“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is here, and it’ll certainly change how we view the Star Wars franchise and the Skywalker saga.
Critics have been mixed in their reaction to “The Rise of Skywalker.” Several takes suggest the film panders too much to fans. The plot doesn’t make sense. The characters fall flat. It doesn’t really sum up the series.
Fans have been less critical. The Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 86%, which is as high as “Rogue One” and “The Force Awakens.” Fans celebrate the cameos, the callbacks and the crazy third act that changes the franchise.
I watched “The Rise of Skywalker” after sitting through an entire 25-hour, nine-film Star Wars marathon, hosted by the Megaplex Theatres here in Utah. You can read my live blog on the marathon at Deseret.com.
So where did the film fall on my list? Here are my rankings from ninth to first with a brief explanation about why I ranked them here.
Scroll down to the bottom for a quick review of my top nine.
‘Attack of the Clones’
There’s no way you can not watch this movie without cringing or rolling your eyes. The film starts out strong and fast-paced. It opens up a number of questions about what’s going on. It provides mystery. It has a really entertaining setup. But then it falls flat. The middle drags on. Between the clones, the love story and all that sand ... woof. The second act of the film is essentially a giant bathroom break.
The final third of the film tries to save everything. But it’s messy and incoherent between the major lightsaber battle, the clone vs. droid beginnings and Anakin’s bratty attitude. It’s not a bad movie at all. Still entertaining and fun for Star Wars fans. But it’s hard to get excited. If you can only watch one Star Wars movie, “Attack of the Clones” won’t be it.
‘Return of the Jedi’
I’m sorry. I am, truly. I was even surprised with how far “Return of the Jedi” fell in my rankings. It was previously ranked at No. 3 heading into this marathon. The ending scenes with Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader always held strong in my heart. But this viewing was a struggle for me.
The opening scenes take 45 minutes to get through. It’s not until Luke Skywalker shows up that we care about what’s going on. The middle act is just waiting around for the final act. The third act slaps hard with Palpatine, Vader and Luke. That storyline is epic (especially now with what happens in “The Rise of Skywalker). But the film takes too long to get to anything interesting. And as a follow up to “Empire Strikes Back,” no thanks.
‘The Phantom Menace’
OK. This film was previously my least favorite Star Wars film. It’s jumped up two spots on the list because it’s actually really good. Jar-Jar Binks isn’t annoying. Liam Neeson provides a different view of the Force. The podracing is absolutely enthralling. The lightsaber battle at the end is one of the best in the series. John Williams nails it with the score. All of my complaints from previous viewings were nullified when I saw it again for the marathon. It kicked off the entire event, too, so I watched it with fresh eyes.
Give yourself a chance to watch this movie again. Isolated and simple, “Phantom Menace” deserves more praise than we think it does.
‘The Last Jedi’
Yes, one of the most polarized films of the franchise dropped one spot for me. So much of this film is great. The Luke Skywalker story nails the character perfectly. The film makes me care about Kylo Ren. Leia’s storyline is fun. The visuals are incredible. You can’t hate on the Crait battle. Seriously, so entertaining.
But there are points of the film that drag hard. The Canto Bight stuff serves no point. It could have been improved if they added Captain Phasma and the First Order to that storyline. This film, like “Return of the Jedi,” takes too long to get going in the right direction. And sometimes it feels like it knows where it’s going before deciding on a new path.
I still lean heavily positive on this movie. But it just didn’t do enough to defeat its predecessor.
‘The Force Awakens’
For a long time, I wondered how much I enjoyed “The Force Awakens” compared to “The Last Jedi.” The latter was often the winner of that debate. But seeing it again made me realize how fun, imaginative and exciting “Force Awakens” can be. The characters are fresh, new and offer a new take on the universe.
It’s really hard to decide on “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi.” They bleed together so well, almost if they are one movie split into two parts. That said, if I were to pick up one of them to watch, it would be “The Force Awakens.” It has the right lightsaber battles, the right X-Wing fights and a perfect callback to the original trilogy.
‘The Rise of Skywalker’
Yes. Debate me on Twitter about this. But “The Rise of Skywalker” is — currently, at least — my favorite of the new Star Wars films.
“Rise of Skywalker” does everything I want from a Star Wars movie. It’s only failure is that it doesn’t do it enough. We don’t get enough cameos or enough time with Emperor Palpatine as I would have wanted. But it takes us on a wild ride that never slows down. This year’s biggest films, like “Avengers: Endgame,” take way too long to get going. “Rise of Skywalker” hits the ground running and doesn’t stop, which is similar to “A New Hope” and “Empire Strikes Back” in that sense.
We get everyone and everything we want from this film. A creepy beginning, a stellar middle and a beautiful end. We get major moments that we’ve seen in other movies. It’s the culmination of the franchise. It’s definitely worth a second viewing, and I can’t wait to see it again. For now, it ranks in my top four. Fight me on Twitter, you cowards.
‘A New Hope’
For a long time, “A New Hope” bothered me. Slowly-paced, boring, not fun — those were my thoughts. But this time through, I realized how enjoyable it actually was to watch again. We don’t need to rehash what makes this movie great. But it plays so well after watching “Revenge of the Sith.” It brings us right into this fun and exciting universe. The score is beautiful, too. It’s just a perfect Star Wars film. And it should be — it kicked off the entire franchise, after all.
‘Revenge of the Sith’
People tend to scoff when I explain how much I love this movie. But it just hits different. I love the heartbreak and downfall of Anakin Skywalker. The somber music just catches me in the feels. The rise of Palpatine to be the most manipulative and evil old man of the galaxy. These things make this film so epic and fun. The beginning is great. It never slows down. The final lightsaber battles are some of the all-time best fights.
There’s little to hate about “Revenge of the Sith.” You could poke fun at the dialogue or the slow moments for Yoda. But this film packs all the things we want in a Star Wars film. For awhile, it was meant to be the conclusion of the franchise. So it only makes sense that it hits the same way as “Rise of Skywalker.” Haunting, heartbreaking and highly heralded.
‘Empire Strikes Back’
It’s highly celebrated as one of the best sequels of all time and one of the best films of all time, too. “Empire Strikes Back” deserves top billing in all “Star Wars” rankings. We get the asteroid chase, the battle of Hoth, the lightsaber duel of Luke and Darth Vader, a moment to meet the Emperor. It’s all fun and fantastic.
The film also does a great job of opening up the Star Wars universe in ways we never knew. “A New Hope” brings us into the universe. We get to see the galaxy explored for the first time. But it’s “Empire Strikes Back” that makes us want to stay. And for that, it deserves my top spot.
Plus, if I can watch any Star Wars film on a rainy day, this is the one I’d pick. Can’t beat that logic.
TL;DR:
- “Empire Strikes Back” (no change)
- “Revenge of the Sith” (no change)
- “A New Hope” (up from No. 4)
- “The Rise of Skywalker” (new)
- “The Force Awakens” (up from No. 6)
- “The Last Jedi” (down from No. 5)
- “The Phantom Menace” (up from No. 8)
- “Return of the Jedi” (down from No. 3)
- “Attack of the Clones” (down from No 7)