I wonder if you could have it where Rey says, “Luke” during one of the shots of R2. You could take it from her conversation with Maz, since you might cut that line.
This seems like a great idea. We need a better indication of Rey connecting Artoo with Luke. Having her say his name might be a good step in the right direction.
I am still wondering though if it would be simpler to just cut straight from Rey looking at R2, to them going to Leia about good news, and if adding this extra stuff is making it more confusing or less confusing. I think this new stuff is cool, just trying to look at it objectively.
I’m also wondering this. This seems like a good idea, but without actually seeing Rey fix Artoo, it becomes a little confusing about what just happened.
I think the short version does well convey the connection between Rey and R2, but without anything else it only strengthens the theory, common after the movie’s release, that Rey’s mere proximity to R2 allows him to wake up, and might make it seem like Luke planned all of this out in advance using space magic. Needless to say that’s not the message I want to send.
So I guess it’s back to figuring out how to get Rey beside of R2 before cutting to night.