The greatest sci-fi saga finally came to a close over winter break. The Rise of Skywalker was released on December 20th, and tons of fans rushed to the theaters to see how it would end. The action-packed scenes, budding romances, and amazing friendships built over several decades all came to an end in one final movie. 

For many fans, this movie lived up to the hype and included the Star Wars standard of an action-packed and solid plot line.

But for other moviegoers, the movie was not special; perhaps it was enjoyable, but it didn’t live up to their expectations. Many fans are arguing that the most recent trilogy is just a repeat of the plot from the first couple of movies. One example is that the Starkiller Base is just the classic Death Star under a new name. Additionally, fans believe that even though these new movies have characters from the original trilogy, such as Han Solo and Leia, the most recent releases are not as good as the older movies. The older movies definitely had more action and a better plot line especially The Empire Strikes Back, with one of the best twists of all time with “Luke, I am your father.” 

Before diving into the details of The Rise of Skywalker, be warned that there are spoilers ahead. 

The movie begins with the famous yellow text rolling up the screen, and the plot begins where The Last Jedi left off, showing Rey finishing her Jedi training in order to help the rest of the Resistance soldiers. While she is focused on the training, two of her friends, Finn and Poe Dameron, are in a race against time to complete a very important mission.

While the Rebels are hard at work trying to save the galaxy, the First Order is aiming to rule the whole galaxy. The villains are now under the rule of Palpatine, who was once thought to be dead but is alive and demands more power. Palpatine is trying to get Kylo Ren to fully commit to the dark side. The Rebels find out that Kylo is on the planet Exegol and that a Sith Wayfinder can help Rey and the rest of her trusty sidekicks get there. 

The different planets are one of the the film’s best attributes. Some of the planets and places that the group visits are beautifully realized on film. 

On one planet, Pasaana, the crew arrives to find the locals having a festival that happens only every 40 or so years. The crew finds an old Rebel fighter who points them in the direction of the Wayfinder’s last suspected location. They go to this location and find an old ship and try to find any useful information that can help them. However, Kylo is able to find Rey using the Force. Rey can sense that they are close and goes out of the ship to confront him. In the midst of these events, Chewy gets captured and taken back to the enemy ship. While finding Kylo, Rey accidentally destroys a ship with the Force and instantly thinks that she killed Chewy, causing her to retreat back to the ship and fly away. 

When the gang finally returns to the base with all of the information that they need to attempt to fight the First Order, Rey is not with them, having remained on the planet fighting Palpatine. The old Rebel fighter Lando Calrissian makes an appearance and sends out messages in an attempt to get any form of help. While Rey is fearlessly fighting, Kylo unexpectedly abandons the dark side and attempts to help her fight Palpatine. The fight continues and Rey and Kylo finally kill Palpatine, but Kylo tragically fades away in classic Star Wars fashion.

The movie continues with more fight scenes and more battling between the two sides. The ending of this movie is one of the best in the Star Wars series. Even though the rest of the movie is nothing truly amazing, the ending of makes up for it. All I am going to say is that it is an almost perfect end to a saga that lasted for multiple decades, so all of you Star Wars fans should go out and see the movie for yourself to the see how the galaxy far, far away ends its story.