The merry cast of Rey, Fin and Po is back at it again in their attempt to defeat the evil First Order ruled by Kylo Ren. This new film also sees the return of the Sith emperor Palpatine as he tries to take over the galaxy once more.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was a huge let down to many fans of the Star Wars film trilogy. Admittedly,  it must have been a terror for director JJ Abrams to piece together Rian Johnson’s disappointing film that was Star Wars Episode 8, leaving many parts of the movie feeling unmotivated and out of place.

In terms of character development, some of the main protagonists were handled better than others. The audience gets insight on the character Po Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac) and his past life before the Rebellion. However, other characters like Fin and even Rey, the main protagonist, get very little progression. Fin’s screentime is characterized by him repeatedly calling out to Rey, meaning his character is extremely undervalued. John Boyega is a phenomenal actor who was really undermined in this movie. As for Rey all the progression and training it seems that she had to undergo to become a Jedi is skipped over, leaving the audience to feel like she was simply handed the power that she wields in the film. On the contrary, in the original trilogy, the audience sees the actual training of Luke and his progression from a novice boy into an actual Jedi. 

The return of the main villain Emperor Palpatine also served as a lazy attempt of shoehorning a villain back in the series that completely undermines everything the main characters did in the previous episodes. The reintroduction of Palpatine made Darth Vader’s righteous sacrifice at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi to save Luke and the entire galaxy more of a frivolous feat.

Quite frankly, even the prequel trilogy is better than this new trilogy, at least they provided some sort of context and actually added to the story of the Star Wars universe. These new films are clear cash grab that feels forced and dispassionate.