Movie Review - The Skywalker Legacy (2020)

[Dave Gray]

The Skywalker Legacy (2020)

Premise: A behind the scenes look at the making of The Rise of Skywalker.

Rating: An enjoyable look at the craft of film-making and a love letter to the Star Wars saga that isn't all that honest with its own shortcomings.

This spiritual follow-up to The Director and The Jedi that similarly chronicled the making of The Last Jedi can't really be discussed without first addressing the source material.  Though I recognize it was divisive, I loved The Last Jedi and I think that the online smear campaign against it is unfortunate and short-sighted.  Oddly enough, the crafting of that film went super-smoothly, thus the behind-the-scenes feature was a little more willing to show its warts.  It was so confident that it allowed us to see the trepidation and eventual embrace of Mark Hamill to Rian Johnson's challenging choices.  It was a shockingly honest look at the collaborative and sometimes messy nature of writing an evolving a character.  I couldn't believe that such a raw take on the material was provided in the Disney era.

In a complete 180, The Skywalker Legacy almost delivers the opposite.  I do not care for The Rise of Skywalker.  I think it is a finely crafted, but ultimately hollow story.  It uses nostalgia in all the wrong ways and feels like childish fan-fiction.  The movie had a notably troubled production and seemed to be re-written as it was being filmed, had to deal with the death of Carrie Fisher, and was trying to tie a trilogy backwards to a saga that really hadn't planted those seeds.  Ultimately, it failed, and the documentary doesn't want to deal with any of that or any of those hardships.

Instead, this film focuses on the love that everyone has for the saga and for the magic of movie-making.  It shows how much work goes into every decision, every character, every dance, every wardrobe, and every stunt.  It really is amazing what people can accomplish who are at the top of their game.  It's also a nostalgic look back at George Lucas' approach to original, intercut with similar moments from the new players.  I did feel love for Star Wars, I felt awe for all of these great individual pieces of a puzzle, but I wish I could see why it never came together.  I wanted a little peek behind the curtain, but this film doesn't provide that.  It's all back-patting and mutual adoration.  It's entertaining, no doubt and leaves you loving movies in general, less so than The Rise of Skywalker, specifically.

It also make me long for what could have been.

If you're interested in watching, The Skywalker Legacy is available on Disney Plus, but cannot be accessed through the search menu and only shows up under the Special Features tab for The Rise of Skywalker.