The Rise of Skywalker Resurgence (2021) by Krausfadr
WARNING: The following will contain spoilers for Resurgence and The Rise of Skywalker. If you haven’t seen either movie and wish not to be spoiled then please stop reading now and do so. You have been warned.
Once again returning to the world of fanedits revolving around Star Wars and it’s a revisit in many more ways than one since this is an edit I’ve already spoken about in detail that had gotten an update that for a good while I was fairly certain wasn’t gonna happen. Resurgence is a very interesting attempt at reediting this movie. While some projects opt to just chop out just about everything to squeeze this into an hour and a half and others opt to play it like Ascendant and instead treat it as if The Rise of Skywalker in its current form just went through a second pass in the editing room, Resurgence aims for a restructure that attempts to push the controversial Palpatine revival towards being the middle of the movie while refocusing everything to be more on Ben and Rey’s story and maintaining consistency with both of the previous entries and the previous version did that I’d say very well though it was certainly not without its hiccups. Some of these problems included the seams being pretty noticeable overall in terms of how scenes were shuffled around, the sentence mixing to craft some of the new lines was a little wonky, there was a bit too much humor chopped out of it and the fanservice got a little out of hand. Though like I said, it was done well with some scenes, ideas and lines being so great that in some ways it comes even closer to being that ideal take on this movie than Ascendant was and with both receiving updates? I thought it was worth taking some time to revisit these and see how these enhance not just the original movie but also how they improve upon things from the previous edit. This also gives me an opportunity to review this a bit differently from how I did things the last time since rather than going over general thoughts and listing positives and negatives? I want to go through each act and cover what I liked and disliked which means, I’m spoiling this edit rotten so as the disclaimer noted? I’d like to ask that people please watch the original movie and the edit first before continuing on.
Act One
The first act in the original TROS is by far one of the biggest hurdles to get through when it comes to that movie. From the moment the crawl begins to at least when we get to Ochi’s ship? This is where it is very clear that the film was rushed to get to that December release date as the pacing is simply far too fast with very little room being left for anything to breathe. To be fair this was a criticism levied at TFA too but a watch of both I feel shows a very clear difference in how both are crafted. TFA feels like a thrill ride, one deliberately designed in a way that keeps things moving while making only the most necessary stops and pauses. It tries very hard to not waste any time on elements that would just drag the pace down and would be unimportant to the story. This was a return to form for the series and they make that very clear. TROS is a spice addict rushing to get their next fix who is currently on their seventh cup of coffee because they also happened to stay up for two days straight.
And it is with this act that I unfortunately have to begin with negatives. I never like being negative when it comes to fanedits because these are labors of love that have to deal with a lot of limitation. Editing a movie already sounds like one of those very challenging tasks to engage in in the first place but to do so with a fully finished movie where you are limited in terms of scene counts, dialogue, what has been put in trailers, what deleted scenes are available (And most importantly, the state they’re in when they were released.) among others is truly insane and these editors deserve nothing in that department but applause for undergoing a task like this which I’m certain for most people would just be way too tedious to endure, especially when it’s being done with a movie as messy as The Rise of Skywalker so let me be clear right now that all criticisms I make is not done from any place of malice or unfair expectations. Before we get to those though, there are positive elements I do want to point out here to be as fair as possible. For one thing, the crawl is very well done, it fills us right in on how things have been, it keeps it to the most relevant of information and is just overall a lot better than the original which just dumped on us that Palpatine is back with no build-up. I also really love the idea of restructuring the movie so that the reforging of Kylo’s helmet and the conference scene happen at the very beginning. Restructures are always so tricky in that you have to be mindful of more than just what scenes you choose. You also have to keep in mind that the flow of certain scenes are in part determined by their position in the movie which is reflected in their pacing and how they’re scored and so in terms of choices for what scene could be at the beginning? It makes the most sense to have it be these two scenes. I also really like the idea of changing out the destruction of Kjimi with the destruction of Corellia. It not only is a nice way of bringing in Kylo’s “let the past die” mentality but if one considers the first five Star Wars movies under Disney’s ownership to be the equivalent to Phase One of the MCU? It’s a great way of tying Solo into this and making this feel like a cohesive package. I also really like the focus on making Rey’s struggles with the Dark Side more pronounced like with her interaction with the serpent on Pasaana where unlike in the original movie, it is not her healing it that makes it go away but rather it senses the growing darkness in her and it leaves from fear which comes complete with a nice usage of the Imperial March and stunned silence from everyone else. I also generally like the idea of Palpatine’s reveal being moved towards the middle and the way the interaction between Kylo and Palpatine plays out is well done and sells not just how tense this meeting is but also the alliance is not simply Kylo being Palpatine’s puppet but rather a case of him using Palpatine for his own means which of course the man can also manipulate because he has seen this song and dance before. I also like how it keeps some of the more insane elements of TROS like the lightspeed skipping which I always felt was a very fun action beat in the original and I really missed it when watching Ascendant which just stripped it out entirely and finally, the fact it gives the Knights of Ren voices is awesome. I especially like hearing the mention of how their bond will never be broken during the reforging scene and the very grim comment about Chewie when they come across him. It’s not much but it really does wonders in selling these guys as genuine characters and not just a pack of Darth Mauls where you are required to read EU material to give them the gravitas and impact they need.
