Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker/Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) - A solid saga ending

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+ Best Action-Adventure of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)

A large collection of characters and visuals are brought together on this primary-colored poster for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The Rebellion are forced to a final reckoning with an enemy thought dead; Emperor Palpatine. Meanwhile last Jedi Rey's roots are explored, and her strong relation to Kylo Ren comes to a conclusion.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is written by Chris Terrio (Argo (2012)) and great New-Yorker co-writer/co-producer/director J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III (2006)), with Derek Connolly (Monster Trucks (2016)) and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World (2015)) contributing story elements. It is the concluding third film in the reboot Star Wars trilogy and the concluding ninth film in the overall Skywalker saga, which began with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
The script has been compiled with the added difficulty of key cast member Carrie Fisher's (Heartbreakers (2001)) 2016 demise; her Princess Leia hasn't been written out of the new film, and her scenes have not been completed with a CGI-created performance, apparently: Rather, footage that was left over from Abrams' great first Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) has been used, and the story is designed to match.
The film begins with an exciting space chase and goes on at a break-neck pace, but some fun moments are afforded droid favorite C-3PO (Anthony Daniels (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980))), (less for other droid favorites R2D2 and BB8 this time around); John Boyega (24: Live Another Day (2014, miniseries)) also gets some amusing situations, and a cute new mechanic character named Babu Frik is adorable and fun. SPOILER The film sends Leia off, (after we think it sent Chewbacca off, but that was a red herring), and dashing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac (X-Men: Apocalypse (2016))) gets the command. The main focus is on Rey; Daisy Ridley (Scrawl (2015)) continues to be a vibrant, commanding presence as the diminutive heroine, - and on evil Kylo Ren aka. Ben Solo, SPOILER who undergoes the most profound change in the film: Adam Driver (Logan Lucky (2017)) takes his Star Wars star to the next level here; after Rey saves him, he finally casts away darkness for the light. There's also an amazing planet with tall dancing creatures and cute baby aliens.
The film's villain is a reanimation of the greatest foe in the Star Wars pantheon, if you ask me: Not Darth Vader but, of course, Emperor Palpatine, in the harrowing, still in the iconic guise of Ian McDiarmid (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)). His intonations and the corpse-like makeup and prosthetics add tremendous fuel to the film, as it reveals Rey to be his granddaughter. His lair and the sound design are also truly magnificent. Richard E. Grant (Jackie (2016)) is well-cast as a new secondary villain of the First Order.
The film uses ghosts of siblings Leia and Luke Skywalker to guide Rey, (and, more than a bit confusingly, seemingly pose as her adoptive parents), but the latter's power as a character arguably played out in the saga's best film to date, masterpiece Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and his inclusion here is questionable. Rise of Skywalker also re-earths another old character in Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams (The Ladies Man (2000))), whose reappearance will be either hammy or satisfying to you according to your individual perspective.

The story is something about a dagger, that has inscription that needs to be translated, because it will lead to a 'Pathfinder', which will lead to the location of the secret Exegol planet (...); it's also about light-sabers and the Force. The plot can feel a bit secondary to the technical wonders in this film, John Williams' (The Killers (1964)) fabulous score and Dan Mindel's (Spy Game (2001)) ravishing photography, as well as the great performances. But mostly the considerable pot of emotional investment that is at play here, which drives the adventure through thrills, tears and to rousing optimism, when the universe finally answers the call to stand with the Rebellion.
As a devoted Star Wars fan, The Rise of Skywalker is a thrilling and satisfying end to the saga, if not exactly  to be counted among the best in the 9-picture series.

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2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) or, Star Trek It Before You Wreck It
Star Trek (2009) - Abrams' imperfect but awesome reboot
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser
Cloverfield (2008) or, It Tore Her Head Off! (co-producer)   

 

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: Estimated 250-300 mil. $
Box office: 59.1 mil. $ and counting (just released)
= Uncertain
[Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered 16 December (Los Angeles, California) and runs 142 minutes. Trevorrow was hired to direct but withdrew after failing to deliver a script that producer Kathleen Kennedy thought acceptable. Abrams decided to keep Fisher in the film, using the leftover Force Awakens footage. Shooting took place in England, Jordan and in New York and Los Angeles from August 2018 - February 2019. The box office performance is followed with some trepidation, following the first real flop of a Star Wars movie with the preceding Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), though not part of the saga. Rise of Skywalker shows poor reception in China and a smaller North-American initial reception than Force Awakens and Last Jedi. It has two announced markets left to open in: Vietnam and the Philippines in January. Abrams does not have an announced next directing gig. Ridley returns in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2020); Driver in Annette (2020); and McDiarmid does not have an announced next gig. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is rotten at 58 % with a 6.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) - Glorious, rousing, superb adventure

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best 3D Movie of the Year + Best Adventure of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Blockbuster of the Year + Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Kelly Marie Tran + Most Profitable Movie of the Year

