Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, is the ninth and final episode of Star Wars) as well as the final installment of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and the Skywalker saga.

It's the twelfth theatrically released film in the Star Wars franchise, and was directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams also served as a writer alongside Chris Terrio and George Lucas, who provided a treatment for the film.

Produced by Lucasfilm and Bad Robot Productions, the film was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on December 20, 2019.

Synopsis
The remnants of the Resistance face the First Order once again while reckoning with the past and their own inner turmoil. Meanwhile, the ancient conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches its climax, altogether bringing the Skywalker saga to a definitive end.

Plot
One year after the Battle of Crait, Kylo Ren obtains a Sith Wayfinder on the planet Mustafar, in which he slaughters the entire civilians with the First Order. The device leads him to planet Exegol, in which he finds the surviving and the disfigured Emperor Palpatine who reveals that he has survived Darth Vader's assassination thanks to his powers in the dark side of the Force and thanks to creating a clone in the form of Snoke, thus revealing that it was him behind Snoke and forming the First Order, using Snoke to covertly control the Order and grants Ren with a secret massive armada of Star Destroyers, calling them not only the Sith Fleet but also the Final Order, and reveals to Ren that Rey is his granddaughter, commanding him to find and kill her.

Rey continues her Jedi training under Leia Organa's guidance while Finn, Chewbacca, and Poe Dameron retrieve information on Kylo's discovery originating from a First Order spy. After learning that Palpatine has returned, Rey discovers notes on a Sith artifact in the Jedi texts that Luke Skywalker had left behind him. Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO leave for Passanna to seek a contact Luke knew, while R2-D2 stays with Leia. On Passanna, they encounter Lando Calrissian who leads them to the artifact's last known location in the desert. Kylo learns where Rey is through their Force bond and travels to Passanna with the Knights of Ren. Rey and the others discover the remains of a Sith assassin, his ship, and a dagger inscribed with Sith text, which C-3PO's programming forbids him from interpreting.

Sensing that Kylo is nearby, Rey goes to confront him. The First Order captures the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca, and the dagger; Rey, attempting to save Chewbacca, accidentally destroys a First Order transport with a Force lightning while the group escapes on the assassin's ship, presuming Chewbacca was killed in the explosion and rescue a distraught Rey.

Poe suggests that they head to Kijimi to have the Sith text extracted from C-3PO's memory. Rey senses that Chewbacca is alive, and the group mount a rescue mission. While Kylo searches for Rey, the group infiltrate his Star Destroyer with the help of Zorii Bliss, an old friend of Poe's. Through the Force, Kylo tells Rey that she is Palpatine's granddaughter; Palpatine had ordered her death as a child, fearing her power. Rey recovers the dagger and has visions of the assassin using it to kill her parents while General Hux discovers the group and reveals himself to be the spy. He allows them to escape on the Falcon, but is executed for treason. The Star Destroyer destroys Kijimi using a superlaser cannon.

The group follow the coordinates to Kef Bir and a wayfinder device revealing Palpatine's location while a woman named Jannah leads them to the remains of the second Death Star in Endor. Rey uses the dagger to locate the wayfinder and envisions herself as a Sith upon contacting it. Kylo, having tracked the group to Kef Bir, destroys the Wayfinder and duels Rey. A dying Leia calls to Kylo through the Force, but Rey impales him.

Sensing Leia's death, Rey heals Kylo and takes his ship to exile herself to Ahch-To, shaken by her Sith lineage and her attempt to kill Ren. Luke's ghost appears and encourages Rey to face Palpatine as he faced Darth Vader giving her Leia's lightsaber and his old X-Wing. Rey is leaving to Exegol sing the wayfinder on Kylo's ship. On Kef Bir, Kylo converses with a vision of his father and throws away his lightsaber, reclaiming his identity as Ben Solo, thus redeeming himself.

Arriving at Exegol, Rey is then transmitting her location to the Resistance and subsequently goes to confront Palpatine who demands that she kill him to transfer his spirit into Rey. The Resistance engages in a huge battle with Palpatine's fleet at Exegol's skylines while Ben arrives to assist Rey after defeating the Knights of Ren. Wielding Luke's lightsaber, Ben helps Rey facing against Palpatine, who later uses the Force in order to absorb their life energy and transforms himself into a renewed version of himself before he is attacking destructively the Resistance with a lightning to the sky and attacks Ben using the Force, causing him to fall into an abyss, nearly killing him.

