'Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker' A Fitting Close

I have been a fan of #StarWars my entire life.

I was born in 1973, just four years before A New Hope bowed in theatres and sparked the craze that became a legend. If I saw the original Star Wars in theatres, I certainly don't remember it. Somehow, though, I was introduced to this now nine-part saga, and I've been hooked for most of my nearly-47 years.

Star Wars has become the movie I watch when I need to take my mind off things and sleep peacefully. It's the movie my girls have seen with me probably a hundred times at this point, given they are now 15 and nearly 11 years old. It's the movie I often reference when I teach English, particularly when we're discussing the hero's journey or even just good old fashioned concepts such as the never-ending battle of good versus evil. When The Force Awakens bowed in theatres in 2015, there was no question I was going to take them on the night they did the soft open, if only for the experience of seeing a #StarWars movie on opening night. We did the same when The Last Jedi hit theatres in 2017, and that was even more special for them, as we caught a late screening, didn't get home until after midnight and I allowed the girls to stay home and sleep in the next day.

So, there was absolutely no question that my family and I would be seeing #TheRiseofSkywalker Dec. 19, 2019. In fact, I got the tickets in mid-October and told my husband he needed to make sure he got off work a little earlier so he could meet us at the theatre. I've been super impressed with this latest trilogy and there was no way I was going to wait to see the ultimate climax.

Perhaps the character that's impressed me the most is Daisy Ridley's Rey. I've always been a sucker for strong female leads, probably because it's not something I've seen a lot of growing up and definitely because I want my girls to see strong women on screen. She is at equal turns incredibly vulnerable and incredibly heroic, and I found myself rooting for her almost since I first saw her onscreen. I thought the relationship that very quickly developed between her and Han Solo was fun and definitely touching, and I really enjoyed watching her exchanges with both Mark Hamill's #LukeSkywalker and Joonas Suotamo's #Chewbacca.

Speaking of Chewie, I was not sure how I would feel about someone different taking on the Wookiee's role. Peter Mayhew, who originated the role, had health issues that prevented him from being terribly active in the part, but anyone who's seen the original trilogy knows just how significant the physicality of the role is. It would seem that Mayhew did an exceptional job training his protégé Suotamo, as the transition has been seamless and Suotamo has been a Wookiee that Mayhew, who died April 30, 2019, would have been proud of.

The one I miss most is #CarrieFisher. While Leia was never a favorite character for me - that role was filled by Harrison Ford's Han Solo, who continued to grace us with his cockiness and warmth in The Force Awakens - but in recent years, I came to adore her frank, honest approach in dealing with her mental health. I started seeing Princess, and later General, Leia in a new light, and found I respected the character more, probably because I had a better understanding of who Carrie Fisher was. Her wry sense of humor always translated to a Leia with a bit of a twinkle in her eye in the new trilogy, and I loved that.

For me, The Rise Of Skywalker might mean that the aptly named Skywalker saga has come to an end, but that does not mean Star Wars as a whole has come to an end. If anything, I am more excited than ever to see what lies in store in the galaxy far, far away, and I'm so very impressed with what director J.J. Abrams did with this last chapter of the latest trilogy.