Star Wars Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker (Spoiler thread)

[DennisN]

WARNING! This thread contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. If you have not yet seen the movie, we strongly encourage you to turn around and return once you have.

Please use this thread for discussions about The Last Jedi, including spoilers.

 

[DennisN]

I've just seen the movie and I actually liked it quite a bit.

In my opinion it was far, far better than The Last Jedi, which had pretty large script problems, too much low grade humor with bad timing, pointless storylines and unnecessary political messages from our world forced into a galaxy which has little to do with our own.

And regarding who Rey was, I was correct. My intuition served me well this time, maybe it was the Force which worked on me?

I will see it again to get a better grasp of the movie, but I think J.J. Abrams at least saved the saga from a complete disaster, considering the thoughtless turns in The Last Jedi.

What do you other fellows think of the movie?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The only REAL issue I had other than it could have been two movies is the weird kiss at the end between Rey and Rylo. It could have been a emo hug or kiss on the cheek or forehead, but on the lips is romantic and that was weird.

 

[DennisN]

The only REAL issue I had other than it could have been two movies is the weird kiss at the end between Rey and Rylo. It could have been a emo hug or kiss on the cheek or forehead, but on the lips is romantic and that was weird.

I agree with both your points. It could have been two movies, and I recently watched a review on youtube which also argued so. And I also thought the kiss was weird, and unnecessary.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It could have been two movies

Especially in terms of Rey and Kylo's relationship. This movie made it really interesting and I felt it was all too quick.

 

[DennisN]

Futhermore, I thought the story was pretty good, considering the director had a quite tough job after the unusual and pretty weird The Last Jedi. Regretfully The Rise of Skywalker felt a bit rushed, particularly the first part of the movie, and it may have been better to make two movies with that story.

And I liked the ending on Tatooine very much. It was well done, emotional and a very nice, thoughtful ending. No dancing to music this time, like in Return of the Jedi.

 

[DennisN]

The only REAL issue I had other than it could have been two movies is the weird kiss at the end between Rey and Rylo. It could have been a emo hug or kiss on the cheek or forehead, but on the lips is romantic and that was weird.

Here are some clips from two reviews by a big Star Wars fan, Chris Stuckmann. He was quite critical, more critical than me, but I think the reviews are pretty good, here he talks about:

6:12 Critique of Rey's and Kylo's kiss
6:53 The movie seemed lika a sequel to The Force Awakens
8:42 The mixed reception of The Last Jedi
10:06 Hints of Rey's lineage in the previous movies (which I actually picked up on, forming my correct prediction)

4:46 It seems they didn't have roadmap for these movies (which I also agree with)

 

[Janus]

One factor that needs to be taken into consideration with this film is that the original story line was supposed to rely heavily on Leia, but with Carrie passing away, they were stuck with just inserting her here and there with already shot footage. I'm pretty sure that exchange between Han and Ben was originally intended for Leia instead ( Did anyone else notice that Harrison's name did not appear in the credits?)
Over all, I thought this one was better than the last.

 

[DennisN]

I've searched for more reviews on youtube because I'm interested in what other people have to say, but I'm sad to see there are many reviews posted which comes up high in the youtube ranking system (see point 1 below) which clearly trashes the movie, judging from the titles of the youtube videos. I think this is partly due to various reasons like

1. Dramatic titles and dramatic contents seems to get more views in general.
2. It actually seems to be a popular and often occurring thing to trash movies on youtube.
3. There are many who were very, very disappointed with The Last Jedi (me included), and this disappointment may have spilled over on The Rise of Skywalker.

Personally, I'm rather fed up with that kind of negative, toxic contents on youtube, so I avoid it as much as I can because I've clearly noticed that it brings my mood down considerably watching such clips. Don't get me wrong, I think fair criticism always is valid and has its place, but some youtubers take it to a whole other unnecessarily toxic level that just is depressing in my opinion.

Happily, I've just seen a good and balanced review by a guy who liked the movie, and I want to share it here. He also describes how The Last Jedi divided the fan base and mentions a few things he did not like in The Rise Of Skywalker¹ and a lot of things he did like. Spreading positive vibes, yay!

Star Wars Theory - I Just Saw The Rise of Skywalker - FULL REVIEW
¹ I disagree with him regarding his dislike of Palpatine's death and the end on Tatooine. I think the death of Palpatine was fine, and as I've said before I really liked the end on Tatooine, which I think was very well thought out.

That Rey finally took the name Skywalker rather than Palpatine, seemed like a good decision. I mean, first of all, who wants to walk around with the name of the most evil villain in the galaxy? Also, taking the name Skywalker felt symbolic to me; it is not necessarily the lineage which defines you, it is the actions that you take in life which defines you. I like that message very much.

 

[rcgldr]

The titles are misleading. "The Force Awakens" "The Last Jedi" "The Rise of the Skywalker" - Luke's response "every word of everything you just said ... is wrong" .

 

[DennisN]

The titles are misleading. "The Force Awakens" "The Last Jedi" "The Rise of the Skywalker" - Luke's response "every word of everything you just said ... is wrong" .

That's a good point, and one I haven't thought of. The titles The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker are pretty weird now when the trilogy is complete. Which could be the result of not having a coherent roadmap for these three movies. But I don't quite understand why you think The Force Awakens is a misleading title.

