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The Rise Of Skywalker — Official Review and Opinions Thread — Page 12

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Maybe people could, I don’t know, not be dicks? I didn’t like the film very much but you don’t see me going around being an ass about it (nor many of the other people that felt the same way).

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DominicCobb said:

Maybe people could, I don’t know, not be dicks? I didn’t like the film very much but you don’t see me going around being an ass about it (nor many of the other people that felt the same way).

Same.

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DominicCobb said:

Maybe people could, I don’t know, not be dicks? I didn’t like the film very much but you don’t see me going around being an ass about it (nor many of the other people that felt the same way).

I really wish that was the case but I think we’re in the “age of dicks.” If people aren’t “raging” (as my son says) they’re not doing it right. However, I feel that most people on this board get it. We’re here to discuss the good and bad of Star Wars and we all have different opinions and reasoning why we feel the way we do.

Doing it in a civil manner goes a long way. I really enjoyed most of the ST and this is one of the few places where I can go and have an honest conversation about it without being told that I’m an idiot or have someone “make me understand” why I’m wrong.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all the great people here. MTFBWY.

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For me, each trilogy exists in it’s own universe. The Luke, Han and Leia from ROTJ are not the same Luke, Han and Leia from TFA. And I’m also the kind of person who generally rates a movie based on what’s in that movie itself, without being as concerned about what came before or after… or what details a novelization might reveal.

With that being stated, here’s my quick review of TROS…

I really enjoyed it! The cast were all on point and there were some really striking visuals that stayed with me. It wasn’t perfect (a bit rushed near the end), but overall I left the theatre feeling satisfied… like I watched a Star Wars film.

I definitely liked it more than TLJ. In fact, I think it might be my favourite Disney-era Star Wars film so far! Not as good as the OT movies for sure, but the best thing since IMHO.

Does it do a good job wrapping up the Skywalker saga? Not really (although for me there really isn’t a Skywalker saga). Does it do a good job wrapping up this trilogy? More or less. Is it a good movie in its own right? Yes.

Now to figure out where it fits in my overall ranking!

<span style=“font-size: 12px;”><span>We seem to be made to suffer. It’s our lot in life.</span></span>

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I saw The Rise of Skywalker in 4DX 3D on Thursday night. Some of you may think I’m mental, but I absolutely loved the experience!

The 4DX motion technology did its job effectively to highlight some of the action sequences, be it a high-flying chase in the Millennium Falcon or an edge-of-your-seat lightsaber duel between light and dark.

I know a lot of you may disagree with me on this, and I wholeheartedly understand, but I found Emperor Palpatine to be legitimately intimidating in this film. I daresay, even moreso than in the original and prequel trilogies!

Nobody does it better than Ian McDiarmid, who pulls out a fantastic performance with what he was given by Disney and Lucasfilm. But what makes him a true figment of one’s nightmares would be his appearance, shrouded by dark, shadowy lighting, ominous Latin chanting from his fellow Sith loyalists, his deeper and more venomous tone of voice, and the cold, sinister machinery he’s attached to.

The rest of the cast give amazing performances as well, including Daisy Ridley as Rey, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Leia, and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.

Speaking of Leia, J.J.'s production company Bad Robot managed to make the most out of the material left from previous installments, on top of digitally altering her appearance to fit with the new aesthetic.

As to be expected, there is fan service aplenty, ranging from the return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian to a brief cameo at the end by the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi.

There are also emotional gutpunches throughout the film, as the central characters deal with loss after Chewie’s alleged death and Leia’s inevitable death. In fact, the most emotionally resonant scene will have to be a really heartfelt moment towards the end, but I’ll leave you to figure that one out for yourselves.

In fact, I found the overall tone and feel of the film to be darker than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi combined, partially due to McDiarmid’s epic performance as the Emperor!

On top of that, the story in of itself isn’t all that bad. You can tell the film is doing some serious backtracking after the backlash TLJ received, and I think Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio did the best they could to tie up loose ends and deliver a satisfying conclusion to the saga, even with the eventual reshoots.

