Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was bounds away from being a perfect film. The Disney Star Wars Trilogy, DT, had problems since Episode VII: The Force Awakens, directed by JJ Abrams.

The Force Awakens introduced us to a new set of characters. Villain Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver), and heroes Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), among other returning characters from the original trilogy such as Chewbacca, R2D2 and C3P0.

“The Last Jedi,” or Episode VIII came out in 2017, and switched things around entirely. Abandoning the usual structure of an SW, The Last Jedi to this day is hailed as the worst Star Wars film of all time. Generating huge fan backlash including sending death threats to actors and the director Rian Johnson. Then Rise of Skywalker was announced, with the director of The Force Awakens, JJ Abrams returning to direct.

The Rise of Skywalker focuses on the established sequel characters, this time going against their biggest threat yet, with series mainstay villain Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).

Seemingly returning from the dead to wreak havoc across the galaxy, Palpatine takes viewers across the galaxy introducing new planets.

The most apparent flaw this movie has is the villain of Palpatine. It is not a spoiler to say he was killed in 1983’s Return of the Jedi. While The Last Jedi is given credit for destroying long-built character development (specifically original trilogy protagonist Luke Skywalker), Rise of Skywalker continues to insult its legacy by undoing what the original trilogy accomplished.

The plot structure in this film sought to compensate for the much-hated previous entry – packing two films into one.

However, the lead performances provided positives.

Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren has been the best part of the new trilogy and that doesn’t change. This film gives plenty of screen time and a somewhat satisfying conclusion to his character arc.

Overall, it’s apparent that there was no overarching, coherent story planned from the beginning with the Disney Star Wars trilogy. The decision to undo everything The Force Awakens had built made sure the trilogy would have no complete conclusion. The Rise of Skywalker makes things worse by overcompensating for its previous iteration’s failures.

Edited by Wesley Tabor, Adam White