 

[rcgldr]

The titles The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker are pretty weird now when the trilogy is complete. Which could be the result of not having a coherent roadmap for these three movies. But I don't quite understand why you think The Force Awakens is a misleading title.

"The Force Awakens" - it was never asleep. Kylo has the force, Snokes has the force, Luke and Leia have the force, but chose to abandon it. Rey is the only character to increase her already existing inherited force sensitivity. "The Last Jedi", Luke himself states that he is not the last Jedi. "The Rise of the Skywalker" - implies something other than a Jedi/Sith develops and/or someone with Skywalker lineage.

 

[stefan r]

It looked like someone went nuts making costumes and sets and then had to make a story to fit the footage in.

The strategy used should be implemented by physics forums. We can pay for servers by storming Fort Knox and taking the gold. There is an armored division guarding Fort Knox which is perfect because we can storm a tank knock out the commander and use his machine gun. No need to worry about being out numbered because everyone who ever uses physics forums will show up in Tennessee on the right day/time if Greg sends them an email letting them know we have this plan.

 

[Rive]

Well... I did not had too high expectations - thought that something around the level of the Guardians of the Galaxy will do: some worry free hours with mindless 'spaceships, explosions and such'.
It did fit the bill. I also got a decent amount of nostalgia too: among the latecomer episode 1-3 and 7-8 this one was the closest to the original trilogy in its atmosphere.

The problem is, that this movie (actually: the whole new trilogy) had exactly just that, and nothing more. Almost all scenes, plot solutions (holes ) had some close parallel in the original. Compared to this, ep. 1-3 managed to add many new things to the Star Wars universe - this one only managed to push fan-service to the limits.

The original trilogy is old. If somebody wants to pick up the banner then he should add/do something new. Just bigger guns, stronger villains - that's exactly business as usual. In this regard this part really managed to finish off the 3X3 - no new things: it is finished, dead. Not a bad death, but still, it is an end.

I came out of the cinema and picked up my book.

 

[Ibix]

Just watched it, in my second language, so I may well have missed stuff.

Beautiful moments - in the tunnel under Ochi's ship, Rey lights her saber, then Finn lights his torch and realizes it doesn't look anywhere near as cool. I admit to a manly tear when Luke lifted his X-wing out of the water, even if I saw it coming last movie. Pretty much the first time we see Luke, forty years ago, he watches the suns set on Tatooine, and he dies watching the sun set on Acht To. The first we see of Rey, she's sliding down a sand dune on a metal plate, and the last we see of her is sliding down a sand slope on a metal plate then watching the suns set on Tatooine.

I didn't see Hux's betrayal coming, but it fit him perfectly. And the trick of Kylo being able to take things from Rey at a distance is nicely paid off at the end. Evil Rey was nicely done, even if not quite as terrifying as Empire Strikes Back's Darth Luke.

On the other hand, the Force healing power used on a plot-irrelevant monster pretty much gave away the ending. The trailers including a scene of Chewie from after his apparent death at Rey's hand rather subtracted from the potential impact. And Palpatine has replaced a lot of his psychological creepiness with horror villain SFX.

Agree that Rey and Kylo Ren had an interesting dynamic going. I have mixed feelings about the kiss. It comes out of nowhere, but leads well into the genuine smile then drop dead moment. But it might have made more sense (in terms of their characters) for him to lean into a kiss, her to look uncertain, then he smiles and dies. Dunno. Maybe they just wanted someone to get some action after all the multi-way ship teasing...

I liked it. I quite liked all three for different reasons, even if I could drive a Star Destroyer through the plot holes. Taken as a whole, the trilogy is a mess (learning that they had no plan in no way surprises me), but it's an entertaining mess.

 

[Ibix]

...oh yes - and just how terrifyingly powerful are the Jedi? Kylo Ren walks away from his fighter crash and takes the Falcon's exhaust to the face with barely a twitch. And the Emperor can take on a fleet with Force lightning, and Rey can stand up to it with only a saber.

 

[DennisN]

A nice review, @Ibix!

I admit to a manly tear when Luke lifted his X-wing out of the water, even if I saw it coming last movie.

I liked that scene very much too. And the beautiful Yoda's theme from The Empire Strikes Back was played a bit at that moment too. One of my favorite Star Wars themes.

I didn't see Hux's betrayal coming, but it fit him perfectly.

Neither did I. And I agree it fits him.

And the trick of Kylo being able to take things from Rey at a distance is nicely paid off at the end.

I think it was pretty cool and rather well used in the movie.

I quite liked all three for different reasons, even if I could drive a Star Destroyer through the plot holes.

Taken as a whole, the trilogy is a mess (learning that they had no plan in no way surprises me), but it's an entertaining mess.

I agree.

 

[Ibix]

I liked that scene very much too. And the beautiful Yoda's theme from The Empire Strikes Back was played a bit at that moment too. One of my favorite Star Wars themes.

Yeah. I think it's what they tried to do with the whole of The Force Awakens - take elements of the original trilogy and set them in a new context. Only that time they did it so much that there wasn't much new context and it came across as a weird fanboy clone (albeit with well written new characters). It works well with this one scene, because it emphasise how different the characters are, even if they're doing the same thing for a moment. And the music is, indeed, awesome.