Well we’ve reached the end of the Skywalker Saga and this isn’t going to be a review of the movie per se. You can look up any video/written review online and hear/read an amalgamation of different opinions, this time around I just want to let out my thoughts and feelings surrounding the movie itself and generally how the movie affected me as a whole. I’ll say this is blogger therapy (sorry I couldn’t come up with something clever). But this does feel therapeutic because what happens in this movie and how this movie can affect people in all ways is something that I really want to dive into.
First of all, as you read in my last post I stated how Star Wars fans are very hard books to read (and if you want to hear more of those thoughts click here), but what happens in this movie was able to greatly satisfy me. Surprise, surprise, but who cares? I went into this movie excited and ready to be whisked away into another adventure in the saga, being the final chapter in a saga this time around. But what I’ll never understand are what Star Wars fans want? Something different? Something familiar? The choices made in this movie are honestly what one can make of it.
Before I saw the movie, I listened to a podcast episode by the folks over at ForceCenter, currently my favorite Star Wars podcast, and one of the wonderful co-hosts Ken Napzok mentioned something he tweeted out about how one should feel going into a Star Wars movie and as an example he included a snippet of the scene in Empire with Luke and Yoda on Dagobah when Luke is about to go into the cave asking what is in there, and Yoda replies, “Only what you take with you.” Ken amazingly talked about the meaning of that phrase and before I went into this movie that really hit me and it made me rethink the other times I watched Star Wars movies for the first time.
It’s like what kind of emotions will be implemented into the screening, not so much preconceived ideas on how it’s gonna be or might make you feel. It’s about what sort of emotions will be evoked by what one is visualizing and experiencing for the first time in that dark room. But considering those who haven’t felt that joy and excitement with these new movies, I honestly don’t know how some will feel, if it will save this trilogy for them, or make it worse with the risks it takes. It all depends on how a viewer can open themselves up to a screening of this movie. They could go in with preconceived ideas or allow oneself to soak into the story whichever way they choose.
All I’ll say is that this movie does the job to really feel like a conclusion to a story that has a purpose, that has meaning. The way it all strings everything together made me rethink the previous movies, which in my opinion are what the best sequels can do. I personally thought it will enhance my feelings of this whole trilogy and heck even see the entire saga in a new light. A different light. There are earth-shattering moments in this movie that to me made the finality of this saga feel so incredibly strong. One of the things I love about this new trilogy was that not only does it capture the adventurous and exciting essence of what I love about Star Wars, but it showed me things that I never thought I’d get to experience in the rich fantasy of this franchise.
But the experience of going into a new Star Wars movie like this will not be the same and honestly I’m glad there’s going to be a movie hiatus for two reasons. One (and this is a hopeful thing) I believe as more time passes, it could give time for others to reflect and marinate on ALL the new movies, whether it’s the sequel trilogy or spin-offs. People might want to re-discover them and perhaps look at them differently than they had before, where the days of speculating and leaking information about those previous films are over. They can perhaps accept them for what they are. Maybe they could enjoy them, maybe they won’t, or maybe they could move on and find something else to enjoy instead of complaining about the current state of the franchise.
Two, I want the experience of going to a new Star Wars movie to feel special no matter what era of the saga we’re dealing with. I love that I have the opportunity to absorb a lot more new Star Wars content I haven’t got the chance to experience and/or future projects on television (with Disney+ glory), video games, comics, and books. But the main events are always going to be the movies because that’s how it all started. On the silver screen in May of 1977, the world was never the same. I want the experience of seeing a new Star Wars movie to not feel oversaturated. I don’t mind it in the case of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC, as a fan of both franchises as well, because I know how different each of those movies will be since a movie about a different character will feel like a different genre movie. Whereas with Star Wars, it has to be within the same fantasy world and still feel like Star Wars in some capacity. Let’s let other stories be told in different amazing storytelling fashions, and let the movies be treated like the awesome events that they are.
Long story short, The Rise of Skywalker honestly felt like one of the best send-offs for a film franchise that we honestly needed in this day and age. Sure, people will have a variety of different reactions, their criticisms, or praises. Who's to say what people think and who cares? I’m just so grateful to live in a society where we can escape into all this marvelous work. I love the idea of these movies whisking me away on new adventures and tell me stories that can affect me as a person and in my creativity. I’m glad to be in a generation where I can see all these movies and enjoy them for what they are, and not go in with a critical eye, but to analyze it in a way that can challenge me not only as an artist or writer, but mainly as a person. Star Wars has been able to do that in more ways than I probably realized throughout my life and to sum it all up, I think The Rise of Skywalker capping off this entire trilogy, or saga for that matter, is gratefully no exception and a most proper way to to capture what I enjoy so much about this franchise. I can’t wait to watch it 10 more times in theaters.
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