Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers)

[Powerboy]

What’s Fin’s secret? What was he trying to tell Rey?

I don't know for sure. Maybe that he was in love with her but that's so predictable that it might have been something else. The fact that it was never resolved screams that we have not seen the last of these characters.

[ZeroBG82]

I don't know for sure. Maybe that he was in love with her but that's so predictable that it might have been something else. The fact that it was never resolved screams that we have not seen the last of these characters.

It's that he is strong with the Force and can be trained to be a Jedi. See his conversation with Janna on the moon of Endor, and then the fact that he senses Rey's "death" after she slays the Emperor, despite being aboard the Millenium Falcon in or near orbit.

[Mia]

It's that he is strong with the Force and can be trained to be a Jedi. See his conversation with Janna on the moon of Endor, and then the fact that he senses Rey's "death" after she slays the Emperor, despite being aboard the Millenium Falcon in or near orbit.

Yep. The director confirmed it.

https://www.inverse.com/article/6196...fession-to-rey

And John Boyega quashes the notion that he was going to tell her he loved her.

https://ca.ign.com/articles/2019/12/...-sensitive-poe

[Buried Alien]

Oh, and Palpatine's demise just seemed and look silly and anticlimactic, IMO.

It was a "Wicked Witch of the West" ending, but considering how Palpatine survived what happened to him in RETURN OF THE JEDI, how dead is "dead" for him?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Mia]

Just saw it today.

There are some great things.

First, while I agreed with many of the political points from "The Last Jedi", overall, Johnson more or less ignored or "subverted" everything Abrams set up. I would go so far as to say that "Subversion" now apparently means, "Go against expectations just for the sake of going against expectations even when it is only unexpected because it makes no sense". Nevertheless, Abrams had a choice. Even though Johnson ignored and sabotaged everything Abrams set up, Abrams could have gone with what Johnson did. Thank goodness he did not. Unfortunately, that meant he had to spend a significant amount of the movie explaining away and undoing the stuff Johnson did.

Stoke was literally a creation of the Emperor (note cloning tank as the Emperor explains that). Ryn gets back into the mask (though, admittedly, that was a trivial thing to waste time on). Luke catches the lightsaber and remembers that he's Luke Skywalker, however many years removed, and not some other character. While I certainly agree that it is a good point that someone doesn't have to have a special bloodline to become significant, the first movie set up that there was a special secret about Rey's history. So Abrams did need to get his story back on track.

I suspect a lot of people who loved Johnson's departures will hate this movie and a lot of people will give it bonus points just for undoing Johnson's story. I'm in the latter category. Whatever stars I would have given it get doubled just for that.

But the story does far more than that. It utilizes some characters more than perhaps any previous Stars Wars movie. It does more with 3PO and takes him to a level beyond what we've seen before like he's actually a character that can grow while still being comedy relief. Chewbacca also gets more development which is pretty amazing for a character that can only growl.

I never really bought the Mary Sue accusations about Rey and always felt, even in the Last Jedi, that they were more about her being a scrawny girl whupping male butt than that she was any more unrealistic than Anakin or Luke or the movie Karate Kid or any character that in no time gets good enough to fight a champion that has trained for years. It's just that TLJ "subverted" (I now hate that word because TLJ has so trivialized it) her background.

It's not perfect. It needed to go the way of "Endgame" and be three hours long. It felt too rushed. There were meaningful and touching moments but most of them had to be rushed through and we didn't have time to thoughtfully or emotionally reflect upon them and they were not given enough time.

Rose is relegated to almost non-existence. She just makes cameos to remind us she is still there while doing nothing important as if Abrams realized she was so disliked in the second movie that he doesn't want to deal with her but also doesn't want to pretend she doesn't exist.

In some respects, this is a one hour movie because an hour, more or less, has to be spent undoing or retelling the second movie instead of going forward from the first moment. There's also the Deus ex Machina of the Emperor. I hate that sort of rewrite of history while claiming it isn't a rewrite. It instantly reminded me of the Beast Master television show from the late 1990s where, in the third season, the villain suddenly had this deal for power with a dark god and this was true all along but anyone watching the first two seasons knows it was made up out of thin air for the third season. This had that feeling. Oh, the Emperor was really alive and behind everything all this time but not a hint or clue of it until now but it was always true in the previous two movies. Maybe Abrams meant it to be hinted at in the middle movie but Johnson didn't care about furthering the story but scrapping it and writing his own story.

That's really the biggest flaw of this trilogy is that you needed the same person directly in charge of all three or at least someone who could maintain the same vision.

I really loved this movie. As I said, I suspect deviating from TLJ, by itself, makes me love it more. It had its flaws. Events were rushed. It had to undo or explain the previous movie. I loved the ending.

