STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER 

Review: The remaining Resistance come face to face with the First Order once more and make their final stand against an evil power in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.
Director: J. J. Abrams
Actors: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams, Greg Grunberg, Shirley Henderson, Billie Lourd, Dominic Monaghan, Brian Herring, Dave Chapman, Robin Guiver, Mandeep Dhillon, Amanda Lawrence, Andrew Havill, Patrick Kennedy, Warwick Davis, John Williams, Denis Lawson, Paul Kasey, Andy Serkis, Jodie Comer, Billy Howle, Samuel L. Jackson, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson
Year: 2019
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy and Sci-Fi
Conclusion: 4/5
Dear Readers, before I start on this film review I thought you might like to know that this is my 1,000th film review! What better way to celebrate than to review the incredible final instalment Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It is exactly four years ago since Star Wars:The Force Awakens (2015) and so many people have been waiting for this epic conclusion that the excitement and expectations have built up to fever pitch. I thought that J. J. Abrams has succeeded in the very difficult job bringing the saga to a conclusion. I don’t think there could have been another director who could have done as good a job as J.J. Abrams. Although Colin Trevorrow was announced as the director in August 2015, he stepped down before production began, J.J. Abrams was announced as the new director in December 2017. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a special review for me as it was my 500th review; The Rise of Skywalker is even more special though as it is my 1,000th review. Sorry to mention it yet again! This isn’t by far the strongest of the trilogy. As everyone knows, Star Wars is one amazing saga that goes back over 40 years and is probably the best loved film franchise in the history of cinema. Star Wars wouldn’t be half as good without John Williams’ epic score. One of the things I find incredible is how some of the original actors have come back to take part in this farewell film, which is also Carrie Fisher’s last piece of work in the film industry. She sadly passed away on December 27, 2016. This initially caused re-writes for this movie, with the idea of removing Leia altogether. The footage that was used for Carrie Fisher in this final film was actually unused footage from Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). In my opinion, they couldn’t have done any of these three films without her, as her presence holds the entire Star Wars Saga together. Although her screen time is relatively brief, she shows her acting ability and screen presence. The final trailer for The Rise of Skywalker was released on October 21, 2019, which would have been Carrie Fisher’s 63rd birthday. The script is really witty and this is a film that will make you laugh out loud as well as cry. I did feel that this was Daisy Ridley’s film and also Adam Driver’s and that they owned the screen and were both superb. I have found that as the trilogy has moved along each time John Boyega has been used less and less, although like I said in my last review, when he did come on screen I did feel safe and totally relaxed. Again, I did think that Domhnall Gleeson was underused. Also I didn’t feel that he had been very well directed. I have heard some negative reviews about Richard E. Grant’s performance but thought he did a solid job on something he couldn’t really develop himself. Oscar Isaac gave a fantastic performance and lit up the screen every-time he was on. The one thing I have enjoyed with all three of the films (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) was that you got straight into the action and there were no opening credits. The Visual Effects were fantastic. Although this film stood in at 2 hours 21 mins I still felt that the time passed really quickly and this is definitely a film you could happily see again and again, even if you are not a massive Star Wars fan. It is a film that is brimming with energy and excitement all the way through. As you would expect with any Star Wars film, we get some interesting new characters, creatures, droids and worlds. Having said that, one of the things about this film is that it is full of references to many of the greatest moments and ideas in the Star Wars story.  Star Wars obviously means so much to so many people that bringing the series to an end in an almost impossible task and I am sure that some fans will be unhappy about some aspects of the film. However I don’t think anybody could have done a better job than director J.J. Abrams. Thank you to J.J. Abrams and to Star Wars for giving me such a great movie to feature in my 1,000th film review. Thank you also for reading this and any other of my 1,000 film reviews!!!