“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” falls flat

Matthias Talbert, Chief Technology Officer

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” being the ninth movie in the iconic Star Wars series, and the third movie of the continuation of the new saga featuring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver. Along with members from the original movies showcasing, essential characters like Carrie Fisher(Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels( 3-CPO), Joonas Suotamo(Chewbacca) and other various characters from the original saga.

Besides the fact that we’re able to see the characters of the original series grow and how things played out after “Return of The Jedi” leading into the new saga featuring the “last” Jedi Rey Skywalker. But I would have been fine if they never created the new saga, in my opinion, there was no need to continue the Star Wars series because it ended off perfectly with the last movie “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” released in 2007. From there on I’ve been completely disappointed with the quality and the depth of plot from the recent movies. First and foremost the first movie in the new saga “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was solid, it was great for introducing the new characters and describing all the relations to previous movies.

But a major huge flaw it had was they copied previews Star Wars movie “Star Wars: A New Hope” which the main problem that was faced in “Star Wars: A New Hope” was the death star which was a laser the size of the moon that could destroy planets. But in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” they copy the whole idea of the Death star but make it the size of a planet, which to me clearly shows that no actual effort was put into the movie and they just made it for the money, not for the actual Star Wars fans. Aside from this, I believe that the movie was ok, but I would much rather watch the originals.

Following the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” comes “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” appears in theaters, which initially I walked in there with no high hopes, but to my surprise, I thought it was really good until a couple of factors occurred which completely changed my whole view of the movie. Kylo Ren took off his helmet like you would keep the only cool aspect to your character off for no apparent reason. Darth Vader in the Star Wars series only took off his helmet because he was about to die and so his son Luke could see his face for the first time. But Kylo Ren who built up an awesome reputation throughout the movies completely shattered the whole character when his mask came off. The other major key role that ruined the movie for me was the character who they built up within the two movies who seemed to be all-powerful, creepy, and just super-strong villain was unexpectedly killed by Kylo Ren within minutes.

It completely bewildered me the moment that Supreme Leader Snoke the main antagonist aside from Kylo Ren died quite easily. So that was a major blow for me because a character everyone thought would be so amazing and cool was easily killed, destroyed my resolve to further enjoy the movie and gave me the impression that his character was completely useless. However, an aspect I liked about the movie is how the force ability was used justify and wasn’t overused and all-powerful, sadly this defined trait does not carry into the latest Star Wars movie ‘Star Wars: The Rise of  Skywalker”.

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” brought about a great deal of controversy in many fans debating if the movie was good or not. I feel that the movie had multiple key points and scene within it, but was still more on the bad side of the movie scale compared to good. This is a result of lack of character development with the series(new saga), the repetitiveness of old attributes and plot from the previous movies, and the overuse of the force. Within the movies John Boyega(Finn) characters development was completely none, it bewilders me that they would have a previously clone trooper John Boyega(Finn ) leave the First Order of his own accord which has never happened before but eventually becomes a character with no development that interns useless within the story. This can be said for multiple characters within the new saga as compared to the diverse and abundant character development within the original movies. Another key thing within “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” that didn’t appeal to me is how the plot of this movie revolves around Ian McDiarmid(Emperor Palpatine) who within the original movies was one of the essential villains that led to the eradication of the Jedi. Even though his character traits portray the essence of what a villain should be doesn’t mean you need to bring him back, even though he fell into the energy converter in the Death Star which then exploded minutes after.

It just doesn’t make sense that you would bring back a villain from the previous movies to use in the original saga, then they dared to make Daisy Ridley (Rey) Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) granddaughter. This is completely ridiculous in so many ways, one being the movie is called “ Rise of Skywalker” which is the last name Daisy Ridley (Rey) goes by until she finds out her actual origins. However, it doesn’t make sense how they would call the movie “Rise of Skywalker” which is the name Daisy Ridley’s character originally went by, but in actuality, her name is “Rey Palpatine”. Another reason for my poor opinion of the movie is because of the abuse of the force ability that all Jedi have.