For over 40 years George Lucas and and Star Wars franchise has been trying to keep things interesting, fresh, and new, sometimes more successful than others. This time around may have been their most successful creation both on screen and at the box office.

I have to admit I went into this film totally biased because I have always been a huge fan and although I didn’t see all of them when they came out, I caught up real quick. However, I don’t just drink the punch, sometimes devout fans can be the most harsh. For instance, when the plot for The Force Awakens unfolded I left the theatre thinking I was charged twice from the same film because I would have sworn I had seen that film before. A planet size starship that has the ability to destroy an entire planet by itself? Then the rebellion attacks with a small fleet of tiny fighters and one gets through, and blows up the entire planet-size starship with one shot to save the day. Obviously I realized I had seen that exact plot before in the first installment of the series, Episode 4. I was thinking, if this is the way it is going to be under Disney ownership then my fondness for the series was coming to an abrupt end.

Instead, The Rise of Skywalker followed in the footsteps of Rogue One with original writing, plot lines that we had not seen in the previous installments and better character development. Without spoiling the film for those who have not seen it yet as they made it clear this was intended to be the final installment of the series with the characters as we know it. With that said, one had to know it would be a challenge to bring the various story lines to closure but they managed to do it well and without sacrificing the integrity of the script for the years of faithful followers.