Loved TLJ. I thought that it was a wonderful and highly intelligent film. But I love ROS even more, most for it’s complexity, themes and of course heart. ROS had more of an emotional impact and for various reason. And I still don’t see Abrams undoing what Johnson did. I think about a few things were retconned out—mainly the notion that the only time that Luke had sensed power as great in Rey was in Ben (I think Abrams just got rid of this and made it Palapatine) . But on a whole JJ either just fleshed out Johnson’s points or he put it in a different context.

Another thing, The beauty of Rey and why she’s one of my top five favourite heroines. Is that her specializes does not come from her heritage. It comes from the choices she makes. Her attitude. Her character. To me that counts 10 times more than supernatural powers. It’s how the powers that are used that counts, not the powers themselves. And lineage too means nothing as well.

A great deal of the themes in all 3 films is the fact that we decide who we are going to be. It’s not to be left to others to define us or tell us who we are. And the power of the human spirit and deciding who we are going to be, and how we define ourselves.

When I first heard that the title of the film would be ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, I thought that it was hokey. But I changed my mind after seeing the film. Rey’s taking on the name of Skywalker is more than just a nod to the Skywalker families greatness. It’s a tribute to Luke and Lea who believed in her, despite her lineage, and helped her to be all she could be. But when you really think about it. The title refers to Rey rising to greatness. And that greatness comes in various forms. I understand it is symbolic that the yellow light saber she displays at the end is just as much as symbol of strategic prowess as much as martial prowess.


And the ‘greatness’ isn’t her power or her lineage. It’s her character and the seed of who she is deep down and woman she was meant to be.

I mentioned in another entry that Rey has really grown into herself. From a plucky girl to a confident and powerful young woman completely comfortable with who she is.

[WebLurker]

It was a "Wicked Witch of the West" ending, but considering how Palpatine survived what happened to him in RETURN OF THE JEDI, how dead is "dead" for him?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Probably deader then dead; he was on his backup plan and was destroyed with the most powerful Force blast that ever existed.

[Kintor]

Probably deader then dead; he was on his backup plan and was destroyed with the most powerful Force blast that ever existed.

If Disney has need of Palpatine again to try and boost ticket sales then he'll back back. Obliterated in an atomic blast? Some cheat codes from Rey? What difference does it make? The man is part of a order with a reputation for and an obsession with cheating death. All the OT heroes are dead or past retirement and the Skywalker line extinguished but the dark side is eternal.

[WebLurker]

If Disney has need of Palpatine again to try and boost ticket sales then he'll back back. Obliterated in an atomic blast? Some cheat codes from Rey? What difference does it make? The man is part of a order with a reputation for and an obsession with cheating death.

All we have to go on are the facts of the here and now, not hypothetical futures. Besides, Palpatine only came back because of TROS being part of the Skywalker Saga, a Saga that is currently finished with no plans of being continued in movie form.

All the OT heroes are dead or past retirement...

Yeah, hence why the lead characters of the sequel trilogy are a new generation.

...and the Skywalker line extinguished...

Wrong, the last thing we see in the movie is a Skywalker ready to face the future.

...but the dark side is eternal.

Palpatine isn't the only baddie in the franchise, nor will he be the last.

[motherofpearl1]

All we have to go on are the facts of the here and now, not hypothetical futures. Besides, Palpatine only came back because of TROS being part of the Skywalker Saga, a Saga that is currently finished with no plans of being continued in movie form.



Yeah, hence why the lead characters of the sequel trilogy are a new generation.



Wrong, the last thing we see in the movie is a Skywalker ready to face the future.



Palpatine isn't the only baddie in the franchise, nor will he be the last.

A Skywalker ready to face the future?

Rey isn't a Skywalker. She's a Palpatine. The bloodline is gone. Kaput.

She's also gone from a likeable character to a dull and predictable Mary Sue. She isn't a patch, character wise, on Kylo Ren.

I'm sure some people will be invested in her story but everyone I know who's seen the film aren't.

As for me....after forty two years of loving SW, I'm out. Not interested in Mary Rey Sue Palpatine.

[WebLurker]

A Skywalker ready to face the future?

Rey isn't a Skywalker. She's a Palpatine.

Why are we arguing over something the movie specifically told us?

The bloodline is gone. Kaput.

Wha's that got to do with anything? Heck, the whole point of her story is how secondary bloodline is to personal choice.

She's also gone from a likeable character to a dull and predictable Mary Sue.

Don't go giving me the old "Mary Sue" claim; I've been debunking that since 2015.

She isn't a patch, character wise, on Kylo Ren.

To each their own.

