Saw Rise of Skywalker today. It had its moments. It’s fanservice, as everyone is saying, but fanservice to an extent that is cowardly and insulting.
The Force Awakens needed to reestablish fans and fan trust in the franchise, and so Abrams had the brilliant idea of making a classic-feeling Star Wars movie that is all about fandom, its joys and its dark underbelly.
Rian Johnson took that lead and ran with it, and made his movie about breaking from the past, while attempting to steer the Star Wars universe toward the future. It wasn’t perfect, but it was interesting, and at times gorgeous and breathtaking. Most of all, The Last Jedi was something new.
Rise of Skywalker is Abrams (and, to be fair, probably all of Disney) saying “screw all that, I got that good stuff you want, let’s check off the entire fan list while undoing all of the work of my predecessor.” There were some good moments, and it’s a fine enough diversion, but it isn’t memorable. And an interesting failure is light years better than a safe success. Which RoS isn’t.
My ranking, for posterity:
- Empire Strikes Back
- New Hope
- Last Jedi
- Force Awakens
- Rogue One
- Rise of Skywalker
- Return of the Jedi
- Revenge of the Sith
- Attack of the Clones
- Solo
- Phantom Menace
- A literal pile of feces