We’re finally out of Spoilers territory so I can blather my two cents. I also caught Rise at Alamo Drafthouse three times to make sure how I felt about it. First time during the special Thursday night screenings (due to my profession), the following Sunday with my friends visiting from the Netherlands and then about a month later with a new friend I promised to take.
Did this conclusion to what is supposed to be the Skywalker Family Saga pay off? Given it was JJ Abrams directing? I have to say a grudging “yes,” and thanks to Lucas lowering the bar with Phantom, Clones and Revenge, it was a relatively easy job. There were plausible explanations: questions answered about Rey, who was Supreme Leader Snoke and the state of the Galaxy…The First Order has conquered key Republic planets while Emperor Palpatine has alerted everybody he’s alive, pissed and ready to retake the throne.
Now comes the other Abrams’ elements I hate. It’s a lot of running justify, crap exploding, cheap heart-string tugging (some actors are retiring), introduced characters who don’t add to the story and some heavy suspension of disbelief with behavior and the passage of time. In short, Rise shares the same complaints I have with Awakens and Last, re-watchability. I am glad to announce that I feel the door is left open enough for Rey, Poe and Finn to carry the baton through a new trilogy. Unfortunately, Daisy Ridley would prefer not to play Rey anymore courtesy of Incels. I hope she changes her mind, I like these new heroes as much as the ones from the past.
One upside is Disney’s rapacious nature with Star Wars. They are killing it on The Mandalorian, they’re bringing back the true finale to Clone Wars and their scrapped big-screen projects may live on through Disney+; Ewan McGregor is owed one opportunity to be Obi-Wan in a non-crap film. The evil mouse saw the setting as a character to exploit long before Paramount could on Star Trek or Fox with Alien.
Back to Rise. See it. Enjoy it. It’s designed to please a majority at varying levels of fandom. Despite the minor shortcomings, I have been relieved to see five films in a row without actors choking on Lucas’ bloated, clunky dialog.
Alamo Extras: Only about half of it was new this time. Two drag queens giving their opinions on the fashion choices made for Star Wars characters; Randy “Macho Man” Savage as the Emperor yelling at Darth Vader; scenes from Jabba’s Palace with all the characters re-dubbed with Muppet Show voices.