I can say in the movie's favor is the momentum. Though it may skip steps and is illogical at times, Abrams has a good sense of pace. He's always had that. He's a professional crowd-pleaser and knows how to make even mediocre productions watchable. Driver and Ridley also get the most mileage out of the material given to them. Less committed actors would've put this film in Attack of the Clones territory.

Where I should be contemplating the course of the saga and feeling both elation and sadness at the series coming to an end, I'm left with mild exhaustion and annoyance. For a universe with essentially limitless possibilities and an expansive lore, the lack of variety in the stories makes no sense. Not everything needs a Death Star (or something like it) and an emperor (or something like him). Please, Disney, let someone take a chance and reward them when they do.

Review: Episode VII Awakens New Life Into the Star Wars Franchise

I will start by saying that I have never been a Star Wars fanatic. No part of my childhood included pretending that Darth Vader was my father. In fact, I spent my time figuring out what links existed between any of the Godzilla movies, though now I cannot understand my obsession with the super-breath empowered dinosaur. Regardless, I have seen all of the Star Wars films and even played the LEGO Star Wars video game when it came out years ago, so I am very familiar with the world and the lore. That being said, however, I found myself highly skeptical of the praise surrounding The Force Awakens, as I am often reminded of the disastrous Episodes I, II, and III.

Abrams is right in his element with Star Wars.

Now, having seen the film, I must say that I was very surprised to find a little substance behind Disney's massive marketing mask. Actually, I will take it a step further. In some ways, Episode VII is the best movie to come out of the Star Wars franchise. The most important arena where this holds true is character development. I can remember this being the most disappointing aspect of the six previous installments in the pop culture staple. Thanks to the work of J.J Abrams, the driving force behind this sequel trilogy, Lawrence Kasdan, who helped make the original Star Wars what it was, and Michael Arndt, a relatively unknown writer with a Best Original Screenplay Oscar to his name. I'm convinced that this renewed devotion to the human side of the characters is due to the involvement of Arndt. Yes, he left before the product was finished, but his quality had to have influenced it.

The First Order, which has taken up where the Empire left off, has been given a very European look.

Anyway, as I was saying, the characters do not come across as stock heroes thrown into a mosh pit of sci-fi world made for nerdist worship. While there are plenty of those features and little asides to the old days depicted in the original three films, The Force Awakens spends more time on allowing the audience to truly connect to Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren, the want-to-be Darth Vader. They struggle, internally and externally, with who they are and what they are meant to do. The force calls to them or rips them up inside, leaving them to fight it out. Nothing is made easy for them. Rey is forced out of her element and she has find a way to thrive in the face of near-constant immediate danger. Finn rebels against the anonymity and lifelong conditioning of being a storm trooper, using Poe's capture as a means for an exit. Then there's Kylo Ren. He does not know what he wants to be. Darth Vader or the man his parents and mentor taught him to be.

Being a self-proclaimed critic, however, I have to find something to tear down. This film was made by J.J Abrams, who has been labeled a Star Wars "superfan." True to form, he made a movie that fans would love. Complete with visual references to Episode IV, V, and VI as well as new creatures and technology tailor-made for a killing in the merchandise sales, there is no question that the guiding hand was a fan fashioning out a labor of love. Also, this influence is clearly carried out in the plot, which seems to follow A New Hope just a little too closely. Some parallels and references would have been fine considering the franchise, but some of the story elements resemble Lucas's first installment more than they should. The new elements are great, especially how storm troopers are not merely addressed with stock anonymity. I'm just saying that maybe more originality could have been included in the plot. Then again, who am I to argue with the box office receipts?

Rey and Finn do not disappoint initiating the flagship roles for the sequel trilogy.

All things considered, The Force Awakens is exactly what the doctor ordered for Disney investment in Star Wars. It mixes the old and new in a way that opens up many avenues to exploration during the subsequent films. Not only that, Abrams has not forgotten the first rule of entertainment--don't be boring. Episode VII is nothing to snooze about.

How will these characters be expanded upon in Episode VIII?