Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 19 december 2019
‘Rise of Skywalker’ is a sour end to a grand saga

By JAKE COYLE much of what came be-
Associated Press fore that it feels as though
Not much has caused a dis- someone searching for the
turbance in the “Star Wars” hyperspace button acci-
galaxy quite like Rian John- dentally pressed the spin
son’s “The Last Jedi,” an cycle instead. A laundry
erratic but electric movie list of plot points cluster like
that, regardless of how you an asteroid field in “Rise of
felt about it, was something Skywalker.” It’s a spirited,
worth arguing about. The hectic and ultimately for-
same can’t be said for J. J. gettable conclusion of the
Abrams’ “Rise of Skywalk- Skywalker saga begun 42
er,” a scattershot, impa- years ago by George Lu-
tiently paced, fan-servicing cas. It was also surely a lot
finale that repurposes so to ask for. Abrams, having
This image released by Disney/Lucasfilm shows Daisy Ridley as Rey, left, and Adam Driver as Kylo
Ren in a scene from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."
Associated Press

already ably and nimbly ator has led to some unset- cludes a series of MacGuf-
resuscitated Lucas’ space tling resurrections. fins including — like a relic
opera with the far less clut- This third “Star Wars” trilogy from a more earthbound
tered “The Force Awak- began with a plan: the first adventure — a secret-
ens,” was brought back movie would belong to Han wielding dagger.
(like seemingly everyone (Harrison Ford), the second Some of the tropes that
is in “Star Wars,” dead or to Luke (Mark Hamill) and Johnson deconstructed
alive) with the task of not the third to Leia (Carrie have been reassembled.
only wrapping up a trilogy Fisher). Life interfered. Fish- Poe, the Han Solo heir ap-
but repairing the divides er, who along with Ford did parent, is again central.
stirred up by “The Last Jedi” more to enliven the origi- New worlds bring new
and stabilizing the fran- nal trilogy than any special friends — a Stormtrooper-
chise’s revolving door of di- effect, died of a heart at- turned-rebel played by
rectors. Abrams here took tack in 2016. But she, too, Naomi Ackie; an old rival of
over for the jettisoned Co- has been brought back for Poe’s named Zorri Bliss (Keri
lin Trevorrow, who retains a “Rise of the Jedi,” via bits Russell); a cute Muppet-
“story by” credit. and pieces of old footage. like creature named Babu
More significantly, “The Last For an actress of such live- Frik — and old (Billy Dee
Jedi” had to solve the un- wire verve, the composite Williams’ Lando). Many of
derlying existential crisis in result — a handful of brief them make a good impres-
“Star Wars,” a franchise in lines and gazes — is a hol- sion but the encounters
search of a reason beyond low non-performance. proceed predictably.
nostalgia (and, cough, bil- Palpatine, residing in a dark To go too much into the
lions of dollars) for continu- Sith lair, essentially sets the narrative of “Rise of Sky-
ing. The film, for sure, tries table. He summons Kylo walker” isn’t necessary
its damnedest to come up Ren (Adam Driver) with an and, besides, I’m not to-
with something. It is one order to “kill the girl” (Daisy tally sure I could explain it
busy, hardworking movie. Ridley’s Rey) and thereby all, anyway. That, in itself,
But if anything has been inherit the throne. With the is one of the movie’s most
proven by the many at- wave of his hand, Palpa- disappointing aspects:
tempts to rekindle the mag- tine unearths an entire fleet It’s trying too hard. What
ic of the original trilogy, it’s of Star Destroyers. They rise the streaming spinoff “The
that Lucas’ cosmic amal- from the depths, a new ar- Mandalorian” has proven
gamation of Flash Gordon mada of doom for the First (besides that people will
and Akira Kurosawa isn’t so Order. go absolutely gaga over
easily refabricated. But this is only a piece of infant Jedi Masters) is that
As the trilogy’s third act, the movie’s manic start. simplicity of story line pays
“Rise of Skywalker” takes Abrams, who penned the in “Star Wars,” just as it does
the general shape of “Re- screenplay with Chris Terrio in westerns. “Rise of Sky-
turn of the Jedi,” even re- (“Argo,” “Justice League”), walker” aims for the brilliant
suscitating its villain: Em- races to catch up with the parallel action of “Return of
peror Palpatine (the very many characters of the the Jedi” but ends up with
spooky Ian McDiarmid, now Resistance, among them mounted horse-like crea-
mostly a shadowy heap of Leia, Finn (John Boyega), tures charging on the wing
CGI). He was last seen ex- Poe (Oscar Isaac), Rose of a Star Destroyer. Some-
ploding in a Death Star air (Kelly Marie Tran), Chew- where, Jar Jar Binks is cel-
shaft, thrown to his appar- bacca (Joonas Suotamo) ebrating. He might not be
ent death by Darth Vader. and C-3PO (Anthony Dan- the most misplaced thing
Yet as “Star Wars,” the most iels). From the start, there’s in the galaxy far, far away,
forever war there is, march- a rush to speed through a after all.
es into its fifth decade, the complex plot that sends a But even if “Rise of Sky-
undying demands of a pop crowded Millennium Fal- walker” has its fair share of
culture phenomenon and con in search of the hidden missteps, it gets some things
corporate revenue gener- Sith base, a quest that in- right.q