Review: The Rise of Skywalker Doesn't Really Mean Anything

My last blog entry made it pretty clear that I enjoyed The Last Jedi (2017), and it's been 2 years. I'm not arguing the merits of the movie anymore, and every complaint against it I've heard has been under-cooked and mis-interpretive garbage anyway. No, really. Just a fuck-ton of uncharitable takes on the people who made the film, the themes of the film, or nitpicks that amount to poorly-disguised vitriol.* And that's ignoring the blatant racist and sexist takes! So, we don't have time to address those again. Besides, there's an actual elephant in the room now...

Alright...let's address the one thing that shouldn't be a spoiler to everyone who's seen the trailer(s): Emperor Palpatine, the shadowy principle antagonist of the last 2 trilogies, is back. And that sucks.