Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

[Gazebo]

I just saw the movie, and all I will say here is YIKES. I have a whole (spoiler free) review of it if you cared to read it. It’s under the thread entitled “your movie reviews” by Pultost. If you have seen it, what are your thoughts on the movie? As a big Star wars fan, I feel the only words I can use to sum up this trilogy are “massive disappointment” and “total waste of potential.” At least we got the masterpiece that was Rogue One out of the Disney era of Star Wars.

[Uniquemind]

The story beats are all messed up but that’s because of the lack of foundation in story building between movies 7 and 8. So episode 9 had to rush and basically cram 2 movies into one and the audience feels unsettled by the brisk pace.



I’d like to participate in this conversation.

[Gazebo]

The story beats are all messed up but that’s because of the lack of foundation in story building between movies 7 and 8. So episode 9 had to rush and basically cram 2 movies into one and the audience feels unsettled by the brisk pace.



I’d like to participate in this conversation.

Yeah I agree, it makes me long for what could have been. I don’t understand the creative decision to have three separate directors direct the three movies. The original director for this movie wasn’t even supposed to be JJ Abrams, but Disney was in major panic mode after The Last Jedi. If you’re going to have three different directors, then Disney should not have allowed them complete creative control. As a result of this, all we get between the three movies now is a tug of war between JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson and there is no debating that it effectively ruined this trilogy. I really wish I could have coherently seen where the saga of Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo went :(

[Karalectric]

The story beats are all messed up but that’s because of the lack of foundation in story building between movies 7 and 8. So episode 9 had to rush and basically cram 2 movies into one and the audience feels unsettled by the brisk pace.



I’d like to participate in this conversation.

Yeah I agree, it makes me long for what could have been. I don’t understand the creative decision to have three separate directors direct the three movies. The original director for this movie wasn’t even supposed to be JJ Abrams, but Disney was in major panic mode after The Last Jedi. If you’re going to have three different directors, then Disney should not have allowed them complete creative control. As a result of this, all we get between the three movies now is a tug of war between JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson and there is no debating that it effectively ruined this trilogy. I really wish I could have coherently seen where the saga of Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo went :(

I got that sense too. Like.... it felt like both directors had their own vision for the saga, but weren't communicating with each other. Things weren't mapped out. The MCU did it so well with mutiple directors and was also under Disney so huh? :what: That was disappointing.

As for the movie, it was a mess and they were trying to do too much amd some plot holes so big you could fly a Star Destroyer through it, but....... it was a fun mess! Abrams managed the Leia arc as well as possible considering the circumstances and the ending gave me some good feels.

[Ashley2004]

I liked the movie. I hated last jedi. Literally everything about that movie sucked and ruined anything I wanted to see in episode 9. I didn't even want to see 9 but went anyway and thought that given how screwed up the series was after 8, they did a good job trying to salvage the trilogy.
Was it the best star wars, no, not at all, but I liked it better than 8 and the 2 stand alone movies.

[Uniquemind]

I went with a group of friends.

I’m going to see it again later take my parents along with me. Dad liked aspects of the last Jedi but not TFA because he’s not a sucker for nostalgia he likes the bold direction of series.


And if you think about it SW being “new daring and bold” visually and with story plots IS WHY original SW fans and those from the 70’s and 80’s, link mentally to nostalgia.


I’m not sure Disney understood that. I highly suspect after paying 4 BILLION, Disney panicked in wanting to recoup that cost, and had a lot of downward pressure to pump out a movie 1 per year to make up their splurge spend.


So that’s why there was a lot of downward pressure on the franchise directors chosen to pump out 1 SW movie per year.

[ShineintheDark]

I thought it was a fun movie, nothing stunning or groundbreaking but equally nothing particularly world-ending. It was extremely obvious that this was Disney's damage control movie - undo everything Rian Johnson tried to do and instead cram the runtime with a billion callbacks and fan theories so that the reactionary part of the internet wouldn't ree again. That said, the cinematography was stunning as always with amazing blending of practical and CG effects to create a visually stunning piece of work. The worldbuilding works well (still far too many desert planets but oh well) and they did pretty good with the footage of Carrie Fisher that they still had.

In all honesty, I doubt they could have made anything better with the situation they were put into - TLJ proved that being too bold and creative will anger the fanbase but rehashing a previous movie like TFA did is also a disappointment. The real test of the movie's success is how kids receive it. The franchise has been a toy-selling juggernaut from the very first movie and if kids enjoy it enough to buy all of its toys, Disney will have fulfilled their objective.

[Uniquemind]

I thought it was a fun movie, nothing stunning or groundbreaking but equally nothing particularly world-ending. It was extremely obvious that this was Disney's damage control movie - undo everything Rian Johnson tried to do and instead cram the runtime with a billion callbacks and fan theories so that the reactionary part of the internet wouldn't ree again. That said, the cinematography was stunning as always with amazing blending of practical and CG effects to create a visually stunning piece of work. The worldbuilding works well (still far too many desert planets but oh well) and they did pretty good with the footage of Carrie Fisher that they still had.

In all honesty, I doubt they could have made anything better with the situation they were put into - TLJ proved that being too bold and creative will anger the fanbase but rehashing a previous movie like TFA did is also a disappointment. The real test of the movie's success is how kids receive it. The franchise has been a toy-selling juggernaut from the very first movie and if kids enjoy it enough to buy all of its toys, Disney will have fulfilled their objective.

