Rise of Skywalker with spoilers

Just got out of the theater. Liked it a lot. Will have to collect my thoughts to make a critique.

As for Snoke, i am in the minority I guess in that I don't need a back story. The back story for these guys is all the same as they are Sith. Ren completely turning was a pleasant surprise.

 

My son really enjoyed this movie.

That's my standard of what makes a good Star Wars movie.

Don't even know which character was Snoke.

I enjoyed everyone cheering when the bad dude killed the other bad crusty dude with the light saber, only to watch him turn back again.

I would have thoroughly enjoyed it if the girl had went along with the bad dude and worked together to kill everyone, on both sides, as he suggested. Would have been a good twist.

I don't have any opinion on the Porg thingies, but it smarted of another JarJar majiggy.

I didn't understand Skywalker's death. Did he die? Evaporated? Can he still come back like Yoda, now? If you're going to kill him, kill him, IMO.

I didn't like some of the silliness....thousands of people were immediately turned to dust in that hangar....except the Finn dude and his female sidekick? That was convenient.

Is the next one the last one in the girl / bad dude storyline? If so, where do they go, afterwards? Will there just be infinity movies? How far can they get away from the traditional storylines and still keep it going?

The people in the theatre were stoked and seemed to enjoy it. Place was packed.

My son enjoyed it, and so, I enjoyed it.

 

Luke returned to the force. It’s a pretty common occurrence.

He can return as a force ghost.

 

That’s pretty much how I feel about Snoke. It’s not like there was any backstory on Palpatine in the OT. Shoot, even in the prequels he’s already Sith

 

What I didn't like:

Movie seemed to take a little while to get into gear.

The whole ship-chase was bizarre to me. Why didn't you have a few of the star destoyers jump to light speed ahead of the rebel "fleet" and then turn around and intercept them. BUT, fighter ships and dog fights in space are not very reasonable either, and harken back to old WWII movies, and so does this. So I can let it slide.

The trip to that casino. I thought it was shoehorned in and too contrived.

What I liked:

The scenes of self sacrifice for the greater good. Rose's sister dropping the bombs on the dreadnought knowing she would die anyway. General Haldo cutting the now doomed capital ship right through the FO fleet.

Luke. I like that he was a broken man, as Luke has never been a very strong, focused guy. He (like his father) was always full of doubt and darkness. And his final redemption and merging with the Force was fantastic.

DJ (played by Benicio del Toro): the anti-Solo. He doesn't (apparently) come around and join the good fight. He is a thief, a liar and a scoundrel, and stays that way, selling the rebels out for profit and his life.

What I loved:

Rey's parentage. The notion that she comes from nobodies, a nothing person from a nothing planet rising up to shake the whole galaxy. All the thoughts and theories about Kenobi, Luke's kid, lost ben Solo twin, another Force immaculate conception, etc, all thrown out onto the dust heap. She is simply a nobody. LOVE IT

Ren's total turning to the Dark Side. When Ren and Rey were fighting the guards in the throne room, I was sure this was going to be another Vader back to Anakin story. And boy was I surprised and absolutely blown away when we find out he didn't kill Snoke out of some sense of goodness, but, nope, because he wants to be boss. Sith to the core. LOVE IT

Luke's battle with Ren. When Luke first showed up, I noticed his beard looked wrong. It wasn't grey. And later when he is fighting Ren, he is using his father's old lightsaber which was destroyed in Snoke's throne room. But then we find out that he was using projection the whole time! Wonderful! And his talk to Ren, saying you strike me down now in anger, I will be with you forever. Fantastic story telling.

Yoda showing up and basically slapping the shit out of Luke.


Other thoughts:

I know a lot of people were bothered by Leia's supergirl routine in space. But I can let it go. How do we know she didn't learn some Force techniques from Luke? She is a Skywalker, after all, and thus is naturally attuned to the Force. So I have no problems with this.

How are they going to handle Leia's inevitable death now that the late Carrie Fisher can no longer do the part?

I hope Luke starts to mentor Rey as a Force ghost.

I don't understand the porg hatred. They were little birds that lived on the island and I imagine they are going to sell a shit ton of them as plush toys. And Lucas himself was BIG BIG BIG on merchandising.

