Was it a great movie? Yes. Great visual effects, impactful scenes, everything that makes it worthy of the Disney name. And like a Disney movie, a (somewhat) happy ending.
The rest of this post will contain spoilers, so please take note.
At the end of Episode VI, Emperor Palpatine was defeated and gone, but the rest of the galaxy was still fighting against the (now leaderless) Galactic Empire. It was a happy ending in that the Rebels had won the battle. But there was still the war. But with Episode IX... the evil forces were more or less wiped out by the end of the movie.
Which brings me to ask: where is the balance?
I strongly believe that the Star Wars story is about balance. Anakin Skywalker is supposed to bring balance to the Force. And balance means that the Light side and the Dark side both exist. When the Light was strong, Anakin helped the Dark side to regain balance (but it tipped too much to the Dark as a consequence). Still, in Episode VI, Anakin brought balance back to the Force by preventing the annihilation of the Rebels by the Emperor when he fought against the Emperor. But he did not wipe out the Dark side.
With Episode IX, it would seem the entire Dark side had been wiped out when the Emperor was defeated. And if the Dark side is gone, there is no balance; it is just the Light. Where is that theme of balance? That eternal struggle between Light and Dark?
I do appreciate Rey calling herself a Skywalker at the end of the movie. Her story is one of learning to accept herself for who she is, but also about having the strength to choose to be who she wants to be. It is somewhat similar to what I wrote previously about my thoughts of what being a Skywalker means. But I also wrote about Skywalker being people who bring balance to the Force. In this sense, it is different since Rey has effectively destroyed the balance instead of restoring it.
To me, instead of bringing a proper conclusion, the story of Episode IX leaves a lot hanging.
Are the Skywalkers really the neutral party that brings balance to the Force? Maybe Rey's lightsaber, with a yellowish color, hints so. Being a more neutral color between the blue/green style of the Light, and the red theme of the Dark. But if so, the Dark side must have a way of surviving that total wipeout at the end of the movie. How?
How, in the first place, did Emperor Palpatine survive Episode VI? Did his hatred keep him alive even after sustaining grievous injuries from that fall into the reactor?
Why does Rey and Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo share that bond between them? Was this Force bond created through the same struggle that they face? That struggle between who they were born as, and who they aspire to be?
Is the film trying to say that Rey is the embodiment of balance, because she fuses nature (her Dark bloodline) and nurture (her Light training) into one single entity? If so, the sequel films should have done more to portray that struggle between bloodline and training. (Note: Yes, I think we can all say that Episode VIII was so far off that it probably killed every good idea, and J.J. Abrams did his best to bring things back to somewhat resemble a Star Wars story with Episode IX, the best given the train wreck from VIII.)
Anyway, like other films in the sequel trilogy, Episode IX has many scenes that were reenactments of past films in the series. I am not a fan of such reenactment. Yes, I agree that copying is a good form of compliment, but I think it is lazy. It would have been much better if the film makers used the Star Wars stories of the past and the universe it created to spin their own stories, their own scenes.
Maybe George Lucas should come out and talk about his ideas for the sequel trilogy. Star Wars: The Alternate Sequel Trilogy or something like that. Something less tinted by the Disney mass-market, happy-ending theme. Something that is an engaging story, and yet at the same time explores other human themes like Frank Herbert's Dune series.
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