“Rey Skywalker.”

From Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

As the Resistance flounders with the repeated attacks from the evil First Order and its newly appointed Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the Resistance’s general, Leia (Carrie Fisher), fights to keep her people safe while also trying to free the galaxy.  As Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) learn of a spy in the First Order, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has been staying at the base, training to become a Jedi.  Terrified that an unknown force is trying to take control from him, Kylo leaves his generals (including Richard E. Grant and Domhnall Gleeson) with his destroyer and sets off in search of the ancient Sith planet Exegol.  On Exegol, Kylo finds a decrepit Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who has been kept alive for decades through science and the Force.  Palpatine agrees to give Kylo a fleet of destroyers in exchange for killing Rey.  Learning of Kylo’s plans through the spy, Leia sends Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewy, and the droids C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels) and BB-8 to find Exegol and destroy the Sith stronghold. The fight of a lifetime pulls Rey and her friends away from their associates in the Resistance (including Kelly Marie Tran, Billie Lourd, Lupita Nyong’o, Dominic Monaghan, and Greg Grunberg) to meet new allies (like Naomi Ackie) and an old friend (Billy Dee Williams).  When C-3P0 learns a way to Exegol, they make a detour to a planet from Poe’s past seeking help from a friend with a grudge (Keri Russell)… with Kylo and his Knights of Ren quickly catching up.  Despite his deal with Palpatine, Kylo’s strong bond in the Force with Rey pushes him to try to turn her to the Dark Side instead of kill her.  As Rey struggles with the mystery of her parents’ identity, she also struggles to resist Kylo’s increasingly strong pull to the Dark Side of the Force and find a way to save the Resistance.

The ninth installment in the Star Wars saga brings the generation-spanning series to a satisfying and thrilling conclusion.  The movie manages to build off the previous films, especially in the current trilogy, while also creating a story that stands solidly on its own (as long as the viewer knows some basic Star Wars information).  Ridley and Driver brilliantly lead an amazing cast in an adventure for the ages; The Rise of Skywalker is filled with breath-taking special effects, genuine humor, masterful storytelling, and unforgettable heart.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 141 minutes |Genre: action/sci-fi |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 0.5 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 3 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|