SPOILERS!
People keep asking me if I liked the movie. I thought long and hard about it all night and most of the day. The answer is yes…I think. It was a nice ending to the Skywalker Saga, it was totally acceptable. But there was something about it. Something that I just could not express last night when my wife asked me if I liked it. Or when people asked me today. Then it hit me.
I am one of those people that liked The Last Jedi. This movie basically pretended none of the events in that movie even happened. You could probably watch The Force Awakens and then The Rise of Skywalker and not even realize there was a movie in between (I am exaggerating a bit here, but not much). So many of Rian Johnson’s ideas were junked, which felt like Abrams was just trying to satisfy the vocal side of fandom.
Before anyone thinks I did not like the movie or that I do not like JJ Abrams, let me say that is not the case. Look, I wish he would have just directed the 8th film and given us a cohesive trilogy. I would rather have Rian Johnson run with his ideas in a separate trilogy (or whatever form the next Star Wars films take). Sadly, I think this trilogy will always be thought of as what could have been by me (and I would imagine many others).
Here are some of my random thoughts…
-I enjoyed the opening with Kylo Ren massacring a bunch of aliens and heading to Exegol to discover Palpatine. The Sith wayfinder and that whole thing reminded me of some of the stuff from Clone Wars and Rebels. The scenes looked cool and creepy as hell.
-So why did Palpatine create Snoke? He needed someone to lure Ben Solo to the Dark Side so that he could…do you see what I mean? Convoluted plan and still does not feel like a satisfying backstory for Snoke.
-Also, does Emperor Palpatine not own any lighting? The dude can shoot electricity from his hands, but he does not believe in some lights around his place? And, where did he get those followers? There were thousands of them…on a planet that is on no star maps. Also, they built an entire armada of Star Destroyers without anyone finding out or hearing about some massive construction in the unknown region??? Before you say “hey Josh, space is huge and it would be easy to build that stuff without anyone knowing.” My response to that is “shut up.”
-Good thing we now know that Force healing is a thing (thanks Baby Yoda!). I wonder what happens to that little guy. If he is still alive after the events of The Mandalorian then he has to be around 75 years old, so probably learning to talk, right?
-I thought the death of Chewie was sad, especially since it would have been Rey’s fault. But then it felt like such a cop out to have him live (but I did like it and I loved the rescue). Also, same with C-3PO. You erase his memory and have him sacrifice himself. He gives the big speech, which was sad, but then you reveal that R2 has a backup anyway.
-I liked the revelation about Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter. It worked well with the message about what makes a Jedi (I guess pushing past that idea of blood and heritage, so maybe Abrams did continue a Johnson idea).
-I also loved the the way Rey and Ben use their Force connection (when she gives him her lightsaber…yeah, I almost gave a cheer.
-I may have wiped a tear away when Han Solo shows back up to give his son a pep talk. Okay, it was just a memory of when he kills him, but this time Ben makes the right choice and chooses to get rid of his lightsaber and throw away Kylo Ren.
-I also loved the way it ended with Rey burying the lightsabers and revealing that she built her own (with a cool, golden blade). She says that she is a Skywalker…maybe not by birth, but actions and deeds.
-So we just threw away the whole Rose/Finn love story idea, right? Abrams really likes having him pine after Rey. They really did nothing with Rose, which was a shame (that felt like they gave in to those racist/sexist fanboys who give fandom a bad name). I will say from a romantic plotline point-of-view, these movies are a mess. Not that the original trilogy wasn’t as well. If you are going to have a love story in there, at least have some kind of resolution. Or does everyone just end up miserable and alone?
-I loved the idea that Poe was a spice runner back before he joined the Resistance. I also enjoyed how Finn and Rey acted like it was the worst thing ever…and his response of “you were a Stormtrooper and you were a scavenger.” Also, can we get Poe Dameron a film of his own at some point? Or at least have him more involved in the next Star Wars project?
Okay, I am going to stop now. I am sure there are more things that I loved/hated. What did you think of the movie?
