Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (SPOILERS) 0

[Bosco685]

That end reveal seems to have spun some people up.

Rise of Skywalker's Rey reveal undoes one of Star Wars' boldest choices: Opinion

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Writer-director Rian Johnson cemented Rey’s nobody status with 2017’s The Last Jedi, revealing that her parents were nothing but “junk traders” who abandoned her and left her to die. The revelation devastated Rey, but also gave her strength: Power wasn’t necessarily tied to pedigree, and whatever path she chose would be her own. The Last Jedi took a deeply democratic view of the Force, suggesting that, yes, children born to legends can shape the galaxy like Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren, but so too can the children of forgotten scroungers.

 

That is, of course, until The Rise of the Skywalker undid all that.

 

The final installment of the Skywalker Saga declares that Rey is actually the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine, the senator-slash-secret-Sith-Lord best known as the Emperor (played once again by Ian McDiarmid). It’s a baffling surprise, and not only because the last time we saw Palpatine, in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader was chucking him into the Death Star’s reactor core. Making Rey a secret Palpatine undermines the recent saga’s most compelling character arc, reducing Rey’s emotional journey to lame, unearned plot twist.

 

It’s hard not to feel cheated after The Last Jedi teased a bold new direction, and Rise of Skywalker retreated into the saga’s oldest, most overused trope. That isn’t to say Star Wars should never again tell stories about family legacy; after all, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren is all about family legacy and wrestling with its complications. But making Rey a nobody provided a sharp contrast to Kylo’s messy ancestry, suggesting that anyone — including you, me, or anyone else watching — could be a hero too.

 

Dramatically, the Rey reveal doesn’t deliver much of an emotional punch. Palpatine’s speech about Rey’s Sith legacy feels like an anticlimactic echo of Darth Vader and “I am your father” in The Empire Strikes Back. Our beloved protagonist learns that they’re descended from the galaxy’s biggest bad? Didn’t we already tell this story better back in 1980? The Vader-Luke reveal worked because the two had a shared history, and Luke believed Vader had not only murdered his father, but Obi-Wan Kenobi too. Rey and Palpatine have never met before Rise of Skywalker, so their connection lacks the same narrative weight.

But the intent seems reasonable.

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Rise of Skywalker somewhat redeems Rey’s arc in its closing scene: Our heroine journeys to a familiar little moisture farm in the Tatooine desert, burying the Skywalker family lightsabers and taking their name as her own. Rey’s choice to align herself with the Skywalkers is moving because it’s exactly that: a choice. The lonely little girl who dreamed of a family finally stops waiting and chooses to forge one of her own.

 

After all, who Rey has been is far less interesting than who she chooses to be.

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Bosco685

[Buzzetta]

You want your spoiler?  Here is a big spoiler for the possible future direction that the comics / novels / movies MAY take. 

We hear the following speak to Rey:

• Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
• Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker
• Frank Oz as Yoda
• Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
• Freddie Prinze Jr as Kanan Jarrus (from Star Wars: Rebels)
• Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano (from Star Wars: The Clone Wars/Rebels)
• Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia (from The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars and, er, Jedi Power Battles on PSone)
• Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura (from Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
• Olivia D'Abo as Luminara Unduli (from Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars)

BUT... 

Who do we NOT hear?   Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger. 

At the end of Rebels, Ezra had been pushed into the unknown regions with Grand Admiral Thrawn.  Ahsoka Tano goes with Sabine to search for him.  The film acknowledges that by the time of Rise of Skywalker, Ahsoka must have passed.  However, if they are going to include Freddie Prinze Jr as Kanan Jarrus as one of the voices then they could have easily gotten Taylor Gray.  The fact that they didn't COULD IMPLY that he is still out and about during the time period. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Buzzetta

[Gatsby77]

1 hour ago, Bosco685 said:

Wow!

 

Agree with the folks in the video.

There was *zero* reason not to include both Anakin and Ben as force ghosts next to Luke and Leia in this scene. Particularly because Anakin's ghost was present at the end of Jedi. And Ben (clearly) deserved to be there.

 

[drotto]

 

[Bosco685]

3 minutes ago, drotto said:

 

"So Palpatine has gotten...intimate?"

[Rip]

I just finished looking over the Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary. Some REALLY great stuff in there that was poorly described in the movie.

Did anyone know that Kylo was at one of Vaders castles (in crumbling ruins) on Mustafar. The thin forest was the rough location at the beginning he was fighting cult colonists seeking to tap into the powers that supposedly fueled them.

Edited December 22, 2019 by Rip

[I like pie]

1 hour ago, Gatsby77 said:

Agree with the folks in the video.

There was *zero* reason not to include both Anakin and Ben as force ghosts next to Luke and Leia in this scene. Particularly because Anakin's ghost was present at the end of Jedi. And Ben (clearly) deserved to be there.

 

I agree they should have been included but it didn't really bother me.

[Rip]

1 hour ago, Gatsby77 said:

Agree with the folks in the video.

There was *zero* reason not to include both Anakin and Ben as force ghosts next to Luke and Leia in this scene. Particularly because Anakin's ghost was present at the end of Jedi. And Ben (clearly) deserved to be there.

 

It woulds take every bone in my body not to strangle that one person. Glad it was only a private screening for reylos. (See twitter link)

Good or bad. I don't think Ben should have been there at all on that scene either.

