It may have been released three weeks ago, but in case you hadn’t noticed, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still generating plenty of discussion, debate and controversy. As would be expected from the ninth and final installment of one of the biggest and most beloved pop culture brands in history, that has a rabid and dedicated fanbase that stretches back over 40 years, not everyone was overly-enthusiastic about how The Rise of Skywalker turned out.
Director J.J. Abrams knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to replace Colin Trevorrow and return to the Star Wars franchise, especially given the overwhelming backlash to previous chapter The Last Jedi, and even admitted in interviews leading up to the movie’s release that it wouldn’t please everyone.
That turned out to be an understatement, so much so that The Last Jedi is now being reappraised by fans as vastly superior to The Rise of Skywalker, with seemingly everyone jumping on the bandwagon to bash the conclusion to the saga at every opportunity. One of the major criticisms of the movie is that it seems engineered specifically to retcon both the events and the negative reactions to The Last Jedi, so much so that at times it seems as though Abrams is running through the greatest hits of Star Wars in order to touch on as many familiar beats as possible in order to appease the fans.
In a recent interview, The Rise of Skywalker’s editor Maryann Brandon admitted as much, agreeing with the sentiment that the movie is more than a little heavy on nostalgia and fan service.
“Look, sure, it’s fan service. But if you didn’t service the fans, it would be, ‘Oh, J.J. Abrams didn’t go along with the history of Star Wars and what it all means.”
Abrams was definitely put in a no-win situation, with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker almost set up to disappoint given the sheer levels of anticipation surrounding it. On the other hand, Avengers: Endgame was also pure fan service but didn’t face anything approaching the same negativity, so the blame must surely lie on Disney, Lucasfilm and Abrams himself for failing to work together to craft a satisfying end to the franchise.
