Rise of Skywalker leaves its predecessor Last Jedi  in the dust or space dust, but fails to compare to Force Awakens. Unlike Last Jedi, the three main heroes have a lot more scenes together. There is room for the relationship between the three to strengthen. Last Jedi lacked the bond between the main characters that is essential to movies like this. Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker both attempt to try new things(and characters) but both fail to deliver something Force Awakens delivered at every turn: fun.

Force Awakens was a romp with old friends, and with meeting new friends along the way. What made this trilogy interesting is Force Awakens left us with so many questions. Who were Ray’s parents? Did it matter? Which characters would end being more than just friends? Who would be the first Star Wars LGBT characters (if there were any)? We didn’t know the answers.

And apparently, neither did the writers.
Spoiler Alerts Ahead:

One character whom the writers had limited choices with was General Leia Organa. This is the one situation where they did the best they could. You could tell General Organa was “plugged in” in many of the unusual scenes that contained her. General Organa’s demise was actually done quite creatively given the circumstances. One may expect some room or ship with Leia to be suddenly and abruptly “blown up.” One question, since when does simply reaching out to someone via the force require you to sacrifice all your life energy? In past movies, this is relatively “easy.” Harrison Ford truly saves this movie by his surprise return but not as a Force Ghost. Yes, I know Han Solo was not technically Force- Sensitive, but he was married to someone who was. Maybe Ben could have communicated with him via the force somehow? Crazier things have happened. His return as a Force Ghost would have been more “Star Wars like” and would have helped us recover from General Organa’s death.
Speaking of Force ghosts, much to our satisfaction General Organa does appear as a Force Ghost…sort of. The last scene as her once again dressed in her famous white princess gear as a Force Ghost was a perfect send off. So perfect they could have done more. There is a line when Carrie Fisher says, “Rey don’t be afraid of who you are.” This line would have been more powerful if she had delivered it as a force ghost at the end. Or perhaps it could have been when Rey hears Leia’s voice fighting Palpatine? Many people insisted on Leia appearing in this movie without the help of Rogue One’s CGI technology. Recasting the character would be an insult to Fisher(and Leia). But in the scene where Leia is a Force Ghost, her image is “blurry,” as Force Ghosts are naturally anyway. A little CGI may have made this Force Ghost scene longer and delivered even more closure.

One character who cheats death without CGI technology or the Force was Emperor Palpatine. Ian McDiarmid delivers an amazing performance as always, but the whole story of the Emperor seemed a bit out of place. Snoke’s death seemed to put the writers at a shortage for villains. The writers hit a dead end, and the Emperor’s return gave them a new direction. Perhaps it would have been more powerful if the Emperor’s return was more of a surprise, and not been included in the opening crawl.

Another return from the previous trilogy is Anakin Skywalker’s force ghost, who is unfortunately heard but not seen. This is a letdown as his return(especially in that scene) would have made sense and has been teased for a while.

One character who the writers clearly did not know what to do with was Rose. In this case, however, they did the right thing: nothing. Sorry critics, the almost complete absence of Rose was actually what made this movie better than its predecessor. The whole point of the character Rose was simply to get Finn caught up in another adventure. And contrary to what critics say, I’m not the only one who has issues with Rose. Moviesins criticizes how Rose stunned Finn without giving him a chance to explain.

Another character who’s story hit a dead end was General Hux. Although Hux claims that he was only helping the Resistance fighters to spite Kylo Ren, General Hux’s “crossing over” was foreshadowed plenty of times in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Even in the novel adaption of Force Awakens, it reads on Starkiller Hux “solemnly” gave the order to fire. He blows up a planet, but he is “nicer” about it. Also in the novel Hux gives up the chance to kill Rey and Finn. The novel describes Hux doing this because of lack of time, but it implies Hux does this for another reason. In Last Jedi, Hux insists that the First Order stop firing at Luke Skywalker after a while (“do you think you got him”?) There was room for more of a story with this whole scenario, because it demonstrates General Hux’s complexity. The whole story with Hux just goes through the motions. Like Rose, the writers simply did not know what to do with the character. General Hux deserved better use of his screen time. There is also a plot hole here, why couldn’t Kylo Ren use his mind reading powers to find the spy? Why was there any question of who the spy was?

Yet another character who has their story only half resolved is Finn. He is about to confess something to Rey. Both Rey and Poe remind Finn (and us)that Finn was about to confess something but we never learn what. J.J. Abrams stated Finn was going to reveal he was force sensitive. It was a significant scene, and it was referenced several times in the movie. We should not have needed you to clear this up outside the movie, Mr. Abrams. Finn encounters yet another new character…another First Order deserter. However this relationship does not necessarily go anywhere, except perhaps give Finn something to do in the post-war galaxy. Finn does have a choice of relationships to pursue. Even though Rose forced Finn on a mission against his will, it is implied the two had a connection at the end of Last Jedi. Finn’s loyalty to Rey persists in all three movies. Once again he meets a new character and gains yet another option but does not exploit it. Many fans thought Rey and Finn would end up together; others were expecting Kylo Ren and Rey to hook up. Much to the satisfaction Reylos, Kylo Ren(Ben) and Rey do in fact kiss…in the final moments of Ben’s life, that is. Just like a lot of other relationships, it was only half developed. Speaking of characters’ relationships, the long persistent rumor that Finn and Poe were the first Star Wars LGBT couple turns out to be all but false. Poe does encounter some sort of ex-flame, which turns out to be another “useless story.” If Poe was going to have some sort of romantic interest with a new character, and there was going to be a Star Wars LGBT couple, it would make sense for that couple to consist of Poe and the new character. Interestingly enough, there is a LGBT moment with other characters. Once again, the writers simply did not know what to do, and who to try to please.

Some suspected Kylo Ren and/or General Hux may survive this movie in order to fight another day(or another movie.) This theory also turned out to be untrue. Both characters proved themselves to be more “moderate” than other Star Wars villains like Tarkin, Darth Vader, or Palpatine. But it was not enough to get them to survive the trilogy. And is it just me, or did they both deserve more “dramatic demises?”

Rise of Skywalker featured a better ending then Last Jedi. Last Jedi‘s last scene looked like something from a toy commercial. Last Jedi ended with a kid playing lightsaber with a broom. Yes, I know it was a symbol of hope. Yes, I know the point was that anyone could be a Jedi or make a difference. I also know it was a kid playing lightsaber with a broom. Rise of Skywalker leaves us with Rey and (of course BB-8) in the sunset. General Organa appears (as a force-ghost) once more alongside with the ghost of Luke Skywalker to remind Rey(and the audience) they will always be with us.

Unlike the end of Return of the Jedi, there is no victory party or musical number. Rise of Skywalker did not leave everything resolved, and it is hard to understand why. Enough doors were left open to leave us wondering, but not necessarily enough doors for another movie.