In Review: The Rise of Skywalker
A
by Ted Giese
s The Rise of Skywalker opens, General Leia Organa a n d h e r b e l e a g u e re d Resistance are foiled, attempting to stay alive to fight another day. The First Order grips the universe in a blanket of paralyzing fear as its new Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren—Leia’s estranged son—seeks to eliminate a phantom menace from the past: a long-thought-dead yet mysteriously alive Emperor Palpatine. Tempted by Palpatine’s offer of a new secret fleet of Star Destroyers mounted with Death Starstyle weapons along with the promise of the throne of a new Galactic Empire, Kylo Ren agrees to hunt down Rey who is desperately trying to complete her Jedi training with the help of Leia. News of Palpatine and his secret fleet prompts the Resistance to make a last ditch attempt to stop Palpatine’s Final Order before it can merge with Ren’s First Order. Along the way old and new friends join Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and the rest of the Resistance as questions about Rey’s lineage are answered, storylines are resolved, and Palpatine is confronted one last time. On one hand, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi had painted Star Wars into a corner perhaps best epitomized by Kylo Ren when he says, “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.” On the other hand, J.J. Abrams reveres Star Wars’ past and is not interested in letting it die. Audiences first saw this in The Force Awakens and they see it again in The Rise of Skywalker. While The Force Awakens borrowed heavily from the first film, this new film borrows heavily from The Return of the Jedi. (Some viewers will see this as an homage full of respect while others will judge it uninspired). Abrams was considered
a safe pair of hands to direct this final episode and while he made some bold story choices many of them are raked back quickly to please competing old and new fan bases. The death of Leia in The Rise of Skywalker was almost inevitable following the actual death of Carrie Fisher in 2016. Using unused footage from the first two Disney films, Abrams constructed a composite CGI-enhanced performance which looks to be about as good as they could do with what they had to
work with. Leia’s death comes at a critical moment and contributes to the redemption of her son Kylo Ren/ Ben Solo. Christian viewers were eagerly anticipating that redemption, and Abrams doesn’t disappoint. Han Solo appears to his son as a kind of vivid memory, and Kylo Ren relives the moments and words spoken between them in The Force Awakens. But now Ben Solo re-emerges. In
an act of repentance, Ben throws his iconic angry crackling red Sith lightsaber into the depths of the sea. Christians may see in this act an almost biblical description of God’s forgiveness: “[The LORD] will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. [He] will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Ben Solo now sees with new eyes his father’s compassion towards him—how Han had originally come to Star Killer Base, treading underfoot the iniquities of Kylo Ren to get to his real son and redeem him. Elements of Han and Ben’s relationship in the Disney trilogy echo biblical elements of King David with his son Absalom. But where David never had the opportunity to reconcile with Absalom, Abrams gives Han this opportunity with Ben. Had Carrie Fisher not died in 2016, Abrams would likely have had this reconciliation happen between mother and son. But the encounter with the memory of his father gives Ben the strength necessary to do the thing he knows is right. While not perfectly executed, this is one of the most satisfying character arcs in the Disney trilogy. Ben Solo then becomes an asset to Rey in the film’s final act as she squares off against Palpatine. While Ben Solo’s character arc is satisfying, the emotional elements in the rest of the film are uneven. As a result of the previous film’s splitting up of major characters, it is difficult to believe—as this film requires—that they are all close friends, willing to lay down their lives for each other. This has the effect of flattening much of the emotional landscape of The Rise of Skywalker—especially when characters like C-3PO look at Rey, Fin, and Poe (in the absence of R2D2 and Chewbacca) and say “I’m just taking one last look at my friends.”
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN January/February 2020
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