Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was...a mess.
The first act is a cavalcade of exposition openly trying to make up for the fact that TLJ did nothing to set up this film's premise. As a result, the pacing is a complete disaster, everything is moving at breakneck pace with quick-cut editing around virtually every scene to shave seconds off the runtime. We hurtle from place to place with little warning as our heroes inelegantly try to shoehorn in character conflicts that are given no time to breathe and feel organic.
The true shame of this final trilogy is that the production itself is fantastic, the cinematography gorgeous, the effects superb, the set design jaw-dropping. Some of the shots on Exegol are truly magnificent in scope and tone as they set us up for the events of the film. It's just a shame the film never makes good on those promises.
Most of Rise's problems stem from its complete lack of sufficient setup. Abram's is clearly trying to build from his first film while doing his best to ignore most of the events of TLJ, not to mention the themes explored therein. That coupled with the fact that Abram's end goal was just to remake the end of Return and you've got yourself one lazy Star Wars film.
Rey continues to be a flat protagonist with little to offer the viewer in terms of an arc, especially in comparison to her bond-mate Kylo Ren who's probably the only interesting character in the entire film.
The film is hollow of substance and overtly interested in selling you toys and dredging up your nostalgia for Star Wars when it was good. The resurrected corpse of Palpatine a stunning reflection of Disney's intentions. Rise of Skywalker isn't the worst movie you'll ever watch, but it just might be one of the most cynical.
5/10 As depressing as it is forgettable.