Return of the Living Sith

The Star Wars sequels trilogy which began in 2015 with 'The Force Awakens' (TFA) and continued in 2017’s 'The Last Jedi'  (TLJ) concludes with a whimper in the final chapter, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ (TROS), as J.J. Abrams retook the reins of the beloved franchise from Rian Johnson (or rather Colin Trevorrow) in the wake of the latter's highly controversial and deeply divisive middle installment.  Just as the conflict between the light (Jedi) and dark (Sith) sides of The Force is an eternal one, the tug-of-war between those among the SW fandom who want to see it go in exciting new directions and others who prefer to wrap themselves in the warm blanket of familiarity and nostalgia will likely rage on.

 

In the aftermath of Johnson’s presumptuousness by taking SW in a direction some fans did not like, the pendulum swung back entirely the other way as Abrams (and Disney by extension) waved the white flag of capitulation and gave the rabid fandom exactly what they wanted.  TLJ was “retconned” as the long believed-to-be-dead Sith Lord Emperor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious was miraculously resurrected with little exposition in a direct sequel to ‘Return of the Jedi’ (ROTJ).  While TFA opened the door to bold new possibilities and TLJ took the ball and ran with it, TROS brought everything to a screeching halt and rolled them back in a classic case of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

TROS is a mess of a SW movie with only fan service as its raison d'être.  Other than Darth Sidious’ return, which pretty much invalidated the redemptive sacrifice of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in ROTJ by the way, the rollicking space adventure we've taken for granted in SW is lacking.  Chewbacca didn't die because, God forbid, fans would be upset.  There is an utterly preposterous scene in which a rebel cavalry charge took place in the vacuum of space on top of a Star Destroyer that would make Leia’s much ridiculed ejection into space in TLJ pale by comparison.  I can hardly fault Abrams and Disney for their lack of a backbone in groveling to the fanboys who buy the tickets to see TROS, but it came at a steep price by stunting the evolution and growth of the SW movie franchise.  In undoing Johnson’s work, SW is back where it started at the end of Episode VI.  There is little room for growth and for SW to breathe because some of the most vocal and toxic fandom just simply couldn't, in the words of Kylo Ren, "let the past die."  Que Lastima.

 

Grade: C