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Rip

[MetalPSI]

Here is to hoping the only star wars films/shows to ever come out now are stand alone and mostly disregard the Original Series. Or failing that, the sequel trilogy. The best thing Daisy can do is put this completely behind her and find a focus for her career. Good to see Adam Driver is already working on it. These films are career killers and not many make it past them

[drotto]

7 minutes ago, IkewithMike said:

Here is to hoping the only star wars films/shows to ever come out now are stand alone and mostly disregard the Original Series. Or failing that, the sequel trilogy. The best thing Daisy can do is put this completely behind her and find a focus for her career. Good to see Adam Driver is already working on it. These films are career killers and not many make it past them

I am a full supporter of changing the time frame and moving to completely original characters ( or start harvesting the old EU).  Would prefer the Old Republic but jumping forward a few hundred years would work also.

[MetalPSI]

1 hour ago, drotto said:

I am a full supporter of changing the time frame and moving to completely original characters ( or start harvesting the old EU).  Would prefer the Old Republic but jumping forward a few hundred years would work also.

An old republic epic would be fantastic, if they can build it on the foundation of the birth of the sith and jedi, I havent seen anything close to that yet, unless KotOR counts 

[Mr Sneeze]

I have to say, I really liked it. All of it, on every level, worked for me. Can't wait to see it again. Having recently come to really appreciate TLJ as - for me - a great film and really enjoying the Mandalorian (wish someone would of had the fore sight to go with that as a sequel idea), I'm pretty happy about the state of things.

 

 

[I like pie]

1 hour ago, Mr Sneeze said:

I have to say, I really liked it. All of it, on every level, worked for me. Can't wait to see it again. Having recently come to really appreciate TLJ as - for me - a great film and really enjoying the Mandalorian (wish someone would of had the fore sight to go with that as a sequel idea), I'm pretty happy about the state of things.

 

 

That's interesting. Everyone I know who liked TLJ, hated RoS because it retconned much of what Johnson presented.

[bentbryan]

Finally was able to see it tonight. I went in with very low expectations and ended up liking it more than I anticipated.  The film felt like it had it’s foot on the gas the entire time, someone earlier posted that it was more of a YouTube playlist and I agree.  They clearly had no plan laid out from the beginning of 7, which honestly I can’t even wrap my brain around how that could even occur.  It could have been worse but I think it could have been much, much better.  I’ve never made a movie, let alone a trilogy, but I would think you need one creative mind at the top, not a committee (JJ and RJ said committee) throughout three films.

 I’m taking my two nephews tomorrow afternoon so I’ll be able to take a deeper look but for now I’m saying a 6/10. 

[@therealsilvermane]

7 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

Wow!

 

A theater full of jaded cynical losers who take their Star Wars head canon way too seriously. I wonder if their Force sensitive lives are now forever ruined?

[mr_highgrade]

Saw it Friday and I thought it was pretty good. Will probably see again tomorrow with my kids. 

[Comics4All]

13 hours ago, Foley said:

This movie failed on so many levels for me, but let's start with the good: It was visually appealing. It was fairly well acted. It may have been good to a casual Star Wars fan.

Now the bad, and yes, I realise some of this is nitpicking.

• The opening crawl. Palpatine's reveal relegated to a sentence. "Guess what guys? He's back." Ok fine, how? Why? And not only is he back, but he's broadcasting his presence to the whole galaxy. Why would he do that? Just stupid IMO. It seemed obvious to me that the Emperor was never meant to appear in this trilogy and added in last minute.
• The Sith way finder McGuffins
• The Emperor had a son - why was he never mentioned before? Why was he not powerful in the force? Why was he even needed in the first place. Palps could have just created Rey like it's implied he did with Anakin.
• The editing and cuts are obvious. Who was the slug looking guy (Claude?) fixing the falcon? Why was he only shown once with no explanation? The scenes with Leia were forced. They built them around the footage they had (obviously) but they didn't fit well and seemed out of place. The scene at the end with Lando and what was at one point rumoured to be his daughter. Their dialogue made no sense and was creepy as a result.
• Retroactively making Leia very powerful in the force.
• All the sudden light speed skipping is a thing.
• Force healing. Why was this never shown in the OT or the PT? It could have changed so much if it was. Who taught Rey how to do it? Who taught Ben how to do it? Why couldn't anyone else ever do it?
• Discrepancies for the sake of fan service. All the sudden Luke says that a lightsaber needs to be treated with respect despite what he did in episode 8. Rose is all the sudden a background character. Yeah, I didn't like her but still, it's inconsistent.
• More planet killing weapons.
• What happened to Luke's green lightsaber? We see it in flashbacks in this trilogy but never in real time, and it's never explained what happened to it.
• Ships that are old as shít just fire right up and work. Luke's X-wing and that one that dropped off Rey.
• The whole thing felt forced, sloppy and thrown together last minute.

Great points!

Here's a few more

Where did Ben get the old school tie fighter from?

Rey going to achto to give up & become a hermit  like Luke did! 

Hux Saves the scooby gang ?? WTF! 

With 1 lightsaber Rey can't defeat Palpy, but with 2 lightsabers  !! It's a no brainer! 

How can Rey/Kylo touch objects through their psychic connection, how many miles away?

Why couldn't they come up with a good story?

[Comics4All]

7 hours ago, drotto said:

 

This was spot on!

 

[Larryw7]

Rey defeats Palpatine the way Peter Cushing destroyed Dracula in the 1958 Horror of Dracula.

 

 

P.S. Rise of Skywalker was terrible. It must have been edited in a blender. The writing was horrendous. 

 

 

[Buzzetta]

5 hours ago, I like pie said:

That's interesting. Everyone I know who liked TLJ, hated RoS because it retconned much of what Johnson presented.

I liked The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker too.

I thought Force Awakens was the weak one.