The Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

[MrL1992]

Oh, and by the way, I have another observation to add to my list and yet one more clue that TLJ has been retconned: Broom Boy. What the F- happened to Broom Boy? I guess like all things concerning Rose and Finn between then and now we will never know as they are no longer characters of substance in this film.

'Broom Boy' as you call him, was never meant to go anywhere. He was there to show the effect of Luke's legend spreading as well as further the idea that the Force flows through everyone.

I feel there's one big problem with that. How do they know what happened? I mean, none of the Rebels saw what happened, and even if they did, they're so bad off that the rest of the (hilariously apathetic to everything) galaxy would just write it off as lies from a bunch of idiots who got their asses stomped and are lying about what happened. And its not like the First Order's brainwashed troops and evil officers are going to go around spreading the tales of 'inspiring heroics' (HA!).

I mean, it would have made sense if Kylo was having the destruction of the Resistance transmitted across the galaxy to discourage any future dissent (unlikely since TLJ made the galaxy seem pretty okay with the FO taking over) and then it backfired by showing off Luke doing something that was actually cool (we can't have that), then it would make sense.

Plus, even if they did somehow spread the story, what part about it is inspiring? Luke died after trolling and distracting his idiot nephew for a few minutes. The FO is still on top and the Rebellion is a small, desperate group of idiots who got their asses kicked and only escaped because their enemies are idiots too.

As an aspiring writer, the sequel trilogy offends me on so many levels.

He stood in front of the army before the Resistance left, they saw enough though likely not the fact that he easn't really there!

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I walked away really liking the light saber scenes between Rey and Kilo.

[hammerofglass]

I walked away really liking the light saber scenes between Rey and Kilo.

They seemed to have a lot more impact than in other series entries, and the combatants visibly got worn out and slowed down as the fight progressed. You almost never see that in movie swordfights. It made them seem so much more human.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

For my money, I loved seeing the Jawas do that little yell when they get excited. I lol'ed in the theater.

[clearspira]

I walked away really liking the light saber scenes between Rey and Kilo.

They seemed to have a lot more impact than in other series entries, and the combatants visibly got worn out and slowed down as the fight progressed. You almost never see that in movie swordfights. It made them seem so much more human.

Maybe she's been at the donuts since the last film since she has never had such shitty stamina before.

[Riedquat]

Got back from seeing it not that long ago. A very quick summary - I enjoyed it a lot more than TLJ, it felt rather more like a Star Wars film. I've still got some big plot issues but at least they didn't bother me that much whilst I was watching it - the biggest criticism I've got straight from the viewing is that it tried to cram too much in.

[pilight]

I enjoyed RISE OF SKYWALKER and am happy with it, but a lot of people aren't and I have a lot of room in my heart and head for different views.

Style: RISE OF SKYWALKER is so tautly, quickly, forcefully paced that it goes by fast. JJ Abrams is an entertainer whereas Rian Johnson is a philosopher. Rian Johnson was making pointed remarks about dynastic bloodlines, military strategy, theocratic governance and the hollowness of legacies. Abrams is making the point that it is COOL to have the Millennium Falcon flash-jump to different planets and to have Rey take down a TIE Interceptor with a lightsaber.

Space: STAR WARS has the space to welcome both, but it does leave RISE OF SKYWALKER open to valid criticisms: that it is shallow where THE LAST JEDI was deep. Also, THE LAST JEDI let the Empire/First Order win, had the Rebels/Resistance reduced from an army of hundreds of thousands to maybe 40 - 50 people aboard the Falcon, the Jedi represented only by Leia (whose actor died shortly after filming) and Rey (who is physically capable but emotionally troubled).

This is a massive shift from the capable if underpowered Rebels of A NEW HOPE and EMPIRE and a total reversal of their apparent victory in RETURN OF THE JEDI.

Repetition: In contrast, RISE OF SKYWALKER ends with the Rebels/Resistance having triumphed by killing Emperor Palpatine which seems significantly important except they'd accomplished the same thing in RETURN OF THE JEDI which means RISE OF SKYWALKER is in the unfortunate position of resurrecting Palpatine just to kill him again.

In a few decades time, we may find Rey leading a losing resistance once again while the Empire dominates the galaxy with, I dunno, a resurrected Phasma in charge.

