When browsing medium.com, I decided to look at reviews and thoughts on the latest Star Wars film.  The Rise of Skywalker marks the end of a nine-film arc and is supposedly the last film in the saga, but that is inevitably not the case; as studios want more revenue.  But one thing that was very apparent in reading multiple reviews is that there is no unanimous decision on if the movie was good or bad.

In the first review I came upon, by Gregory Cameron, he addresses how the film wasn’t perfect, but it was at least enjoyable.  He gives praise to the arc of Kylo Ren and how that was a consistent strength through the trilogy, but he acknowledges that this film seems like “clean up” for the reception of the Last Jedi, rather than a film with a strong narrative.  Overall seeing that this wasn’t as bad as most were making it out to be, but it is far from the strong sendoff many fans had hoped to see.  With under utilization of characters and sloppy narrative, Cameron finds that the movie shouldn’t have received as much critical panning as it did but by no reason is it a perfect film.

The second article I found about this topic wasn’t a review, but rather just someone’s thoughts on the movie.  This is written by Michael St. James, and rather than being a review it focuses on the cultural impact of the franchise.  He addresses that even if its not a phenomenal film, it does mark “The end of a generational run, the penultimate gift of 9 beautifully wrapped presents”.  Something that most readers could probably attest to being part of this journey.  Acknowledging that there have been flops in the franchise, he doesn’t go out to make it seem like Star Wars is perfect; rather he chooses to address the societal impact of the global franchise.

Reading a third article about the topic creates more conversation and that’s what I did.  M.G Sielger, reiterates that this is a flawed film and after a second viewing those flaws are more apparent.  But he does acknowledge the enjoyment that can be gotten out of a flawed movie.  Rather than address what the film did wrong though, he chooses to address the external factors such as studios and directors.  Choosing to address the director change from movies and how like a similar pop culture icon of the last generation, Game of Thrones, also didn’t stick the landing and fumbled at the finish line.  Overall believing that the direction of the sequel trilogy was not strong enough to begin with and the fact the final chapter is at least enjoyable is good.

Finally, I read a review by an account called EveryMovieHasALesson.  In this the author decides to address what the movie’s main messages are and how well they are conveyed.  The first point being “finality” and how the final movie of this 42-year franchise wasn’t a strong final chapter to it.  The second point of “Confronting Fears”, is where the author believes that the film did well.  As the characters feel vulnerable, due to the performances given.  Other than those points, the only other thing addressed is the visuals and composition of the film, which they believe are impeccable; but nothing to be praised as the franchise has always had those strong points.

In my opinion, I agree with these reviews and thoughts on the film.  After my viewing of the film these are valid points of argument and the fact the authors do address the enjoyability of the film is important.  The fact that they also address the cultural impact of these films is important as they have cemented themselves in our society as a flagship for science fiction.  However, nostalgia is not something that the movies should try to go off; as new ideas are always needed and even if they aren’t executed well, they’re welcomed. So seeing this divide among individuals is expected, as it should be with any major film or pop culture franchise.