Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters on the night of December 18th and it was met immediately with a split reaction between critics, with the movie receiving a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. The fans seemed to be leaning toward the positive side with a 86% audience score on the same sight.

SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON

The movie itself isn’t very interesting because the plot line is incredibly rushed and doesn’t make sense in the context of the trilogy or the saga as a whole; however, miraculously the movie itself is good. There is a large difference between a good movie and a good Star Wars movie. A good Star Wars movie gives you the deep feeling in your chest to go home and have a light saber fight; a good Star Wars movie makes you feel like an excited kid. When the credits rolled on this film, I got that feeling. The same one that corresponds with trying to use the force when you’re alone even though you know it’s not real.

Nevertheless, I did have many issues with the movie. Most of all the revel of Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter. Why would they establish through The Last Jedi that she’s a nobody just to take it back? Everything The Rise of Skywalker establishes is undoing something from The Last Jedi, adding to the rushed feeling of the movie because they had to fit so much plot in.

I don’t understand why Star Wars movies have to come out in trilogies. There is no rule saying that and they couldn’t have just released a tenth movie ending the saga on a round number and giving the fans more Star Wars which is always what they want.

The most rushed plot-line in The Rise of Skywalker was by far the story of General Hux. He is arbitrarily killed off in an anticlimactic way so that the story-line could be tied up with a little bow, but that was so stupid! Hux was an unexpected fan favorite and deserved so much more of an ending, but J.J. Abrams couldn’t spare the screen time for it.

The redemption of the problems this film faces was the last act in which Kylo Ren’s story arc is completed in such a perfect way. When his mother calls out to him through her dying breath, he gets stabbed by Rey with his own lightsaber and subsequently healed. When she leaves, he has the flashback conversation with Han Solo that he had right before he kills his father. When Han says that famous, “Hey, kid” I couldn’t hold back my tears. It gave me that perfect feeling of nostalgia that the new movies are supposed to give towards the old movies. Kylo Ren is then symbolically dead and Ben Solo is finally back.

The last act of the movie is some of the best Star Wars content that I have ever consumed. The second that ben-demption happened the tone of the film completely changed. Ben Solo made this movie good even though the plot was so weak and rushed.  He blasts someone from behind and doesn’t even look back, just like his father.

As Rey’s abilities in the force increase, so does the connection between her and Ben, making it so that objects can now be passed between them. This allow for the coolest, Star Warsy-est moment in the film – the behind the back pass of the blue light saber. When the moment happened the theater when silent in awe while Ben demolished the knights of Ren.

The run of Ben to Rey really gives meaning to the force connection that was established through The Last Jedi. When he gets to her and the connection of them being a force dy-ad and I really liked that. That gives meaning to their connection.

When Rey is on the brink of death, all of the Jedi come to her and yet when Rey is dead in Ben’s arms, there is no one there to help him. He sacrifices himself for her in a final act of redemption and before he fades away he smiles.

Ben’s death completed his arc. He ran the opposite story line that Anakin did, he became more and more conflicted and finally had peace then destroyed it to save someone he loved.

When Rey is asked, “Rey who?” she should have said just Rey in a happy satisfied way, proving it doesn’t matter who you are we all can be important. But no, she said Skywalker. I would have even been okay with her saying, “Rey Solo” because that’s like her force husband.

The movie was still rushed (although this review is not!) and the first two acts weren’t very memorable, but the nostalgia factor and the Star Wars feeling made up for it.