The final chapter of the trilogy which concludes the epic Star Wars trilogies has finally arrived, and it is a bit underwhelming. Much like Return of the Jedi was back in 1983, I feel obliged to remind everyone. It is difficult to create a concluding chapter to such a wildly popular series, one that will satisfy all of the rabid fans, as the makers of almost every wildly popular series have discovered. At least they didn’t break this one into two parts.

J. J. Abrams’ film follows about a dozen plot lines which all lead to a personal battle between Rey and (the presumed deceased) Emperor Palpatine. If that spoils anything, too bad. There is a lot of fighting and light saber swordplay, some of that rather underwhelming, before we get there, and millions of innocents die as the fate of the universe is decided.

At two hours and twenty-two minutes the story still jumps around like a hot potato moving from one place to another. Key moments are properly fleshed out but many others that could have been more effective are not. For all of the dozens of familiar faces only a handful have genuinely important presences, and the script is rarely as profound as it could have or should have been. For every really powerful moment there are several others that pass by without making much of an impact.

Maybe this did need the two-part treatment. Or maybe it could have been scaled back a little to be more meaningful, a la The Empire Strikes Back, which is still the gold standard in the Star Wars universe. Or maybe someone else should have taken the helm. At the end of the day, and of an epic, forty-two year, nine-movie odyssey, what we are left with is a perfectly serviceable but surprisingly unmemorable conclusion. This may be fitting, I guess, because if one looks back with a critical eye, less than half of these nine movies are really good. Popular, yes. But good . . . ☆ ☆ 1/2. 31 December 2019.