• There are more than enough redeeming moments here that make it worthy of the archives
  • Adam Driver continues his great work- both in the trilogy and outside of it. Certainly 2019 will be remembered for Marriage Story far more than this effort. The best scenes in Rise of Skywalker usually involve him and Daisy Ridley (man, is she good here, too).

The scene with Driver and Harrison Ford is worthy of praise, too (strong imagery of them across from each other on the ship in a long shot).

A strong shot from Abrams at the 38-minute mark of Ridley as a western gunslinger with her showdown of Driver in the desert—he shoots her hand on the holster like he’s Sergio Leone.

At the 68-minute mark there is composition of staggered bodies that would make Kurosawa proud—the Rebels are looking at the Death Star. Rey is in the foreground center. Finn is flanking her behind to the right. Poe is flanking Finn towards the center with C-3PO to the left of Rey in the middle depth with Chewbacca in the far back left.

  • A nice composition of the arrangement of the frame for Leia’s funeral.

The duel with the crashing waves is superb- what a set piece.

At the 102-minute mark the frame is splendidly designed and obstructed

  • It is a fine narrative. It’s never uninteresting—but there simply are not as many moments that transcend artistically like Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi (it may not have as many laughably bad scenes either).

eventually the reputation for the film will buoy

The final image is a brilliant one—fitting—we have the dueling suns with Ridley and BB-8 walking off into the double sunset if you will—Modern Times and Casablanca.

  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 2019