Sorry for me taking so long to post this. I was out by the time I ended this movie and so I couldn’t do it, but that aside, I’m very happy to how this movie turned out and think you did a good job. You made a lot of things about this movie a lot better, and trust me, there were lots of problems.
Well it’s only been like 8 months since I last responded in this thread, but someone recently posted here and I noticed I never replied to your last comment. Thanks for taking the time to write out your experience with my edit!
First thing’s first I love about this change is that Ben lives instead of Rey. Rey living honestly made her a lot more hated character because she never faced any struggles nor were arc satisfying in the slightest. Ben had an actual established arc; Luke, Leia, and Han died trying to redeem him, and while it isn’t a complete 180, at least we have a more satisfying conclusion. His character opened up a more possible chance for the future where we see him and Finn having a possible meeting in a near future while also serving as a vigilante who serves no side as both the light and dark is balanced within him. I’m finna headcanon in one of his travels that Ben found a young girl whose parents both died and was a baby, and he took her in assuming the role as father figure, and naming her Rey. There is so many opportunities with Ben now being an haunted individual who serves balance of the Force. The Jedi and the Sith died, and now Ben could possibly start a New Order, no Jedi, no Sith, but an Order that serves the Force and the Force alone.
Thanks for the kind words. I really do think I hit the right notes on the character arcs here. The only thing that remains is to touch up some of the shots to make it more “theatrical” since I changed so much. It’s only a workprint to make sure the story flowed well, and I think it does after reading so many reviews, but I’d love to add more here thematically.
And now about that ending, that was amazing! Going through all the adventures by Threepio’s memories is an amazing send off as we see a proper ending to the trilogy and more respectful! Luke is my second favorite Star Wars character behind Anakin Skywalker, and I’m glad to see him receiving appreciation from a writer that actually respects him and the character that he is. You made him even better in this trilogy while keeping the main message of what he is intact.
Wonderful! That was a fun ending for me as well, and my hope was that it makes every Star Wars fan feel something nice 😃
Hux’s death still makes me frown because I wish he had a more respectful one such as dying on a Star Destroyer, but at the very least, his death seems to be more out of failure to capture the crew instead of the spy part. That fixes up his death slightly.
Definitely agree here, I’m open to any and all suggestions about how to give Hux a more fitting send off. He was so abruptly and ridiculously deleted out of the storyline though that it’s extremely difficult to transform his death in any meaningful way. The best I could do at first is get rid of the ridiculousness, but still the abruptness remains.
That said; I do have a minor nitpick which is out of your hands. I wish Finn had a more active role such as getting his chance to lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion in a more active. That’s more of a my problem since I love that part about the original Episode 9, Duel of the Fates, and is again out of your hands. That said, you removed him as a joke and made him a better character. He should have honestly been a deeper darker character who had a troubled background but slowly pushing back then. I wish they used his character in a correct format, but at least you removed all that made him a joke and made him more better. He deserved more respect than they had gave him especially since the potential they gave him, but at least you have the opportunity of Ben training him in the Force in the nearby future. Ben would undoubtedly feel an obligation to protect Finn and Poe because they had been the closest people to Rey that she had left as well as Chewie because he had once served his father. R2 and Threepio would become Ben’s Droids, I imagine, because as horrible as his deeds, he still is a Skywalker who has both Anakin and Padmé’s blood within him and their children.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything here as well. Finn was treated poorly as a character top to bottom. I thought he had by far the most interesting storyline coming out of TFA, but they completely squandered his character arc to force him into a comic relief role instead of giving a proper ex-stormtrooper turned Jedi. I will stand on this mountain of salt until the day I die.
I have mixed feelings about Leia healing Ben but it’s better than Rey healing him. I also do wonder have you ever considered having Anakin appeared to Ben when he was about to throw his lightsaber? I love that scene where Ben reflect on his own, but feel like Anakin should appear at that moment to talk to his grandson. Him just throwing the lightsaber… doesn’t feel right.
I’m not 100% settled on that decision for my final cut of this film. Like you said, it’s better than Rey healing him (which is one of my worst scenes in Star Wars due to the destruction of thousands of years of established force lore), but I’m not convinced it works well enough with Leia doing it either. I’m half at a loss here though as Kylo has a gaping hole in his gut and still needs to make it to the final Act of the movie lol… Yes, I’ve seen many attempts at Anakin communicating to Ben in this scene, and if done originally by Lucasfilm I think it would’ve worked well as a storytelling device, but I haven’t found a way to do any of it in a believable way on my own.
Your movie actually respected Anakin’s legacy, and even though I always thought Plagueis should have been the one who returned instead of Palpatine, you even made his return more satisfying as it’s referenced Anakin used Rey as a vessel to put down his tormentor for decades down once and for all. Great movie! And this is now Canon for me! 😃
Respecting the legacy of the Chosen One was priority #1 for me here. It’s the main reason I disliked the original movie. I think my edit does a much betterjob of not throwing Anakin in the trash. I was also on Team SnokeIsPlagueis (until JJ Abrams said he didn’t know who Plagueis was…), but alas Disney is going to Disney. Anyway, thanks for the kind words and that’s quite an honor to have my edit be added into your personal Canon. I hope to improve this film even more in the next year and look forward to sharing that with you again in the future.
There is an Anakin rise of Skywalker cut on the way
Thanks, Hadrian, I will definitely follow the production of his scene.