The Rise of Skywalker, One Year Later: 23 Reasons to Love the Film

13) The parallel of Rey and Kylo Ren coming from Sith

With Rey being the granddaughter of Darth Sidious and Kylo Ren being the grandson of Darth Vader, there is a parallel of the two, who already make up a Force Dyad, both coming from the dark side of the Force.

14) C-3P0 sees more time

C-3P0 hadn’t seen as much time in the sequel trilogy as he had in the original trilogy. That changed when he became central to the plot in The Rise of Skywalker. And when Threepio is more in the middle of things, it makes for good Star Wars (see his banter with Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back, for example).

15) Ben Solo

The character of Ben was awesome! It was great to see him wield a blue lightsaber and take care of the Knights of Ren. It was cool that his redemption took place a little bit before he died (unlike was the case with his grandfather) so we could see him in action on the light side.

16) Lando’s daughter probably revealed

In a plot point all but confirmed by The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, Jannah is probably Lando’s daughter!

17) Harrison Ford came back

It made me so happy that Ford agreed to return to the role.

18) John Williams’ score

The Maestro delivered one of his greatest scores of the Star Wars saga to conclude his service to the galaxy far, far away. It was especially brilliant (as Abrams requested) to play Kylo’s theme in reverse when providing music for Ben.

19) Wedge Antilles

Wedge played a critical role in the work of the Rebellion, so it was fitting to see him fly with the Resistance.

20) A visual of a mass of ships

Just the shot of a mass of ships from throughout the galaxy coming to help the Resistance against the Final Order looked cool.

21) Rey’s special heritage isn’t an undoing of a Last Jedi revelation as much as it is a worse prospect

It was thought that Rey having special heritage after all undid her admitting to herself, in an incredible scene between Daisy Ridley and especially Adam Driver, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that her parents were “nobody.” But that heritage came from being from a Sith Lord. That’s actually worse than having parents who were nobodies.

22) Rey’s duel against the dark-side version of herself

This was a creative way to express her internal struggle, especially since she learned that Palpatine was her grandfather.

23) Rey and Kylo’s Force connection, continued

Take issues with The Last Jedi, but one of the most innovative things of that film is that Rey and Kylo have a Force connection. This continued to be played out in The Rise of Skywalker.

By the way, anyone interested in getting explanations to decisions made for The Rise of Skywalker should watch The Skywalker Legacy, a documentary available on Disney+ about the making of The Rise of Skywalker. On the streaming service, go to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and click on “EXTRAS.”

What do you think? What are your reasons to appreciate The Rise of Skywalker? Comment below!

Learn more about The Rise of Skywalker at StarWars.com.