Star Wars IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
I was really surprised, initially very worried as the leaks sounded ridiculous.
The first half hour is break neck speed but it worked for me.
The entire story is probably as best as it could be at this point. It isn't as good as Lucas' Star Wars in that regards but his own bad handling of the prequels make those movies far less watchable and enjoyable - stoic acting, far too much cgi, no sense of realism. I would thus place this entire trilogy between the originals and prequels, if ranking good to bad.
The atmosphere in some scenes is stellar. Just for that bringing the emperor back (not really a spoiler since he is on the poster) was worth it.
Really liked the handling of the droids (after Rian Johnson's ridiculous BB-8 AT-ST walker controlling). Maybe not enough R2D2 here.
No frustrating Holdo type characters here that craps on heroic efforts of the main characters. Phew.
The actors were good, adding Richard E Grant in was good too. Nice seeing Billy Dee Williams back. Leia's scenes worked really well, wow.
There was a moment I wanted to jump out of my seat in joy. The music at that point was very special to me. The entire score was excellent, the cinematography and effects are insane for a two and bit year project.
JJ Abrams should probably have done the entire trilogy is my conclusion here. Doubt Colin Treverrow would have done any better.
In the end JJ has handled Star Wars far better than Star Trek.
The balance of drama, menace, and above all fun was exceptional I thought.
My favourite of the Disney Star Wars movies and I can't wait to see it again. In Imax with volume turned up to 11 it was just beautiful.
8/10. My heart wants to give it a 9.
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