The Search For Cohesiveness In The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - DISNEY
With the release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the monumental conclusion to the entire Skywalker saga, both the sequel trilogy and the nine-part space opera have come to an end (for now). Since its inception in 2015, the sequel trilogy has been the subject of intense fan scrutiny and heated internet debate, with Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi bearing the majority of the weight in this discourse for its unexpected and somewhat controversial story decisions. The fan consensus surrounding Abrams’ initial outing, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was that it was painfully derivative of the original Star Wars (now retitled A New Hope). The Rise of Skywalker, then, was tasked with bridging this divide in the fandom and juggling multiple conceptions of what Star Wars is and should continue to be. Though every person may have a different opinion on whether or not each film was successful in its own right, it cannot be denied that it is difficult to isolate a consistent narrative throughline across these three films. It then begs the question: does a throughline exist at all?
The Force Awakens is a simple yet rousing adventure tale rooted in nostalgia, and tasked with convincing fans that Star Wars can be “good” again. The story centers on the efforts of lone scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), defected stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), and legacy characters Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to deliver a message to the Resistance carried by new droid BB-8 that contains a map to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Standing in their way is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a dark lord strong with the Force and fraught with inner conflict, and the Empire-inspired First Order of which he is a high-ranking member, which is locked in a galactic struggle against the brave Resistance, led by Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). The main focus here is a back-to-basics approach to storytelling, and leaning heavily into the ideas that made the original trilogy so great. Thematically, the story is centered around family, legacy, and seizing your destiny before life destroys you with its darkness. Rey learns to accept that she has some sort of greater place in the galaxy, even if she doesn’t fully understand it, and that embracing her found family and finding the hero in herself is more important than waiting for a family that does not exist.
The Last Jedi is a nuanced tale that takes the compelling ideas from its predecessor into unexpected directions. Rey spends most of her time on Ahch-To trying to convince the exiled Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Resistance and restore the spark of hope he once brought to the galaxy, while also discovering that she has a mysterious Force connection with Kylo Ren. Finn and Poe Dameron, now joined by Resistance mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), also embark on a journey to find a master codebreaker who can help them disable the First Order’s tracking device, in an effort to save the Resistance and allow their ships to escape the clutches of the imposing First Order fleet. Where the previous film centered on heroics and legacy, this film questions the infallibility of its heroes, and forces each main character to confront failure, and learn from it. As well, Rey is forced to confront the idea that her family lineage cannot dictate her destiny, because she does not come from any important family; and yet, despite being a “nobody”, she can still be a hero. Though it may not be what everyone expected, this film connects itself to The Force Awakens by answering the questions it set up in a way that democratizes the Force and expands the definition of “hero”, in the most Star Wars way possible.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - DISNEY
The Rise of Skywalker is a sweeping, epic tale that concludes the entire Skywalker saga in one fell swoop, and in a way that connects all three trilogies together. With the return of the once-dead Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), the Resistance sends its bravest heroes, Rey Finn, Poe Dameron, and Chewbacca (now played by Joonas Suotamo), alongside droids C-3PO and BB-8, on a mission to find a series of hidden clues and artifacts that will lead them to the location of the hidden Sith planet of Exegol. Kylo Ren, now Supreme Leader of the First Order, finds himself threatened by the Emperor’s power, and still connected to Rey via the Force, and holds key insight into her past. Thematically, this film reintroduces the idea that legacy must play a key role in every hero’s life, and seems to retcon the themes of the previous film by giving Rey an important lineage, while also exploring the idea that legacy does not have to define who you are. This film also focuses less on the galaxy-wide conflict and more on the adventures of the characters, opting for a more plot-driven approach to the story.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are two sides of the same coin, first offering up the heroes as myths and legacies to be inspired by, and then deconstructing and examining them as human beings with flaws and arcs left to complete. The Rise of Skywalker aggressively reinforces the idea that legacy does matter, heroes are heroes no matter what the odds are, and that the power of legacy and history is ultimately enough to conquer evil. The last film in the trilogy introduces plot points, characters, and thematic ideas that were not present or set up in the previous two films, and does a lot of work to refute what the previous two entries offered up by choosing not to explore this more nuanced and inclusive definition of heroism. Each film has a different idea about the importance of legacy in a hero’s journey, and while the first two films seem to flow into each other by offering unexpected twists on their initial ideas, the last film asserts a version of this that regresses the ideas from the first two, and leans heavily into the modern franchise’s worst instincts. It seems, in the modern age of Star Wars, nostalgia and divine worship for the saga’s history is what prevails over cohesiveness and thematic weight.