I'm sure some people will be invested in her story but everyone I know who's seen the film aren't.

Anecdotal.

As for me....after forty two years of loving SW, I'm out. Not interested in Mary Rey Sue Palpatine.

"You must do what you feel is right, of course."

[motherofpearl1]

Are you a fan of the OT, by chance?
And I also debunked Mary Sue. I repeatedly defended the ST, and Rey, and got a lot of flak for it. But that is one of the reasons I was so disappointed, because that is exactly what she became.

I'm glad you loved this film. I wish I'd loved it. I wanted to love it. As a kid, Star Wars provided me with an escape from a childhood blighted by school bullies, as an adult helped me cope with depression. I lost my mum this May. I lost a beloved pet. This has not been a good year for me. I wanted it to end on a high.
Instead I watched the franchise I loved die.
Good luck to it's new fans, but for me, as I said, Star Wars died with the last of the Skywalker/Solo family.

[Beaddle]

I don't know for sure. Maybe that he was in love with her but that's so predictable that it might have been something else. The fact that it was never resolved screams that we have not seen the last of these characters.

I think JJ Abrams is not been honest. I do think Finn wanted to tell rey that he loved her. it will make more sense and tie better with force awakens when Han Solo told Finn that women always know.

JJ Abrams is on thin ice, if he says that finn wanted to tell rey he loved her, it will just damage the movie more and expose the screen play as bs, not to mention hurt the Reylo pairing that they unnecessary made cannon and anger the Reylo shippers.

[ChrisIII]

It's kind of interesting that when you think about it, despite the whole Tatooine connection, Luke, Leia, Ben and Rey technically are all at least part-Nabooish.

[PwrdOn]

Yep. The director confirmed it.

https://www.inverse.com/article/6196...fession-to-rey

And John Boyega quashes the notion that he was going to tell her he loved her.

https://ca.ign.com/articles/2019/12/...-sensitive-poe

Interviews don't matter though, within the structure of the film it was pretty obvious that he was about to declare his love for Rey, because who decides to start ranting about how they have Force powers when they think they are about to die? It does of course make him look like too much of a mopey nice guy, but since they never actually resolved that particular thread they have plausible deniability to spin it after the fact.

[Beaddle]

I thought Endgame was a dumb film... this takes the cake!

Not one, not two not three but FOUR death fake out scenes! Five if you count the Emperor. Lowest form of writing there. Kylo had no idea where Rey was on that planet but then suddenly shows up out of nowhere when she gets the Rabbit's Foot... Poe and Fin have nothing in this film they get a few moments here and that is it, I laughed when Rey pushed Fin back it essentially was the film telling us he isn't relevant to be part of the main plot.

Biggest pisstake was the Emperor's returning... happening of screen. I was looking forward to that but oh he is alive and he has broadcast his return like an idiot. Don't get me started out the Rey is a Palpitine twist, shows that you can only be a powerful Jedi because of your Lineage! I loved that TLJ basically showed that any one can become a Jedi.

Leia's scenes were so awkward and uncomfortable should have had her pass off screen because he role in this film was literally pointless.

This all JJ fault, why set TFA up in a mystery box format expecting the next director to be happy to continue it on. Now he is just scrambling over the place obvious he wanted Fin to be force sensitive but given 3rd film not much he can do but tease, your fault in the first place mate. Their explanation for Palpitines return pretty much sums up everything and thinking to requote a past line is sufficient enough explanation.

Another laughable moment was the "kiss" not once did I ever get the impression their relationship was remotely romantic.

Positives, shot well. Looks nice. Acting was good.

Speaking of Endgame, there are some striking similarities between both movies that has been picked up on. infact CBR seems to know this.

https://www.cbr.com/rise-of-skywalke...-endgame-line/
The Rise of Skywalker Has Its Own Iron Man Endgame Line - and It Rules

https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-the-ri...-ended-better/
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Vs Avengers: Endgame - Which Ended Better?

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/248...imilar-endings
Avengers: Endgame And Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker Have Very Similar Endings

https://comicbook.com/starwars/2019/...am-iron-man-a/
Avengers: Endgame Fans Are Saying Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Ripped It Off

Yeah, star wars ripping of marvel and not in good way like when Vader was basically a rip off of Dr Doom.

https://www.themarysue.com/avengers-...-of-skywalker/
Avengers: Endgame Did the Same Finale Better Than The Rise of Skywalker. I Said What I Said.




There is also the notion of fan services, although it was praised in Endgame, it seems to be disliked with rise of skywalker because the fan service was done out of fear, while endgame the fan service was about celebrating the 10 years of mcu movies. star wars is doing fan services that this New Disney trilogy has not earned. sad