I think Rey being a nobody was a great idea and making her related to someone would kind of hurt the message that greatness doesn’t have to come from greatness. I know that doesn’t really explain her raw abilities, but in my mind, everyone’s connection to the Force seems to be amplified comapred to past Force users (even broom kid), so after being dormant for 50 years, besides flowing through an existing few, it is now rushing through everyone.
The theme of balance was dominant in the Prequels and since then that theme has carried over to the OT and to the sequel trilogy. It was arrogant to assume only the Jedi could bring balance, the Force itself could correct the course and this new trilogy could go a long ways towards explaining that. That Luke closed himself off from the Force left a vacuum that perhaps the Force itself decided to act upon with Rey. I do like that the Force is again not limited to Jedi and Skywalkers, something the Prequels established as some kind of canon.
I personally loved Snoke getting killed the way he did, as it makes Kylo Ren a much stronger character for it,
Me too. Kylo achieves what Vader couldn’t and because of what he did in killing his Master and taking over himself, he has become more powerful than Darth Vader. It will be interesting to see if JJ takes Kylo to where we all wanted to see Vader doing in Sith - but never got except at the end of Rogue One.
but I do think some kind of explanation of where he came from would have been nice. If they don’t really explain anything about him in IX, I think editors could consider ways to touch on his background in some way, either in the TFA crawl or Rey’s force vision maybe.
I am pretty sure books and comics are forthcoming to fill in his backstory. Getting rid of Snoke at this stage really puts all the focus on Kylo Ren as the ultimate baddie and Kylo not being slave to a superior Dark Side master. I’m intrigued about where they take his character now that he is the boss and is no longer unstable because of conflict with the good.
Someone mentioned this earlier, but I also have a bit of problem with Luke almost killing his nephew. I think it is implied that Luke saw the future and for a brief, desperate moment considered killing his own blood to save the rest of his students before quickly realizing that was a mistake.
Not just the students, but the galaxy. Obi wan told Luke that his failure as a teacher had resulted in dire consequences for the galaxy in the script and novelizAtion of ROTJ. If you look, Luke’s face is almost identical to his face in Jedi after he cuts off Vader’s hand and realizes the giant mistake he was about to make.
But I don’t think it is as clear as I would have liked, because it feels like it goes against everything he learned in the OT.
Being a teacher is an entirely different animal than becoming a master. You end up learning more about yourself as a teacher and your own shortcomings than if you do not teach what you have learned. As a martial artist, I can absolutely understand how and why Luke decided to quit after his star pupil misused his teachings.
Also, I don’t think the Yoda sequence should be removed! I agree that Yoda looked off but I honestly think we’ll get used to it given time.
I agree it’s Yoda - and even though it is not as perfect in appearance as he was in the prequels or Empire - it is Frank Oz doing the entire performance with the voice.