Why <em>The Rise of Skywalker</em> Is So Frantic

This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

I just wanted more elephant-walrus Coachella. Early in The Rise of Skywalker, the final movie in Disney’s main Star Wars trilogy, the heroes travel to a desert planet where they encounter a sprawling bacchanalia populated by spongey-skinned aliens with tentacles dangling from their face. C-3PO informs them that it is the “Festival of the Ancestors,” that it only happens about every 42 years, and that it is known for its colorful kites and delectable sweets. The other characters look exasperatedly at the droid. They’re on a mission, and this exoplanet state fair happened to get in their way.

If only they could have slowed down. For a moment, was about to dunk audiences into a very experience: falling in love with a sci-fi remix of our own planet’s wonders as the characters hang out and get to know the locals.Rey sits with some piglet-like young creatures and watches a puppet show. Poewarns that spies might be among the crowd, which would seem to create a need for the characters to pay attention to their surroundings (think: the Day of the Dead sequence in the James Bond film ).The carnival on Pasaana might have joined the motley spaceport of Mos Eisley, the beauty of Cloud City, the medieval sin den of Jabba’s Palace, and other made-up George Lucas places that feel real to fans.