I felt this movie made some course corrections from the prior installment. You can tell JJ Abrams was back at the Helm and trying to make changes back to how he envisioned the Star Wars universe compared to Rian Johnson's efforts in The Last Jedi. There were definitely some aspects I did not care for like the overkill of having an infinite number of Star Destroyers with planet destroying capabilities. The death star threat is getting old since they've used it in most of the movies. I'm all for a quick pace and lots of action but it felt rushed like they were cramming too much stuff in the movie without enough character and story development. They could have made two final movies like Harry Potter and The Hobbit did for their final installments. If they did, it would not have been so rushed and they would make twice as much money by dragging the movies out a little longer.
One thing this movie had going against it was that fact that we've been spoiled getting Star Wars movies every two years for some time now. I remember how excited everyone was for The Phantom Menace after a 16 year Star Wars fast. That movie had some of the worst dialogue in the entire series yet I was just excited to see Darth Maul and hear the sound of light saber fights so I enjoyed it when it came out. With each subsequent viewing it's flaws became more apparent and it dropped in favor with me. If we had to wait 10 years between these installments I don't think the fans would be so critical of this last movie.
The special effects were great as usual. Overall the Rise of Skywalker was entertaining and was a nice attempt to bring closure to the series, even though I'm sure there will be more prequels, side stories, and future Star Wars movies that are sure to follow.
I give this movie 7.4 stars in honor of the series but I am still confused and unsure of how much I liked it.