The soundtrack by the legendary John Williams is also spectacular, especially the way he brought back many major themes from the previous films. My only gripe with this is that I would’ve liked to hear Williams’ modernisation of “Duel of the Fates” (as heard in the “Duel” TV spot), as well as a thematic callback to “Anakin’s Betrayal” from Revenge of the Sith. At the very least, a small hint of the latter was used when Rey hears the voices of Jedi past.

I will admit that certain plot points do take a backseat to some of the fan service, and I did feel a bit cheated during the climax after hearing a majority of the leaks circulating the web, especially the one detailing the Millennium Falcon’s destruction.

Not to mention, as many questions this film answers, there are some from TFA that still need answering, such as “Where did Maz Kanata find Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber?”

These indeed serve as a detriment to the quality of the film as a whole, but to be fair, they didn’t bother me as much as it did others. I still had fun with what we ended up getting, and given the fact I’m not usually too big on the Star Wars franchise, that’s saying a lot!

I give the film an 8.5/10 on its own, but I give it a 10/10 just for the 4DX experience alone! Trust me, it isn’t worth seeing any other way… except for IMAX, I guess.

“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
-Sheev Palpatine, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

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CamSMurph said:

I saw The Rise of Skywalker in 4DX 3D on Thursday night. Some of you may think I’m mental, but I absolutely loved the experience!

The 4DX motion technology did its job effectively to highlight some of the action sequences, be them a high-flying chase in the Millennium Falcon or an edge-of-your-seat lightsaber duel between the forces of light and dark.

I know a lot of you may disagree with me on this, and I wholeheartedly understand, but I found Emperor Palpatine to be legitimately intimidating in this film. I daresay, even moreso than in the original and prequel trilogies!

Nobody does it better than Ian McDiarmid, who pulls out a fantastic performance with what he was given by Disney, but what makes him a true figment of one’s nightmares would be his appearance, shrouded by dark, shadowy lighting, ominous Latin chanting from his fellow Sith loyalists, his deeper and more venomous tone of voice, and the cold, sinister machinery he’s attached to.

The rest of the cast give amazing performances as well, including Daisy Ridley as Rey, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Leia, and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.

Speaking of Leia, J.J.'s production company Bad Robot managed to make the most out of the material left from the previous installments, on top of digitally altering her appearance to fit with the new aesthetic.

As to be expected, there is fan service aplenty, ranging from the return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian to a brief cameo at the end by the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi.

There are also emotional gutpunches throughout the film, as the central characters deal with loss after Chewie’s alleged death and Leia’s inevitable death. In fact, the most emotionally resonant scene will have to be a really heartfelt moment towards the end, but I’ll leave you to figure that one out for yourselves.

In fact, I found the overall tone and feel of the film to be darker than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi combined, partially due to McDiarmid’s epic performance as the Emperor!

On top of that, the story in of itself isn’t all that bad. You can tell the film is doing some serious backtracking after the backlash TLJ received, and I think Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio did the best they could to tie up loose ends and deliver a satisfying conclusion to the saga, even with the eventual reshoots.

I will admit that certain plot points do take a backseat to some of the fan service, and I did feel a bit cheated during the climax after hearing a majority of the leaks circulating the web, especially the one detailing the Millennium Falcon’s destruction.

These indeed serve as a detriment to the quality of the film as a whole, but to be fair, they didn’t bother me as much as it did others. I still had fun with what we ended up getting, and given the fact I’m not usually too big on the Star Wars franchise, that’s saying a lot!

I give the film an 8.5/10 on its own, but I give it a 10/10 just for the 4DX experience alone! Trust me, it isn’t worth seeing any other way… except for IMAX, I guess.

I’m glad to see someone enjoy McDiarmid’s performance as much as I did. I have my gripes about it on a meta level, but just on this movie alone I love the dark, creepy atmosphere of Exegol and the Emperor. In its own right, it works really well and is a good strength of the movie.