Several key characters and visuals of Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi are teased on this grand, marvelous poster

Rey has found Luke Skywalker isolated on a rough island and is looking for answers. Meanwhile the Rebel Resistance, headed by General Leia Organa, face overwhelming opposition from the destructive First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren and General Hux.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a far cry from the dismal, calculated bummer that was last year's first lone-standing 'Star Wars Story', following Disney's costly acquisition of the sci-fi franchise, Rogue One (2016). This instead follows right in the tracks of J.J. Abrams' great Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - aka Episode VII. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Marylander master filmmaker Rian Johnson (Looper (2012)), based on George Lucas' characters.
Johnson does just about everything right here and makes a Star Wars film that's as overwhelmingly great and sharp as to dethrone Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the best Star Wars film to date. - The Last Jedi is now it!
So: What's so great about it?
Story is always at the center of a true masterpiece, and The Last Jedi relies on not one but several very exciting storylines, told with uniformly highly engaged and engaging performances:
Daisy Ridley (Murder on the Orient Express (2017)) is still a terrific new lead for the franchise as Rey, who is up against both a regretful, surrendered Skywalker, - Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl (2012)) gives a deeply felt performance in the most important part in his career here, - and the angry, seductive Kylo Ren, whom she defeated for a spell at The Force Awaken's conclusion. - Adam Driver (Paterson (2016)) is magnetic in the part, which is effectively torn here in what is Last Jedi's primary edge-of-your-seat plot-line: Kylo Ren's loyalty; will Rey be able to shift it? While I found this interminable until it is actually determined, (at least for now), the film offers so much more, too:
Carrie Fisher (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)), together with Hamill, carry the film's main emotional core ahead, making Last Jedi the most emotionally charged Star Wars movie to date. Laura Dern (October Sky (1999)) is perfectly cast as Vice Admiral Holdo, who commands the Resistance's main spaceship for a while as popular jet-fighter Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac (Won't Back Down (2012)) opposes her leadership. Dern adds another layer - and another kick-ass performance, - to the film and her career.
Besides the tears that these emotionally wringing characters and situations cause, Last Jedi also offers compelling adventure and laughs and good times aplenty:
John Boyega (Attack the Block (2011)) returns as rebel Finn, who gets a new, resourceful, brave partner now in a Resistance maintenance worker, Rose, who is portrayed with admirable determination and charisma by Kelly Marie Tran (Untouchable (2011)). Their adventure, which is about getting them into the First Order's main ship to upend their advantage, takes them to a casino on the planet Canto Bight, where one of the film's greatest sequences takes place, as they survey, get imprisoned and break out of jail there in riveting style.
Andy Serkis' (Sugarhouse (2007)) eerie, motion-captured Snoke villain gets more space here, while Lupita Nyong'o's (12 Years a Slave (2013)) funny Maz Kanata alien character only appears very shortly. The film contains a short surprise revisit from a major character of Star Wars, which is too amazing for me to spoil here and only adds to the gleeful, dramatic magic that already surrounds the film. Domhnall Gleeson (About Time (2013)) is still an ideal General Hux, the fascist leader caught between two meaner, more powerful and passionate villains in the First Order.
Last Jedi features vast amounts of stunning, funny and wowing practical - and digital - effects and creatures small and large to satisfy that particular need, as well as a climax that is both a high-note for the narrative as well as visually arresting. All of this to another grand, heart-thumping score from John Williams (Story of a Woman (1970)).
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is, quite simply, a spirited, unadulterated joy from beginning to end.

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Looper (2012) - Time traveling assassinations have never been hipper or more exciting!

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 200 mil. $
Box office: 573.7 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiered 9 December (Los Angeles) and runs 152 minutes. Johnson was also considered to direct The Force Awakens. He has described writing the film as a joyous experience, being a childhood fan of the Star Wars universe. Shooting took place from September 2015 (second-unit work on Skellig Michael, Ireland, posing for Skywalker's island) with principal photography running February - July 2016 in Croatia, Ireland, Bolivia and in Pinewood Studios, England with some sequences shot with IMAX cameras and a reported 125 sets built. Carrie Fisher sadly passed away Dec. 27 2016 of cardiac arrest, (her also movie icon actress mother Debbie Fisher passed away just the next day from a severe stroke), and the film is dedicated to Carrie Fisher, whose Princess Leia has also now been recognized as an official Disney princess. The film opened #1 to a 220 mil. $ first weekend in North America, only bested by The Force Awakens' 247.9 mil. $. Its world opening of 450.8 mil. $ was the 5th biggest of all time. It has yet to open in China, its last market, where it will roll out 5 January. It is reported to break even at 800 mil. $, figuring in massive marketing costs. The next of the central arc films, Episode IX, lost its director Colin Trevorrow earlier this year, as his latest film The Book of Henry (2017) flopped massively, and Force Awakens' helmer Abrams has been hired for the film instead, for a Dec. '19 release. Johnson is slated to write a new Star Wars trilogy, following the end of the first six slated films in the new roster, as well as direct its first film. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is certified fresh at 93 % with a 8.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Star Wars: The Last Jedi?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster

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+ Best Blockbuster of the Year
+ Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year (Daisy Ridley)

+ Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 582.36 mil. $ range

 

The irresistible, packed poster for J. J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars is back!
And back in top shape, thank God! Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the franchise in 2012 (for a whopping 4.06 bil. $) and have done right by it in a big way here: Great filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)) has co-written the script with Lawrence Kasdan (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)), based on an existing Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine (2006)) script.

