Review: 'Rise of Skywalker' concludes 'Star Wars' saga with splendor and disappointment

“Avengers: Endgame” went full bore with throwbacks, payoffs, make-rights, welcome cameos and complete bombast while wrapping up its superhero saga. With “The Rise of Skywalker,” “Star Wars” says, “Hold my blue milk.”

“Rise of Skywalker” (★★1/2 out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Thursday night) was hyped as the conclusion to the epic nine-episode tale started back in 1977 by George Lucas’ original “Star Wars." And 42 years later, director J.J. Abrams does his darnedest, leaving no stone unturned – with the Force or otherwise – to tie together characters and themes through three film trilogies. It's impressively ambitious, though great new personalities and fresh storytelling suffer for the sake of fan service.

You can imagine Yoda somewhere giving Abrams the business about the importance of focus.

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The last time we saw the good guys of the Resistance – Jedi-in-training Rey (Daisy Ridley), reluctant hero Finn (John Boyega) and headstrong flyboy Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) – their ragtag crew had escaped the clutches of the evil First Order at the end of “The Last Jedi.” The new film, though, brings back a phantom menace: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), long thought dead, emerges as the galaxy’s biggest threat yet again.

The Resistance is trying to fill out its ranks with allies wherever it can find them, especially with the supreme bad guy starting to cause a ruckus like he did in Lucas' first two trilogies. With old Jedi master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) now gone, Rey is learning the ways of the Force from General Leia (the late Carrie Fisher, who comes alive on screen through unused footage plus some visual-effects wizardry), and Finn and Poe are tooling around in the Millennium Falcon on missions.

Our heroes get wind of the Emperor’s nefarious plans, which kicks off a series of far-flung episodes – from a festival on a desert planet to a snowbound city with criminals galore. But the abundance of front-loaded exposition is as dizzying as a twirling TIE Fighter ride.

It’s a treat when Rey, Finn and Poe finally get to the adventuring, not only because there are tons of Han, Luke and Leia vibes when they're together, but also because their taking on flying First Order goons in a wild, banter-laden “Mad Max”-esque speeder chase reminds why these movies are a hoot.

"Rise of Skywalker" expands its gloriously large galaxy with three fantastic debuts. Masked thief Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell) is a reminder of Poe's shady past, and Russell and Isaac's chemistry pops, even with one of them in a helmet. Little alien handyman Babu Frik is about to steal some of Baby Yoda's adorable thunder. And horse-riding, arrow-shooting warrior Jannah (Naomi Ackie) shares common ground with Finn. Yet the audience gets barely enough of them to whet the appetite before the hyper, constantly shifting plot moves elsewhere.

It's heartbreaking to see a movie where Leia is so integral and Fisher's not with us, though Abrams does his best to keep her at the fore of a story that still hinges on its legacy characters. Billy Dee Williams remains the essence of cool as a returning Lando Calrissian, and McDiarmid is rightfully creepy as the ungodly Emperor, who frequently turns "Rise of Skywalker" into a horror show.

Some of the liberties Rian Johnson's "Last Jedi" took with the nostalgic "Star Wars" status quo are rethought here, so get ready for a disturbance in the fandom. The result is an uneven third trilogy that feels like they've been flying by the seat of their pants in an X-wing.

Abrams doesn't stick to a template as much as he did with "Force Awakens," but there are familiar turns that go down like comfort food. You want lightsaber tussles? There are plenty between Rey, who’s still wrestling with identity issues and her background, and First Order leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Ridley and Driver fueled a lot of the emotion in those previous films, and they rise to the occasion again as the lifeblood of "Skywalker."

But after paying homage to everything that came before, this "Star Wars" ending is a too safe landing of a massive pop-culture starship, and a spectacular finale that misses a chance to forge something special.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Rise of Skywalker' review: 'Star Wars' saga gets a too-safe finale