The Rise of Skywalker is cramped yet weightless. It has a convoluted plot, MacGuffins, useless characters, contrivances, illogical exposition, weaponized nostalgia, unnatural dialogue, predictability, retcons, narrow lore, repetition, filler, plot holes, dead ends, unclear stakes, unearned triumph, superficial relationships, undermined arcs, pandering, slim cause/effect, weak setup/payoff, and a forced ending. Emotions are insincere, mild, and rushed. Themes and internal drama are muddled. The acting is thin on chemistry, range, motivation, layers, and intensity. There's no agency, consistency, challenges, or loss. Thus, The Rise of Skywalker is jumbled, derivative, and hollow.
Technically, The Rise of Skywalker is compromised by insecurity. The imagery wavers between artful, busy, and dark. Its editing has crafty details but is rushed, bloated, disjointed, and exhausting. The sound uses genre, smash cuts, echoes, risers, iconography, muffling, and split cuts. Its skillful music feels out of place, tonally incorrect, and cheapened. The production design provides sci-fi and scale, but is cluttered with unoriginality. Its casting is deep, famous, and talented, but stuck in the past. The effects offer prosthetics, animatronics, pyrotechnics, stunts, and CGI (with distracting uncanny valley). Overall, The Rise of Skywalker is commercialism over storytelling.
Writing: 2/10
Direction: 4/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Acting: 6/10
Editing: 3/10
Sound: 9/10
Score/Soundtrack: 7/10
Production Design: 7/10
Casting: 9/10
Effects: 8/10
Overall Score: 6.2/10
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