”Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker” marks the finish of the latest trilogy in the “Star Wars” universe. Theaters have been packed full with fans of the franchise, critics have been airing their griefs, and I’m here to let you know what I thought of it.

Of course, there’s bound to be a few possible spoilers, so read at your own risk!

I’m a relatively uninformed watcher. I’ve watched most of the movies at least once, but I’m not one to search out any and all Easter eggs, behind-the-scenes information or trivia about the franchise. As such, there were a few moments that I didn’t remember from previous movies, but it didn’t particularly hinder my experience.

There was something for everyone in “The Rise of Skywalker,” whether you are a die-hard “Star Wars” fan like my brother or a casual viewer like myself. As is typical with “Star Wars,” there were exciting action scenes, emotional moments and epic battles. The movie brought Rey and Kylo Ren both learning more about themselves and the Force, and the rest of the characters following, growing themselves and trying to keep up with the action.

One of the biggest struggles in the movie was a personal one. The individual characters went through a lot of growth to work through the expectations for them from both themselves and other people. When I walked out of the theater, a quote from Albus Dumbledore, from the “Harry Potter” books, came to mind; “It matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be.”

That’s a big concept that each of these “Star Wars” characters has to learn and that they’ve been working on throughout this trilogy. Finn (John Boyega) started as a Stormtrooper and had to pull himself out of the connotation that had, both with himself and others. Rey (Daisy Ridley) has been searching for her own parents and trying to decide what that means for her, and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) has been trying to go to the Dark Side and resist his own parentage.

Although Dumbledore comes from a completely different universe, his thoughts still apply, and these characters learn that who they’re born to be doesn’t have to be who they become.

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This movie has had a considerable amount of bad reviews since it opened. It seems that the reason for this is because some critics say a lot of events were added to merely make the viewers happy, whether that be the renewal of a well-known character, phrase or locale. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my mind. J.J. Abrams, the director of this latest trilogy, said in an interview with Wired that in the process of writing these movies, his goal was to make them “delightful.”

“It was not about explaining everything away, not about introducing a certain number of toys for a corporation, not about trying to appease anyone,” Abrams said. “This has only ever been about what gets us excited.”

So, with the director aiming to make his viewers excited to watch, I think it’s reasonable to include so many of these familiar elements. It might be Luke Skywalker returning to give Rey a word of advice or someone having “a bad feeling about this,” but all of these things bring a certain sense of nostalgia. Although it may seem unnecessarily tailored to some, I liked the opportunity to spot these little details and remember why we liked “Star Wars” in the first place.

You may be asking, is “The Rise of Skywalker” worth watching? I respond with a resounding yes! It has a good plot, which does its part to drive the overarching story; it shows good character growth, and though it is kind of a crowd-pleaser with its cameos from previous episodes, I think the movie is worth the ticket price.

Savanna Clark is a sophomore at Venture High School. Email her at hognarnia123@gmail.com.

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