Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker review – “JJ Abrams races through scenes like an Ewok on a speeder bike”

After 42 years, eight core films, a handful of spin-off movies, various TV shows, numerous novels and comics, and much contentious tinkering with the mythology, the Star Wars saga begun by George Lucas in 1977 finally draws to a close with lots of hugs and a few shrugs. The hugs are mostly on screen, the shrugs are likely to come from those who got hooked on the saga first time round and have stuck with it ever since. Which is to say, no ongoing film series could really withstand the kind of protracted build-up Star Wars has had and if you’re of an age to remember the first films taking shape around you, you’ll be familiar with the way nostalgia can exert a powerful, if frustrating, hold — one amplified by the most recent films cannily remixing the plots of the first three and bringing back Luke, Han and Leia.