The Rise of Skywalker

I honestly don't know how I made it through the school day yesterday because I was practically counting down the minutes until I could see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!  I can't remember when I have had more anticipation for a movie!  I had the chance to see the final installment of the franchise at a Thursday preview last night and I had a very mixed reaction.  Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is alive on the planet Exegol and has a plan to rule the galaxy with a secret armada of deadly Star Destroyers.  Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) travels to Exegol in the guise of joining the Emperor but is told that he must first kill Rey (Daisy Ridley) before she completes her Jedi training with General Leia (Carrie Fisher).  The Resistance learns of Palpatine's existence from a mole within the First Order, now under the command of Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant), so Rey, Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) go on one final adventure to save the galaxy.  They are helped by C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (Joonas Suatamo), and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) as well as a few new faces such as an old friend of Poe's named Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell) and an unexpected ally of the Resistance named Jannah (Naomi Ackie).  Both Kylo Ren and Rey must ultimately confront each other and the darkness within themselves and, I have to say that, while their lightsaber duel on the wreck of the Death Star is absolutely amazing and the final resolution between them is everything I wanted and needed it to be, their last scene together left me absolutely devastated and quite disappointed.  There are a lot of answers about Rey and her background provided but they seem like a course correction from The Last Jedi, my favorite movie in the trilogy, and they are ultimately unsatisfying.  I was also disappointed that some of the characters are sidelined in this installment, especially Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran).  There are some really fun action sequences (it actually reminded me a little bit of The Return of the Jedi) and the visuals on the screen are absolutely gorgeous but I am not sure that this is a fitting conclusion to the saga that began when I was nine years old.