No offense, kid, but I don’t think you know how to boil water.

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Speaking of Ewoks, the first thing my sleep-deprived mind thought of after seeing the shattered destroyer in the sky above the Endor moon was that this Ewok pilot must have done it. Thinking about it some more it makes 100% more sense that one of Jannah’s compatriots would have done it.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Ok, so my thoughts on this film are complicated.

I knew what was going to happen in the movie, I had read the leaks. I saw how horribly it was being reviewed and I started to feel very worried.

I saw it opening night with my family, with whom I have watched every Star Wars opening night with since Force Awakens. We had a very positive experience. I knew that I loved it but I couldn’t rank it just yet. My favorite moment in the movie was when Rey and Poe yelled at each other for about a minute straight, followed by Ben’s shrug at the Knights of Ren.

Days went by and I slowly realized something. The only real reason why I resonated with this movie is because it had the characters from the previous movies in it. Because of Force Awakens and especially Last Jedi, I had grown to love these characters, especially Rey. This movie, in my opinion, completely ran backwards from the wonderful step forward that The Last Jedi had made in the franchise. That movie ended with a quiet, personal battle between a broken man and his master who failed him. This movie ends with a billion ships attacking a thousand Star Destroyers. I mean, Last Jedi spoiled me.

This is the first sequel movie where I know that I will only ever watch fan-edits of it as soon as they become available. I’m sure that someone will be able to fix a majority of my perceived issues with the movie and make it a worthy trilogy-closer. I can only hope that Disney decides to be generous and provide some good deleted scenes.

I’m so disappointed.

If Finn and Poe had had a romantic subplot I would have been slightly less disappointed.

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snooker said:

Ok, so my thoughts on this film are complicated.

I knew what was going to happen in the movie, I had read the leaks. I saw how horribly it was being reviewed and I started to feel very worried.

I saw it opening night with my family, with whom I have watched every Star Wars opening night with since Force Awakens. We had a very positive experience. I knew that I loved it but I couldn’t rank it just yet. My favorite moment in the movie was when Rey and Poe yelled at each other for about a minute straight, followed by Ben’s shrug at the Knights of Ren.

Days went by and I slowly realized something. The only real reason why I resonated with this movie is because it had the characters from the previous movies in it. Because of Force Awakens and especially Last Jedi, I had grown to love these characters, especially Rey. This movie, in my opinion, completely ran backwards from the wonderful step forward that The Last Jedi had made in the franchise. That movie ended with a quiet, personal battle between a broken man and his master who failed him. This movie ends with a billion ships attacking a thousand Star Destroyers. I mean, Last Jedi spoiled me.

This is the first sequel movie where I know that I will only ever watch fan-edits of it as soon as they become available. I’m sure that someone will be able to fix a majority of my perceived issues with the movie and make it a worthy trilogy-closer. I can only hope that Disney decides to be generous and provide some good deleted scenes.

I’m so disappointed.

If Finn and Poe had had a romantic subplot I would have been slightly less disappointed.

I agree with you. Thinking about FinnPoe… I think it’s a JJ Abrams thing, don’t know if by accident or engineered from the beginning. The FinnPoe relationship is only alive in TFA and TROS through subtext, but not in TLJ.

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Between DJ’s “they blow you up today, you blow them up tomorrow” speech and Rose’s bit about saving what we love instead of fighting what we hate, The Last Jedi seemed to suggest that there would need to be some different sort of reckoning in the final film that would bust the galaxy out of this cycle of violence and bring about a new era. Instead, we got another big battle and we re-killed the Emperor with his own lightning or something. I know we’re supposed to feel like he’s dead for real this time, but how is this any different from ROTJ? If he can come back from falling down a pit and then blowing up, surely he can reconstitute himself after melting like a Nazi. I dunno, I’m just left feeling like nothing has changed fundamentally beyond a few pieces being knocked off the board. The grand finale that the film was billed as really ought to have had more far-reaching repercussions.

