Release Date: Dec. 20, 2019

Starring: Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley(Rey), John Boyega(Finn), Oscar Isaac(Poe Dameron), Carrie Fisher(Leia)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Our Rating: D

The newest installment of the ever-popular Star Wars franchise was nothing but a letdown. Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, fights Emperor Palpatine, a classic character from the original trilogy, who has amassed an army to destroy the Resistance.

The most glaring issue was the plot, which was a convoluted mess that seemed to try to loosely explain how the movie’s ending happened. There was no time to calm the movie’s pacing, it felt like a constant chase and as if it was just one big action scene. The already messy plot became more confusing with the unclear script which, at times, made the movie impossible to understand. On top of that, the jokes were of the corniest variety. The jokes this movie tried to make missed their mark almost every time. Not one person laughed throughout the entire movie.

Daisy Ridley’s character, Rey, as well as Adam Driver’s, Kylo Ren, were the only two to develop whatsoever. Everyone else basically stayed the same. On top of that, Emperor Palpatine seemed to come out of nowhere. He was not in either movie that directly links to this one, never even eluding to his return from death in the two previous movies. Palpatine seems like a cheap plot-line to appeal to the older generation of Star Wars fans. He definitely does not seem like a part of the original movie idea.

The acting in this film was very average. No actor’s performance was outstanding, nor were any of them terrible. It was a mediocre blend of provenly talented actors in what is probably their worst performance. The likes of Oscar Isaac, who plays Poe Dameron, is a prime example of this. He has made many memorable performances in other movies but in this one, he seems like he is exerting very little effort.

“J.J. Abrams always adds lens flares to his films, but in this one, it was particularly noticeable and annoying,” freshman Patrick Heydasch said.

There still is one silver lining, being the amazing visual effects. The movie really made the world of Star Wars believable. The mix of digital and practical effects are nearly impossible to discern from each other, which shows how advanced the digital effects really are. There were some downright beautiful shots in this movie. The one in the trailer with a sort of iceberg looks so amazing. It’s symmetricalness is pleasing to look at. There are also other scenes that look as amazing as that iceberg does. The main reason as to why these scenes look so amazing is the colors, which were made to pop out in this movie. Each color is vibrant, yet able to blend with others, as in it does not have too much contrast. Our one issue with the way this was filmed is an issue with the director, J.J. Abrams. He uses far too many lens flares. One lens flare here and there makes sense, but to have one in almost every scene is a little bit absurd. They just ended up being distracting whenever they showed up, instead of adding beauty to an already beautiful film.

In short, “Star Wars 9, the Rise of Skywalker” is not a recommendable movie. If one is a Star Wars fan, then it is worth it to get closure on the saga, but other than it being a part of a classic film series, there is not much to enjoy about it.