Data and various YouTube videos suggest the toy sales and shelving space for SW toys is abysmal.

[LiberalTurboprop]

It feels like a movie made to appease the worst kind of fans who throw a tantrum whenever the series tries something different. Disney really should have had a direction going into this but they clearly did not. The series would have ended up being much stronger and more coherent if the whole trilogy had been given to either JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson - my preference being that it would be given to Johnson (I really hope we end up getting the trilogy he was planned to direct).

JJ Abrams made essentially a soft reboot with The Force Awakens. Very safe. Very similar to Episode IV. He re-introduced a big powerful empire with a superweapon controlled by a powerful figure with a conflicted apprentice. Then Rian Johnson comes in and decides that Star Wars should do something different. He kills off the Emperor-figure in the second movie, installs the much more interesting apprentice as the leader. And he decides to answer the mystery box of Rey's parents left by Abrams by saying that she is no-one but matters because of what she chooses to do and be - which is fantastic.

Then we get this movie which feels like JJ Abrams decided to cram 2 movies into one just so he can do a remake of Return of the Jedi. I couldn't be more disappointed. Johnson decides to kill off the Emperor-like figure so Abrams comes and decides to bring back the literal emperor. And the Emperor ends up watching a space battle while trying to tempt a Jedi into striking him down. I don't see how Rey being a Palpatine really adds to her story. It's just there to appease salty "fans". We don't even get to see her really struggle with the dark side. She has that bit with the lightning and Chewie but then 15 minutes later we find out that Chewie is fine. This movie has no guts.

The movie moves at a breakneck pace, never letting any scene breathe and resonate. And the first half of the movie feels like a video game fetch quest where our heroes get sent to world after world looking for MacGuffins. I'm not one to bring up "plot holes", because I think people go too far with that and it often becomes nitpicky, but so many plot elements of this film have no build up or logic to them. So many little things are introduced just so they can be used as a plot device ten minutes later. And it all just seems to be in service of getting to a Return of the Jedi-like final act.

Really the best thing in these movies is Kylo Ren and Adam Driver's portrayal of him. He's really the only character with a clear arc through all three movies and the actor adds so much to the strength of the character.

The Last Jedi is by no means perfect but it is the best movie in the Sequel Trilogy. The Force Awakens isn't quite as good once the shine of "first Star Wars movie in a decade" wears off but it is at the least competently made. The Rise of Skywalker is a mess and the worst film in this trilogy. Not as bad as Episode I and II but I'm not sure I'd put it above any other Episode.

[Shiny Moon]

I liked the movie, though the storytelling could be better. Still, I enjoyed it more than EP 8.

[jasondrums]

10 pounds worth of stuff shoved into a five pound bag.

[ShineintheDark]

I think if certain simple changes were made, the story would work better and feel more in line with the previous arc of the series: first, Palpatine ISN'T alive but instead a dark side ghost - it matches well with Yoda in the previous movie who shows that not only do force ghosts have the ability to affect the corporeal world, they can do so in a very dramatic fashion (sending down lightning to destroy that tree). Second, Rey isn't a Palpatine but WAS sensed through the Force by Palpatine at her birth. That way, her parents really CAN be no one and she shines as a powerful figure in her own right. As such, it also means that all the heavy-handed callbacks and references to the original trilogy can be scrapped entirely and let the movie exist as its own entity. Thirdly, I really would have just let Leia have died in the gap between the two films and have her memory be a driving inspiration for Rey rather than a background character that says whatever they can make her say before being weirdly killed off. She can even still appear as a force ghost at the end, but it would carry more weight for the audience if this is both the first and last time she's seen in the whole movie. On that topic, why not have Anakin standing between his children for the first time in that scene to give a proper feeling of finality to the Skywalker saga and show that the whole dynasty lives within Rey now.

[Uniquemind]

ShineintheDark

Yeah but that’s what I’m hearing many don’t like. That all of it rides on Rey now, a genetic line of Palpatine. Nothing anthropologically is left of the Skywalkers, that irritates a lot of the fan base, and I can see that.

Her new saber comes out of nowhere and the entire trilogy didn’t balance enough focus on Poe or especially Finn, given that TFA trailer opened with Finn.


Originally I thought Luke was going to have 2 Jedi apprentices at once in both Rey and Finn, but the series didn’t go that way. But I think many wanted to see that take of parallel students and equal investment in new lore and stories being told.


TROS did reconnect that concept that the force was influencing rebellion amongs defectors of the first order which I liked.

The setting of the final scene was confusing too, like is that a space-iceberg or a planet? So are they in space or are they on a planet where gravity should exist....


Who had sex with Palpatine?

Why doesn’t the new star destroyers just like tilt a little bit, they all would’ve fallen off, because a lot of the ending of that scene has Finn almost fall until the millennium falcon comes save him.


Is that implied to be Lando’s daughter?



There are tons of like “edits” to the film you can tell were made to appease fans, Cherie was supposed to have died, but you can tell they reneged on that plot point. Rumors I heard was test audiences (private screenings of Disney employees families) reacted badly to first versions of the movie; so changes were made and scenes were swapped. But that makes the public-theatrical version jarring.

But they overused killing off the classic characters between the entire trilogy isn’t the best way to build brand loyalty.

[Jericho14]

Definitely not a movie for non Star Wars fans. But still it felt like two movies in one