Three new Star Wars movies

[Stalker0]

I agree. I actually really enjoyed Rise of Skywalker, to tell you the truth.

I feel like RoS was like a big bowl of candy. When I'm watching it in the theaters, just stuffing candy in my mouth, I enjoyed it.

Then I left the theater and actually thought about what I had just watched (aka the sugar crash), and that's when I realized just how bad it was. And the sad part is, there are some interesting scenes. When Rey supposedly "kills" Chewbacca, man that was a shocker....and if they had actually let that play out in character (even if they bring chewy back in the end, give us some time to see how Rey reacts to it), that could have been really cool.

The Diad thing I thought was neat, and the switching weapons with each other was pretty cool. When people are saying "the force can't do that", I'm like "yeah that's the point, this diad thing is new, its unexplored territory". However, it was also an example of something someone thought of at the last minute as opposed to integrating it into the story. If Rey's phenomenal growth had been foreshadowed more, "maybe luke goes.....her power is immense but more than that, her knowledge and skill.....she can't be untrained"....something something, and then the Diad thing is a way to pay that off (she basically was "stealing" knowledge from Kylo) that could have explained Rey's power without looking like such a Mary Sue.

But as others have mentioned, the biggest issue in the movie is that it doesn't commit to the story that's been made. Love or Hate TLJ, its cannon, and you can't just ignore it exists. To bring up things in TLJ just to retcon them in RoS, its silly and stupid. Oh and also the dagger, that dagger is just the dumbest clue device in the history of clue devices.

 

[Umbran]

Starting Darth Vader out as an adorable, happy little slave is one of the most mind-boggling writing decisions in film history.

Unless he leapt fully formed, armor and all, from the forehead of Palpatine, he had to be a kid at some point, right? And if you are telling the story of a fall from grace, you kind of have to start in a state of grace.

 

[MarkB]

The Diad thing I thought was neat, and the switching weapons with each other was pretty cool. When people are saying "the force can't do that", I'm like "yeah that's the point, this diad thing is new, its unexplored territory". However, it was also an example of something someone thought of at the last minute as opposed to integrating it into the story.

Much as I loathe RoS, that capability was hinted at as far back as The Last Jedi, when Kylo finds traces of salt water on his face after communing with Rey on the wave-battered island. Physical transfer was always possible, Rey just managed to do it consciously.

But as others have mentioned, the biggest issue in the movie is that it doesn't commit to the story that's been made. Love or Hate TLJ, its cannon, and you can't just ignore it exists. To bring up things in TLJ just to retcon them in RoS, its silly and stupid. Oh and also the dagger, that dagger is just the dumbest clue device in the history of clue devices.

Yeah, the movie felt like it consisted of more parts apologetic retraction than story, which just ruins it as a narrative.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You are so wrong (look I can do it too!)... The sequels are total garbage with no redemption, almost no one likes them, stop kidding yourself.

The Force Awakens was a needed corrective after the prequels badly poisoned the well amongst the general public. And The Last Jedi is a top three Star Wars movie and the first time since The Empire Strikes Back that everyone in the audience couldn't confidently predict every twist and turn in the story.

The prequels have great concept art and an OK plot line. The actual movies themselves should get locked away wherever Lucas has hidden the original prints of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. (They should also leave Rise of Skywalker there as well.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Unless he leapt fully formed, armor and all, from the forehead of Palpatine, he had to be a kid at some point, right? And if you are telling the story of a fall from grace, you kind of have to start in a state of grace.

There's a reason no one is doing "Voldemort: The Wonder Years" or "Becoming Jeffrey Dahmer" as movies.

If one had to tell this story, Anakin shouldn't have been the POV character and George Lucas definitely shouldn't have been the scriptwriter.

Edited to change the name of one of the monsters involved. Also fixed the spelling of a Star Wars name.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But as others have mentioned, the biggest issue in the movie is that it doesn't commit to the story that's been made. Love or Hate TLJ, its cannon, and you can't just ignore it exists. To bring up things in TLJ just to retcon them in RoS, its silly and stupid.

Basically, this is the whole problem with the sequel series: For reasons that I cannot begin to imagine, no one thought it was important to create an outline for the trilogy ahead of time and stick to it. Rey's parentage (whether she was yet another nepo baby or a no one) and Finn's arc should have been planned out before the cameras started rolling on TFA.

 

[Hatmatter]

Yeah, the movie felt like it consisted of more parts apologetic retraction than story, which just ruins it as a narrative.

I hear this often. It's strange because I was surprised at how well Rise of Skywalker integrated and used Last Jedi. Ahh well, to each their own. I watch Rise of Skywalker every once in a while and always enjoy it. I just finished a rewatch of the sequel trilogy and thought they all work quite well together.

 

[Clint_L]

I think Rise of Skywalker used Last Jedi mostly as the thing that needed correcting. I think Disney looked at the decline in box office from Force to Last and made a panic call (that completely backfired when you look at the box office of Rise). Everything that made Last Jedi interesting was canceled, and instead we got a movie pitched at giving fan service to the complainers and ultimately satisfying no one.

Last Jedi brought in some key ideas, the most important of which was it doesn't all have to be about these royal Jedi families. That had immense promise for the future of the franchise, because it basically democratized Star Wars (thus, the final shot of the force-sensitive poor kid). It held out the possibility of future stories that weren't just the same thing over and over.

It kind of reminded me of what Spiderverse did - holding out the possibility that anyone can be Spiderman and have interesting stories to tell.

But then Rise said "nope. It's just about the same characters as it always was, Rey's a Palpatine but an adoptive Skywalker and we will just keep hitting the same story beats forever." I'm tired of it. When I watched Solo, I knew every story beat before it happened, often even the dialogue (when we watched it in the theatre, my spouse later told me I was muttering "don't say it" right before the Imperial "gives" Han his last name, possibly the stupidest Easter egg in the history of Easter eggs). Rise was that turned all the way up. A lot of the Mandalorian is that.

Lucas gave us an amazing world and a mythic story, but most Star Wars media since the first two films is just picking at the carcass.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If one had to tell this story, Annakin shouldn't have been the POV character and George Lucas definitely shouldn't have been the scriptwriter.

Man, just imagine if the prequel trilogy was tightly focused on Padme or Obi-Wan, and they just got to see Annakin's decline from the outside, bit by bit, never sure if they were seeing him slide into madness and being a serial killer. (Which, yes, doesn't fit great with him being a weepy dude at the end of Return of the Jedi, but that's a pretty bad script as well.)

 

[Umbran]

There's a reason no one is doing "Hitler: The Wonder Years" or "Becoming Jeffrey Dahmer" as movies.

Yeah, well, you wanna Godwin this discussion, I'm not going to engage with that.

And if you take that as a win on your part, you are sadly mistaken.