 

as an expanded universe nerd, I've had to accept that the newer films are operating with different rules re: hyperspace. it's all good. it's all made-up anyway.

yeah it seemed like, let's give them something to do. but it was ok. I thought it was gonna be Lando tho

I like this too, although I won't be surprised if it turns out to have been a lie.

yep my first thought was "something isn't as it seems, here"

 

I honestly don't know if I've ever watched a Star Wars movie from start to finish.

 

Rey is not a nobody. She has more to her story than junker parents.

There’s a reason that old man (who had the map to Luke Skywalker) was on Jakku (the same place as Rey) in the Force Awakens.

Much like Obi Wan watching over Luke on Tattoine

 

Or there is a "Rey" on every planet throughout the galaxy and this Rey just happened to be on this planet with the old man.

 

That’s a lame, PC, all-inclusive way of writing this story. Which I don’t put past Disney.

 

Good lord.

 

That wouldn’t bother me that much. The Canto Bight sequence was political bullshit, but other than that there wasn’t anything overtly pc about the film.

 

How so? Who was Yoda? Who was Mace? Who was Obi-Wan?

They were nobodies, that just happened to be powerful force users, that rose through the Jedi ranks.

Anakin Skywalker is the only special person, if his mother’s word is to be trusted. And she was a nobody.

 

Leia has always had the ability to use the force. She mind melds with Luke since early on.

This was an uncoinscous ability used for self preservation.

That’s different, and doubtfully “teachable.”

 

Star Wars is a Skywalker story. Sure, there a cool side characters, but the main characters have been Skywalkers, from Anakin “the chosen one.”

To me if the main protagonist in the story is a random, it loses a lot of lure and meaning. Just me though.

 

If the only Star Wars media you've consumed are the movies, then I see why you think that. But in reality, you've consumed one of the shittier parts of the Star Wars galaxy, and there are far greater stories than those of the Skywalker lineage.

 

Did not like.

 

7 out of 10...liked it better than 1-3 and the force awakens but put it behind 4-6 and Rogue One.

I did not like what they did with Luke. Leia using the force was a lame Dues ex Machina move. Lukes death was also lame. The one thing that EMO I mean Kylo Ren had to his advantage was his ability to hide his thoughts that Sith are able to employ. While I thought that the way Snoke was killed was anti-climatic it was reasonable because weak-@ss Emo Ren would have never defeated Snoke in real combat. These Sith are weak. Vader could have met these guys in his PJs, defeated both in under 90s seconds like an early Mike Tyson fight and been back home for Hot Tea and Scones while the world sleeps.

None of these characters are well developed. None engender any real emotional connection with the viewer. Leia is a shell of herself probably because of Fishers age and health. Holdo had a lot of promise but was wasted on casting Laura Dern. I dont know if there were any hidden messages in any of her dialogue and that would be reason to re-watch her scenes.

I was disappointed that Finn wasn't allowed to kill himself! He is like chewing gum on the bottom of your shoe.

There were more holes in this movie than Swiss Cheese.

I gave it a 7 and rated it above many of the others because I did find it more entertaining than irritating.

I would have suggested that these directors read Le Morte D'Arthur but these movies are already in the can. Luke would have made a great Arthurian character. Snoke could have been a female Morgan Le Fey type and Ren could have been a type of Modred. Rey could have been typed as a Lady Gawain. Finn should have been fertilizer in the first movie.

Heck they even had an Irish island...it could have been Lukes Avalon. So much missed opportunity to create the Heroic Epic that us older fans of 4-6 deserved.

Oh well I see 9 taking the final bow in a bit of a fizzle.

 

The movie comedy was pretty [uck fay]ing terrible. I wasn't expecting a Star Wars slapstick 3 hour extravaganza attempt. Ping-ponging through 80 scenes in 3.5 minutes, I thought I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon. What they did to Luke's character was awful. I did like Kylo embracing the dark side, even if he still is a little [itch bay], and ripping through the imperial fleet by going into lightspeed.

 

Co-worker said a problem was that there were three hero stories, when we're used to two. It's always been Han/Leia, or Han/Luke, or Leia/Luke. But there were three separate story lines going this time: Poe, Finn and Rey.