Mastermind: However. RISE OF SKYWALKER establishes that the destruction of the Death Star 2.0 in RETURN OF THE JEDI was merely a decisive battle and that the Emperor survived but in so damaged a body that he can't leave his life support system. Which means that the Resistance being on the losing side of THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE LAST JEDI was all due to the Emperor running the First Order through the Emperor speaking through the Snoke clones (earlier versions of which are glimpsed in Palpatine's lair).

Details: Furthermore, RISE establishes that the planet of Exogol houses the Emperor's fleet; destroy the fleet, kill the Emperor, and the First Order loses all coordination and leadership as well as their most powerful weapons, so even though RETURN declared that destroying the Death Star 2.0 would be the final and decisive battle, RISE does some work to say that this showdown on Exogol will truly be the final and decisive battle and they meant it before but this time they mean it for realzies, but this is a yet another rerun.

RISE splits various hairs to claim this finale really counts, but if RETURN didn't count, why should this?

Reversal: Fans are also offended by Luke saying that he was wrong to have the attitude he did in THE LAST JEDI and Rey being revealed as not being nobody from nowhere but the Empress of the Sith and Palatine's granddaughter.

Enjoyable: I personally am not blind to these problems, but I feel that RISE OF SKYWALKER gets past all of these issues by being so quickly paced. Each scene flies by so fast with a minimum of exposition. Chris Terrio's script is expressive and sparingly dialogued. Where THE LAST JEDI was deliberate and controlled, RISE OF SKYWALKER is a relentless adrenaline burst and skillfully hurried and therefore a lot of fun.

Entertainer: There's also a certain desperation that reflects the pressure Abrams was under. Abrams has talked about how, when directing STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, he lost track of the core themes of the story and just tried to make each scene as exciting as possible and hoped it would be coherent.

It looks like he has attempted the same with RISE OF SKYWALKER where he was parachuted into the film with two years to write, pre-produce, film and edit the movie; the previous script had been thrown out due to Carrie Fisher's death.

Continuation: Rian Johnson shuttered the Resistance, killed off Luke, left the First Order victorious, and suggested that the First Order would be defeated not by the Jedi and not by the Resistance but by a new generation of heroes. Abrams had to create a script that would follow up on all that but also feature Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaacs front and center, address Carrie Fisher's absence, resolve the Resistance/First Order conflict, conclude Kylo Ren's situation and serve as a finale.

Necessities: As a result, some of Abrams' obligations conflict with Rian Johnson's vision in THE LAST JEDI; THE LAST JEDI proposes that the STAR WARS universe continue with new characters in a First Order dominated galaxy with an open-ended approach; Abrams is required to cobble together a conclusion by undoing RETURN OF THE JEDI to restage its victory.

THE LAST JEDI suggests moving onto new characters represented by the boy with the broom and Rose Tico; Abrams is contractually obligated to have his core cast feature front and center and build their relationships with each other and conclude them in the same movie as they had only one scene together in the previous film.

Acknowledgement Without Focus: Due to this need, Rose Tico becomes anonymous base personnel. RISE OF SKYWALKER also fails to focus on the idea that there may be heroes outside the Resistance and the Jedi Order and the Skywalker families, but it does nod to it with Finn and Jannah both being former stormtroopers who have Force sensitivity.

And due to the need to reintroduce the Emperor to defeat him again and offer a sense of closure, Abrams is required to link him to a core cast member and chooses to reveal him as Rey's grandfather.

Blood: This last one rankles severely with fans. Fans who are adopted children were hurt by RISE OF SKYWALKER suggesting that people need to have defined bloodlines to have identities; critics have noted that the idea of children of legacies being above others is undemocratic and has no place in a world where people should be evaluated by ability and attitude over birth; viewers are irked that RISE OF SKYWALKER suggests that only people from important families can make a difference.

Harmony: Personally, I see all of that, but what I also see is another note to THE LAST JEDI, a film that declared that heroes can come from anywhere. When Rey confessed in THE LAST JEDI that her parents "were nobody," it was a moment of grief and loss.

