Brad Clark

This review contains spoilers and pieces to a puzzle 42 years in the making. After watching the film 6 times during its original theatrical run, the last of which (per my voted upon request) included this writer’s first “remembered” drive in experience of those famous opening words disappearing into the night’s sky, I can honestly say that I love this movie! And to think they almost screwed it up by not including Palpatine when the last director was attached or so I’ve read. I think they made an important decision in bringing him back as it really tied all 9 movies together in that each episodic feature all surrounds Palpatine’s impact on 3 different generations of Skywalker’s while culminating with “all the Sith” vs “all the Jedi” in its epic conclusion. Which in a way preserves the whole Anakin being the chosen one story arc as he is included in the “all Jedi” reference along with his verbal presence. The history of this Palpatine/Skywalker connection eventually evolves into what becomes a “dyad in the force” for its descendants. The movie even had a nice twist involving Palpatine cheating death, which was one of the better scene narratives referenced way back in the prequels and was a long time coming. As the time line for this trilogy of trilogies began its story telling a mere two years following the final shots fired in the Vietnam War, enthusiasts like myself should consider how lucky we were to witness the ending of this franchise in theaters just prior to COVID 19. Great job JJ Abrams! He had a huge job in connecting so many dots and loose ends in addition to balancing the carefully placed nostalgic cameo appearances, new character introductions and emotional send offs but managed to somehow pull it off while including an action packed “good time” in that it reminds you why certain movies demand to be seen on a big screen, which is really what Star Wars is all about......