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Snooker, I have a similar opinion, but with the opposite movies. I’ve tried to rewatch TLJ many times, and each time it’s made me bored by the characters. It was only until seeing this movie when I realized I liked Rey, Finn, and Poe on the same level as the OT in TFA and TROS, just TLJ was the difference.

I think part of it is the themes. TLJ tries to create complex themes and personally I think it is at the expense of the characters and their arcs TFA was pointing them in. The only part I liked was Luke’s story, but even then I think it came at the expense of making Rey bland.

Now for TROS, yes, the plot is stupid, but I think the character drama is on point. Whereas the Last Jedi felt so run by it’s themes.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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OutboundFlight said:

Snooker, I have a similar opinion, but with the opposite movies. I’ve tried to rewatch TLJ many times, and each time it’s made me bored by the characters. It was only until seeing this movie when I realized I liked Rey, Finn, and Poe on the same level as the OT in TFA and TROS, just TLJ was the difference.

I think part of it is the themes. TLJ tries to create complex themes and personally I think it is at the expense of the characters and their arcs TFA was pointing them in. The only part I liked was Luke’s story, but even then I think it came at the expense of making Rey bland.

Now for TROS, yes, the plot is stupid, but I think the character drama is on point. Whereas the Last Jedi felt so run by it’s themes.

This is my feeling. TFA had fun characters but barely said anything with them. TLJ tried to say something but made the characters boring in the process. TROS brought the fun back to the characters but while running so far in the opposite direction with the message that it went back around to being good-bad. And so for me TROS manages to be the first movie of this trilogy that is fun on all fronts.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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The failure of the Alliance was thinking that simply destroying your enemy would bring everlasting peace.

To me, a far more interesting ending would have dealt with reconciliation and reunification. Or, at the very least, acknowledge that there will always be new wars, but there will always be those who will fight tyranny. But I feel like neither of those ideas are really hinted at all. Honestly, I think we still could have gotten the same film generally, but a brief epilogue could have at least implied either of these themes. But unfortunately the film doesn’t come to a different conclusion as ROTJ, which makes this film’s existence less necessary within the context of the saga.

Again, I do think this is a fun film, but I was disappointed what they chose to say (or not say) regarding the big picture.

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To me what makes characters interesting are there arcs, not just how “fun” they are. TFA and TLJ accomplished this. TROS had cool character ‘moments,’ but it’s just about impossible to track any of the characters stories scene to scene. It’s a mess, which really sucks as a conclusion to their stories (especially when many of them undermine the lessons of the previous films).

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DominicCobb said:

To me what makes characters interesting are there arcs, not just how “fun” they are. TFA and TLJ accomplished this. TROS had cool character ‘moments,’ but it’s just about impossible to track any of the characters stories scene to scene. It’s a mess, which really sucks as a conclusion to their stories (especially when many of them undermine the lessons of the previous films).

I think that this is a result of TLJ. The second act of a trilogy is when most of your character’s development should occur, and Rian wasted it with the already-infamously bad Canto Bight subplot.

No offense, kid, but I don’t think you know how to boil water.

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RogueLeader said:

The failure of the Alliance was thinking that simply destroying your enemy would bring everlasting peace.

To me, a far more interesting ending would have dealt with reconciliation and reunification. Or, at the very least, acknowledge that there will always be new wars, but there will always be those who will fight tyranny. But I feel like neither of those ideas are really hinted at all. Honestly, I think we still could have gotten the same film generally, but a brief epilogue could have at least implied either of these themes. But unfortunately the film doesn’t come to a different conclusion as ROTJ, which makes this film’s existence less necessary within the context of the saga.

Again, I do think this is a fun film, but I was disappointed what they chose to say (or not say) regarding the big picture.

Remember The Hand of Thrawn Duology? Where the Empire’s remnants broker an honest peace with the New Republic? In my personal canon that is the end of Star Wars.

Warning: those novels contain Jedi who do not possess Force Resurrection or Force Teleportation.