When Rey discovers that her grandfather is Palpatine, she is consumed with self-loathing, isolating herself to Ahch To as Luke did, burning her spacecraft, throwing away the lightsaber -- only for Luke to catch it and inform her that Luke and Leia have known all along about Rey's parentage and still chose to teach her, Luke in his indirect and cynical fashion and Leia with wholehearted love and devotion.

And while THE LAST JEDI has Luke declaring that it is time for the Jedi to end, his final scenes in that film had him changing his mind, saying that he wouldn't be the last after all, so Luke in RISE OF SKYWALKER declaring that he was wrong in THE LAST JEDI to isolate himself is continuing Luke from where Rian Johnson left him.

Legacy: THE LAST JEDI also had Luke calling the Jedi Order a legacy of failure noting that the prequels showed them to be incompetent (they allow slave labour to prosper), blind (they allowed the Sith to rise in their own government) and not worth preserving. RISE OF SKYWALKER has Luke telling Rey that she must face Palpatine or the Jedi will die, but Luke is noticeably not calling for the Jedi to be restored as a governing body; he merely wants there to be at least one Jedi in the galaxy and for that Jedi to be Rey.

Identity: There is affirmation and beauty in Luke revealing that he and his sister chose to see Rey in terms of who she was and could be instead of where she came from because, as THE LAST JEDI declared, heroes can indeed come from anywhere and I think that's summed up beautifully in the final scene. "I'm Rey." "'Rey' who?" "Rey Skywalker."

In taking on the Skywalker name with Luke and Leia watching approvingly, Rey is committing not to bloodlines -- but to the legend of Luke Skywalker as a person who will (in the end) help people find light and hope whether they're Darth Vader or the last 40 - 50 fighters in a failed Resistance or the Empress of the Sith.

Action: And it was nice to see all this in a fast-paced, driven, exciting action movie with so many cool scenes from Rey and Kylo fighting in the wreckage of the Death Star 2.0, the light-speed skipping sequences, Rey's obstacle course, Rey aided to victory by previous the voices of Jedi.

There's also some nice loophole logic where the Emperor declares that Rey killing him in rage and hatred will allow him to possess her body; Rey instead reflects the Emperor's lightning back at him and he kills himself.

I liked THE LAST JEDI as a thoughtful, contemplative film of defeat and I like RISE OF SKYWALKER as a widescreen action extravaganza of victory that harmonizes with THE LAST JEDI but is more of a crowdpleaser. I find that THE LAST JEDI and RISE OF SKYWALKER aren't at odds; they're saying similar things but with very different words spoken by very different people and I'm happy to have both.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

So wait why didn't they just have C3PO transmit the directions himself or something instead of saying it?

[G-Man]

Terry Pratchett had a fun rant about endings (I forget the exact book but it was one of the Granny Weatherwax ones). The only way to have a happy ending is to never find out, or even ask, what happened next. Eventually something new comes up, everyone dies, and the dance between energy and entropy spins on to its inevitable conclusion.

I think the problem is less that RotJ's happy ending is undone by revealing that things aren't perfect; I think the problem is that only 32 years after RotJ, suddenly the exact same threat rises and takes over again.

The proper thing to do, in my opinion, would be to make the bad guys the ragtag band of misfits in the sequel trilogy; the issue would not so much be resisting conquest, as preventing them from committing terrorist acts and sowing chaos that they can use to build a power base.

[ChrisTheLovableJerk]

Oh, and by the way, I have another observation to add to my list and yet one more clue that TLJ has been retconned: Broom Boy. What the F- happened to Broom Boy? I guess like all things concerning Rose and Finn between then and now we will never know as they are no longer characters of substance in this film.

I'm pretty sure Broom Boy is now being tortured and melded into a living weapon by the elite of Canto Bight.

What? You think that wouldn't happen? In the new and old EU, we saw the force sensitive children were valued targets of slavers, something the Jedi were constantly fighting but struggled with due to the power of the crime lords and the slave trade. Force Sensitive children could be molded into weapons, imagine the power of a Jedi or a Sith untrained and undisciplined, directionless all at the hand of a broken slave child who is at the disposal of some warlord.

And he's on Canto Bight, full of morally bankrupt rich assholes. In the stables where there was a massive breakout and drastic steps would be taken to make sure such a thing never happened again. His powers would be easily noticed.

Anyone else see just how poorly thought-out TLJ is?