Smoky

This film is a real gem. It has a powerful story and beautiful visuals and a few songs that while simple fit wonderfully.

It is based on an old Japanese folk tale and I am glad I had never heard of it before. For me at least the twists were unexpected and somewhat surprising. To some ears the plot might sound ridiculous when just summarized, but drawn in sketchy but extremely powerful and clear strokes it focuses the story so perfectly that we can feel with the characters and the simple but powerful messages about life, love, power and the human society really sink in.

An absolutely wonderful masterpiece - deeply artistic and moving.

After having seen episode 9 on the big screen I just had to come back to this, the best of the Star Wars movies, to give it a massive thumbs up. Although we knew that Anakin has to turn into Darth Vader here, the drama surrounding it is breathtaking. The intensity of a scene with nothing else than a guy waiting in a room. The twisted righteousness of the Jedi, the political trickery of Palpatine and a character lost and torn apart by love, fear and conventions of society. It really is great drama and on top of it is great action. It shows how Lukas has matured and if you are honest, none of the original trilogy did even come close to this.

After having seen it again I can almost forgive Lucas for having sold the soul of it to Disney. Revenge of the Sith completes a good story arch in a non-cronological manner. And if you must have a happy end, you can follow it up by watching IV, V and VI.

For me "The Rise of Skywalker" tasted like frozen Pizza. Good frozen Pizza, mind you. All the ingredients are there - and well declared on the package. You essentially get a remake of most of the most iconic scenes of the previous 8 movies in the franchise with a little extra twist. But nothing more.

There is no heart, no daring, no artistic vision I could discern, just a desire to tick off all the boxes the average moviegoer expects from a Star Wars film. There are actually hints of really interesting new ideas that, fully developed, could have made a great movie. But the almighty hand of some studio boss was all too obvious: you don't just do daring stuff with a multi-billion dollar investment.

So the story meanders from scene to scene that all feel vaguely familiar to culminate rather predictably with an ending that gently prepares us for part 10 of the saga.

But at least (minor spoiler!) the wookie finally got its medal.