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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liamnotneeson said:

DominicCobb said:

To me what makes characters interesting are there arcs, not just how “fun” they are. TFA and TLJ accomplished this. TROS had cool character ‘moments,’ but it’s just about impossible to track any of the characters stories scene to scene. It’s a mess, which really sucks as a conclusion to their stories (especially when many of them undermine the lessons of the previous films).

I think that this is a result of TLJ. The second act of a trilogy is when most of your character’s development should occur, and Rian wasted it with the already-infamously bad Canto Bight subplot.

I disagree. I think TLJ had a lot of character development. Poe, Finn, and Rey each face a major character flaw and come out the end of the film changed. Poe learns the difference between bravado and leadership. Finn learns what it means to believe in a cause. Rey realizes that she can’t look to others and must rely on herself. All very important character moments and all very crucial to the finale in TROS. The characters in TFA could not do what the characters do in TROS without the changes in TLJ. Everything Johnson did in TLJ, Abrams took and used for TROS. Sure, more was added to Rey’s parents, but only who they were related to. They still were nobodies who don’t even have names. As far as I’m concerned, all the ruckass about TLJ and TROS changing course is nonsense. Everything I got out of TLJ is still valid and necessary to TROS. And I loved the Canto Bight subplot. It added a dimension to the Star Wars galaxy and I think it helped Finn find out who he is.

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To be fair, I think Rian at the very least suspected something like this could happen and wrapped the trilogy in his own movie. There are really so few loose ends that TROS could be a mini-series of epilogues or something.

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Omni said:

To be fair, I think Rian at the very least suspected something like this could happen and wrapped the trilogy in his own movie. There are really so few loose ends that TROS could be a mini-series of epilogues or something.

I doubt that was his intention. If it was though, and he purposely engineered TLJ so that no one would be able to continue the story in a convincing manner, that would be a real asshole move.
As it stands, TLJ really put J.J. in a difficult position and it shouldn’t be a surprise that TROS feels rushed and overstuffed.

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yotsuya said:

liamnotneeson said:

DominicCobb said:

To me what makes characters interesting are there arcs, not just how “fun” they are. TFA and TLJ accomplished this. TROS had cool character ‘moments,’ but it’s just about impossible to track any of the characters stories scene to scene. It’s a mess, which really sucks as a conclusion to their stories (especially when many of them undermine the lessons of the previous films).

I think that this is a result of TLJ. The second act of a trilogy is when most of your character’s development should occur, and Rian wasted it with the already-infamously bad Canto Bight subplot.

I disagree. I think TLJ had a lot of character development. Poe, Finn, and Rey each face a major character flaw and come out the end of the film changed. Poe learns the difference between bravado and leadership. Finn learns what it means to believe in a cause. Rey realizes that she can’t look to others and must rely on herself. All very important character moments and all very crucial to the finale in TROS. The characters in TFA could not do what the characters do in TROS without the changes in TLJ. Everything Johnson did in TLJ, Abrams took and used for TROS. Sure, more was added to Rey’s parents, but only who they were related to. They still were nobodies who don’t even have names. As far as I’m concerned, all the ruckass about TLJ and TROS changing course is nonsense. Everything I got out of TLJ is still valid and necessary to TROS. And I loved the Canto Bight subplot. It added a dimension to the Star Wars galaxy and I think it helped Finn find out who he is.

I’m with you. That’s it.

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Hope everyone is having a great holiday, I feel like I made a lot of peace with this trilogy after TROS. At the end of the day it really is sort of a how can you stay mad, it’s enough for the kids at worst, they at least did the trio and tried to pack in some adventure while still attempting to connect everything best it could, I think it’s a little silly but it isn’t without some heart. My second viewing made the breakneck pace way less jarring, and this might be the most rewatchable of the trilogy as time goes on, it flies by but does just enough tidying to not be as confused as it might seem first watch, even if it hangs just by the thread of a line. It does all that it’s supposed to, even if it might not be to everyone’s satisfaction or standards. But when you accept it for what it is I think really it’s not all that bad, maybe not so graceful but not abysmal.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV