Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Review - 6 Ups & 8 Downs

2. It Is Not Brave At All

Complain about it all you want, but The last Jedi was a striking, brave film that boasted transgressiveness and difference in a franchise that had occasionally begun to feel stale and safe. It wasn't perfect, in any sense, but it tried something and that sort of fighting against the tide should always be commended.

Flash forward to The Rise Of Skywalker and the prevailing feeling is that it is largely just an exercise in narrative safety. No boats are pushed out - even the kind of surface level, cheap types like killing main characters or hiding major twists - and in general, a lot of it feels like it's been cribbed from the Greatest Hits Of Star Wars Films guide.

There was potential here to do so much more and to uphold some of Rian Johnson's differences and instead we got a film that feels like it's been written by committee catering to an outraged part of a fanbase too happy to be given the same thing again and again. Catering to that sort of fanbase element is what led to Solo.