Star Wars - Rise of Whatever. OLD REVIEW

This was written on the release of star wars rise of Skywalker, so as such it's not really relevant today, but you know, it's quite entertaining so I thought I'd repost it here.

Work has kept me away from the cinema for some time, but as part of this week’s lazy buggery, I dusted off my Cineworld ticket and went in to watch Star Wars Rise of Whatever.

Firstly, let me make myself clear. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It has all the action, spectacle, and explosapaloosa you could expect from a Star Wars film, ties up most of the loose ends in a competent and stylish manner, and if you like your big-screen films to be really big you should see this one on a big screen.

 But then most of you have decided whether you're going to see this already, right?

So, for the wordy part of the review.

 

I am one of those very few people who really liked and admired what Disney attempted in the second film. That is, to try and introduce a bunch of new elements, add depth and interest to old characters, and take the universe in a slightly different direction. This was especially welcome after the first of the latest trilogy which was essentially a remake of A New Hope with a bigger Death Star etc etc.

You’ll understand therefore that I was disappointed with the amount of retconning in this third film, and that they went with the safe choice of giving us a new version of Return of the Jedi, down to having an utterly cringeworthy bit in the finale, which I won’t talk about to keep the review spoiler-free. With J.J. Abrams at the helm, perhaps I really shouldn’t have expected anything more.

Being me, and being picky about such things, I’ll comment that much of the lightsabre fighting was not great, particularly after the standard set in the second trilogy, though there was one standout moment, which was clearly done by some highly skilled stunt doubles. Again, I won’t mention which bit for fear of spoiling the film for the one person who’s not seen it already.

There are lots of bits that leave themselves open to criticism, plot holes, reality-warping (and I mean real reality not Star Wars reality) but at its core what this film does have, all bells and whistles aside, is some really good performances, particularly from the two leads, which is the heart and soul of the film and just about raises it above a pure by-the-numbers sequel.

Finally, yes, in my view, you should go watch this. I enjoyed it and will no doubt see it again. It has great spectacle, really good performances, and is a lot of fun.

For me, though, it could have been so much more.