Rise of Skywalker: The Seen It/Spoilers Thread

[Randomthoughts]

Saw the movie over the weekend. My vote was "Average". The good parts:

• Movie was beautiful to watch.
• One of the most emotional scenes (I didn't expect) was seeing Chewie's reaction to Leia's passing. Teared up on that one.
• Liked Luke's and Han's cameos.
• Action was (as usual) top notch.
• Liked Daisy as Rey and Driver as Kylo. I thought they had chemistry and would like to see more of them - but alas.

What I didn't like:

• Didn't care to have Palps back. I'm not much on Legends stuff but know one arc was Palps was back as a clone. I really didn't want that. The lich idea was better, but not by much.
• Lessening the effect of the OT is pathetic. Things came full circle and nothing progressed. I blame the showrunners/executive producers I guess - which they should have stuck with regardless of director - and the writing.
• I didn't find the chemistry between the three protagonists to be endearing. I liked each of them but the movies didn't capture the chemistry of the OT (the banter, the relationships).
• The worst was Poe, not as a character (I certainly like Issacs) but the writing and his story arc. The progress of his arc to Supreme General (or whatever) didn't progress well. His character presented an opportunity that you don't see a lot in SW movies - the story of the person in the trenches, leading the Rebellion/Resistance. (Just like how the Mandalorian shows a side of SW that you don't often see in the movies too).

Ultimately, I said it was average b/c it was supposed to the climax of all the trilogies. It wasn't. Worse yet, it didn't lay a good foundation for the next step in the universe. It was a wasted opportunity.

Saw it was my two kids and they rated it as the worst of the SW series (note they grew up on the ST). For context, they liked TLJ but not as a SW movie (if that makes sense).

 

[Nebulous]

Saw it was my two kids and they rated it as the worst of the SW series (note they grew up on the ST). For context, they liked TLJ but not as a SW movie (if that makes sense).

I hadn't even thought about how kids would react to RofS. I've only been thinking about jaded adults.

 

[Morrus]

I spoke to a guy who said his mate say he overheard somebody say it was the best film ever! So, that's that solved.

 

[Nebulous]

 

[pukunui]

My daughters, aged 7, 11, and 14, all thoroughly enjoyed it. They would all like to see it again.

 

[Kaodi]

To a discussion from a few pages back: Rey has one of the best lightsabers ever. The only one where the physical structure of the saber follows clearly from another object in the series.

 

[Maxperson]

I just saw the movie and it was better than the last one for sure. What I really didn't like was that Leia, Rei and Ben all died just from using the force, and not even in a major way like Luke. If using the force were that lethal, we would have been out of Jedi just a few short years after they came into being, rather than the Jedi being a force for justice for thousands of years. It was so bad that I actually thought that the movie makers missed an opportunity at the end and should have had Rei and Ben heal/dying for each other in perpetuity, but she was a bit slow and he disappeared on her.

 

[Imaculata]

Sadly, I think the interpretation of episodes 1-6 as "The Tragedy & Redemption of Anakin Skywalker" was undermined by Episode 9

Lets be honest, the redemption of Anakin Skywalker was already thoroughly undermined by episodes 1-3, by making Anakin an unlikable a-hole who murders children and whines about Obi-wan being mean to him.

At least the revelation about Rey's parentage provide explanation about her outstanding skill level, which was used by some to accuse her of being a Mary Sue (compared to Luke).

It doesn't make her any less of a Mary Sue either though. Just because they give a reason for her outstanding skill in the force, does not change the fact that she is a character with outstanding powers and very few flaws. So the checkmarks for a Marie Sue character still stand.

To be clear, I never called her a Mary Sue, because it is a bit of a weak argument against her as a character, since Luke could also be seen as a Mary Sue character all the same. But the people that did call her one are not in the wrong. Bare in mind that when people call a character a Mary Sue, they are often recognising a weakness in the writing of the character. This often translates in a character that is a sort of stand in for the writer him/herself, who is liked by everyone and is great at a ton of things that stretch believability in comparison to other characters in the story. It is also often a character that is well liked by older established characters in the story, which the new trilogy of course has in the form of Luke and Han. Rey has a lot of all of that, but so does Luke.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

A force-user who had suffered a nasty blaster wound and was leaving a trail of blood all the way to the battle. It's a testament to his power that he could even still lift his light saber at this point

It can be "plausible" for her to succeed in this fight as she does - but the point is that the win doesn't feel "earned". She didn't overcome great odds, she won because the odds were already in her favor. Seeing the underdog beating the odds because he or she's smarter, more insightful, or was better at convincing others to work with him is what we want to see. But Rey didn't need to convince Chewie to fight at her side and shoot at Kylo Ren, she didn't need to have a cunning plan.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Neither luke nor anakin are mary sues.

Rey is.

All three have phenominal force talents. Makes the most sense with ani and the least sense with rey. But shes got'em.

Ani and luke (especially ani) have flaws. Real actual flaws. Not fake flaws that are really strictly and exclusivelt good things.
Rey has the basic fake mary sue flaws that mary sues tend to have.

Also rey is a physically weak (without the force. Also that may be her grandfather's influence. He wasnt physically very strong. But he was one of the few characters faster than yoda) female (at least shes portrayed that way. Barely any muscle, small of frame like if blew in her direction shed crumple and not tall, soft looking, and female) who bests large numbers of males in physical contest practically without ever once acting so much as winded (climactic fights are exceptions. She dies get winded then. Strictly for dramatic effect but there is actually nothing particularly mary sue about that.)

They arent even close. Rey is a mary sue and luke/ani are not.