A weakened Rey is hearing the voices of Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and other past Jedi which are all lending their power into her. She wakes up and rises against Palpatine, who attacks her with lightning yet she uses the two lightsabers to deflect it to him, and completely destroys his body, ending the reign of the Sith Lord forever. Rey dies from the energy shortly after, but Ben sacrifices himself by using the Force to resurrect her; the two kiss before Ben becomes one with the Force. Lando leads the Resistance, now backed by reinforcements, to destroy the remainder of Palpatine's armada.

As the galaxy celebrates, Rey visits the Lars homestead on Tatooine, where she buries the Skywalker lightsabers, having built her own; golden blade. A local asks her name; as the spirits of Luke and Leia look on, she replies; "Rey Skywalker."

Cast

 * Daisy Ridley as Rey
 * Adam Driver as Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
 * John Boyega as Finn
 * Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron
 * Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca
 * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
 * Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine
 * Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian
 * Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa (unreleased footage)
 * Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
 * Naomi Ackie as Jannah
 * Keri Russell as Zorri Bliss
 * Richard E. Grant as Allegiant General Pryde
 * Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux
 * Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata
 * Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico
 * Billie Lourd as Lieutenant Connix
 * Dominic Monaghan as Beaumont Kin
 * Greg Grunberg as Snap Wexley
 * Shirley Henderson as Babu Frik (voice)
 * Brian Herring as BB-8 (puppeteer)
 * Jimmy Vee as R2-D2 (puppeteer)
 * J.J. Abrams as D-O (voice)
 * Nick Kellington as Klad
 * Jodie Comer as Rey's mother
 * Billy Howle as Rey's father
 * Mike Quinn and Kipsang Rotich as Nien Numb (cameo)
 * Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles (cameo)
 * Warwick Davis as Wicket W. Warrick (cameo)
 * John Williams as Kijimi bartender (cameo)
 * Lin-Manuel Miranda as Resistance trooper (cameo)
 * Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi (voice cameo)
 * Frank Oz as Yoda (voice cameo)
 * Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (voice cameo)
 * Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice cameo)
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu (voice cameo)
 * Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan Jarrus (voice cameo)
 * Olivia d'Abo as Luminara Unduli (voice cameo)
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano (voice cameo)
 * Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura (voice cameo)
 * Angelique Perrin as Adi Galia (voice cameo)

Development
Unofficial reports claimed in November 2012 that Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the screenplays for both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and co-writer Simon Kinberg would divide writing responsibilities for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and both would co-produce all three films of the upcoming sequel trilogy, alongside Kathleen Kennedy.

However, in February 2013, Disney confirmed that Kasdan and Kinberg were working on standalone films, not Sequel Trilogy episodes.

During a concert with the Young Musician's Foundation Debut Orchestra on February 9, composer John Williams stated that he was hoping to get the chance to write the musical scores for the entire new trilogy. His involvement was made official when Star Wars Insider 144 stated he would score the "new Star Wars trilogy". Later in 2018, it was revealed that this will be the last Star Wars film Williams will be composing the score.

In August 2015, it was announced that Colin Trevorrow would write and direct the film. However, in September 2017 it was announced that Trevorrow left the film due to creative differences.

Lead actors Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong'o, and Oscar Isaac are all signed on to return in the film, as well as Adam Driver, who portrays the trilogy's main antagonist.

On September 12, 2017, it was announced that J.J. Abrams will return to direct the film, replacing Colin Trevorrow, with Chris Terrio announced to be writing the script with Abrams. It was further announced later in the day that the film had been delayed to December 20, 2019.

The first trailer for the film was released in April 2019 during Star Wars Celebration Chicago. The film's title was revealed via this trailer, the end of which also revealed that Ian McDiarmid would be returning as Emperor Palpatine, the overarching main antagonist of the series.

Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 56% based on 388 reviews, with an average rating of 6.23/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker suffers from a frustrating lack of imagination, but concludes this beloved saga with fan-focused devotion." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on 59 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

International premieres

 * December 16, 2019 (Premiere - Los Angeles, CA, United States)
 * December 18, 2019 (Festival do Rio - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)
 * December 18, 2019 (Switzerland (French, German and Italian speaking regions))
 * December 18, 2019 (Austria, Belgium, China (limited release), Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine)
 * December 19, 2019 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Spain, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Uruguay)
 * December 20, 2019 (Bulgaria, China, Estonia, India, Japan, Lebanon, Latvia, Philippines (limited release), Romania, Turkey)
 * January 3, 2020 (Vietnam)
 * January 8, 2020 (Philippines, South Korea)