A storm trooper, who adopts the name Finn, rises against the misdeeds of the First Order and joins forces with a scrap collector called Rey and a droid called BB8, who has vital information concerning the whereabouts of Jedi master Luke Skywalker and the Jedi temple.

The Force Awakens takes place about 30 years after the last of the 'old' Star Wars movies, Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi (1983). It presents (the beginning of) a fresh story that is to play out in two coming episodes (released in '17 and '19, probably), which also relies on several familiar characters from the old movies. Therefore, the new film is closer to the original three Star Wars movies (1977; 1980; 1983) than the recent three (1999; 2002; 2005).
The Force Awakens ranks up there with the best of the franchise, which are in my opinion Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1983) and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), (and yes, I know that I'm somewhat alone in loving the latter film.)
The new film is a roller coaster ride of emotions, especially for a Star Wars fan: Excitement, awe, laughs and several touching moments. - The Force Awakens is certainly the most emotional Star Wars movie to date!

Star Wars creator George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode VI - A New Hope (1977)) has played an ambiguous ringside role in the making of the new film, pretty far removed from influence, as far as I can discern, which was probably a good decision on the part of Disney, Abrams and co. They have brought an incredible score of other people originally central to the Star Wars movies back, so it is easy to understand Lucas' possibly mixed feeling about the film. - It is in his mold, though, and no-one has cashed in more on the franchise, both monetary and in terms of respect and admiration, than he.
The new film presents two great, young stars as new leading forces: English Daisy Ridley (Scrawl (2015)) has the perfect, nimble physique and intensity to carry her role as Rey, and also English John Boyega (Attack the Block (2011)) has a great innocence to him, and can deliver humorous lines like a pro. - They have great chemistry and suit the screen beautifully. Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave (2013)) plays an amazing CGI-created character called Kanata, which has no resemblance to her, so if you had looked forward to see Nyong'o turn in another great performance, you might feel cheated here; but on the other hand the creature she portrays is really special. New rotund droid BB8 quickly steals audiences' hearts, but beloved veteran droids R2D2 and C3PO also turn up for some hearty laughs and good times. Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina (2015)) is a frightening, fascist leader, and Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)) stars as another CGI character, (his specialty by now), the giant Snoke. I don't know if I think CGI evil is so auspicious, really; the human face can create a sense of evil that is just more compelling, I suspect, as Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)), for instance, proved again and again as Chancellor Palpatine in the 5 last Star Wars films. Then there's Adam Driver (Frances Ha (2012)) as new villain Kylo Ren, who seems more like a rebellious post teen with an anger issue for some time, but later gets a lot more potent. Driver is tremendous in the part, and he is instrumental in two of the film's best scenes: SPOILER Firstly Han Solo's death scene, which should go down as one of the great death scenes in cinema history, which lends the film enormous weight; and secondly the climactic snow forest laser sword fight, which is unbelievably beautiful visually.
From the 'old gang', Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)), Carrie Fisher (Maps to the Stars (2014)) and Chewbacca have great, emotionally soaring scenes, and they immediately seem natural, back as the characters we haven't seen on the silver screen in decades. SPOILER And Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)) also turns up in the film's (nearly) heart-stopping ending.
The Force Awakens is a stunning, almost perfect space opera, an absolute delight and certainly a must-see in the cinema (preferably in 3D) experience. An outstanding Christmas treat and a film to rewatch over and over again.

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A star is born: J. J. Abrams' Star Wars - The Force Awakens' Daisy Ridley

Watch the great trailer for the movie here

Cost: 200 mil. $ (423 mil. $ includes marketing, producing videos and merchandise such as video games, action figures and costumes)
Box office: Not known yet
= Unknown
[The Force Awakens was shot partially on IMAX cameras May - November 2014 in England, Iceland, Abu Dhabi and the US. Ford fractured a leg during production, and Abrams injured his back in the same accident. John Williams (Lincoln (2012)) composed the score. The movie premiered in Hollywood's Chinese, El Capitan and Dolby theaters simultaneously, and is breaking several records on its opening weekend. Its gross is expected to be somewhere between 2-3 bil. $, with a total that includes merchandise sales upwards of 10 bil. $. Critics and audiences alike are loving Star Wars: The Force Awakens heartily: It is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.3 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Star Wars: The Force Awakens?