That being said? Notice how I pointed out more that I liked the ideas behind the the first act and haven’t really mentioned the execution that much. That’s because in terms of that aspect? It pains me to say that feel it is significantly sloppier here than it was in the previous edit, starting with the pacing which is way too fast. So many little scenes and dialogue exchanges have been cut to try and trim the fat which in of itself is not a bad idea but the problem is so much fat has been cut that it starts digging into the meat. Case in point, while the opening is a very nice idea? The problem is that we really don’t get many opportunities to breathe during these opening scenes and a lot of the cuts here feel they were done a lot more haphazardly than in the previous version or Ascendant. In particular I noticed how a lot of the cuts were to simply remove bits of humor and fun dialogue exchanges, sometimes to the point where portions of a scene get cut and there’s a jarring transition to some other location. Now on the one hand I get it, there are a good portion of people who really aren’t that big on the humor in these modern Star Wars films or even the MCU as there is this sentiment that it’s a little much or that it’s kind of cringe-inducing. But for me personally, I really like when Star Wars is quippy and fun for it not only feels reflective of those pulp action serials that George Lucas took inspiration from for his original films but also I feel like it helps give Star Wars its personality and while maybe a snip or two was needed with TROS? This feels like such an overcorrection that harms the film more than it helps it.
Though that’s not the only issue the snipping causes. For instance, in the conference scene where we have talking with a board filled with high ranking FO officers? We get mentions of Exegol, those that are living on the planet and the fleet as if the FO already been to the planet and has them already which is compounded further when we see the Star Destroyer fly up to Corellia and we see it both has the red markings and the red clad engineers. This is frustrating for a few reasons. First to nitpick the movie a bit, Kylo Ren at this point has had his helmet reforged and the whole point of the destruction of Corellia is to emphasize that this is the man committing to killing the past which is fantastic… though the problem is that reforging the mask in a way is kind of a symbol that Kylo isn’t aiming to kill the past. Now I genuinely am not sure how this could’ve been feasibly avoided because the movie really doesn’t offer much wiggle room but it still kind of bugged me. As for other complaints? This introduces a small continuity gaffe where we get the impression that Kylo and the First Order have obtained the fleet already only for them to then be introduced to it by Palpatine later in the movie with the music and all the framing of those scenes indicating this is supposed to be a reveal when now it just kind of isn’t and it makes previous lines that implied they knew about Exegol before seem kind of ludicrous since it meant they somehow missed Palpatine while getting this fleet.
Moving on, Kylo’s dialogue when Palpatine talks to him is also kind of wonky and while it’s cool to see where the Mustafar scene was moved and how it now has that gorgeous shot of Fortress Vader? Because we see the scene where TIEs are flying around Mustafar’s orbit? It makes the later scene where that is flipped way too obvious. Now being a fanedit, I also want to mention that I’m aware this is made in part for people who have seen TROS already and therefore they know Exegol and the fleet already. That being said, bear in mind if you think about this from the perspective of being Episode IX, at this point we have not seen Exegol and unlike other instances in Star Wars movies where events are mentioned but never seen? It’s a very big deal here and while we know there is a time-skip? Even movies that do that tend to try and ease the audience into the new stuff and unfortunately structure-wise this hurts the edit considerably. It results in the feeling that I either accidentally bumped the skip button on my remote and went back again or that the movie itself is skipping and unfortunately it just keeps that feeling the whole way through this act.
Act Two
Thankfully once we hit the second act? The movie finds its footing and keeps on a pretty steady pace overall. Granted this is nothing new since the same went for the original TROS where while the first act was way too fast and pretty clumsily done? The second and third acts are considerably better paced and here? I think there are a lot more positives such as how scenes are cut which feels so much more natural and like it’s done in service of the story. This is also where a great deal of changes are made in regards to certain twists that this movie has with the most pressing matter being Rey’s heritage. Now speaking on the original movie, I generally didn’t mind the reveal that Rey was a Palpatine… somewhat. Idea-wise? It reeks to me of a rushed attempt at giving the film the illusion of having more depth than it actually does by contriving a twist that tries to simultaneously respect TLJ’s decision to have Rey be a nobody while appeasing those who did not accept that explanation and it effectively pleases no one. Of course TROS has the reveal scene itself and simply cutting it out I have a feeling would’ve created more problems with me not really even being able to see how one could’ve edited around this so a reveal needs to be here and the twist that was implemented here is chilling, plays well into what has been seen in all the movies and it has been built up to very effectively.
In the first act through Rey’s visions, we already get the idea that there is a growing darkness within her and a worry of her becoming a Sith. We then get an effective showcase of how understandable those fears are when Rey scares away the serpent with the clear implication being it senses the Dark Side within her. We then get an effective mid-point climax to that when the Force struggle between her and Kylo over the ship happens and she ends up shooting out Force Lightning that’s strong enough to destroy the vessel, showing just how powerful this darkness is. Then we get Rey’s Force duel with Kylo and here is where I have to say the dialogue mixing here is solid across the board as it takes it from being Kylo simply teasing the audience about Rey being a Palpatine and turns it into Kylo poking and prodding her about an aspect of the truth he heard back on the Supremacy a year ago that he has discovered, an aspect she knows about and in turn something that has caught Palpatine’s interest. Then it gets to that encounter just before they’re ready to escape and we get the reveal. Her parents did sell her for drinking money and in her anger and sadness at that moment? She had killed them. Now this is a moment that was present in the previous version of this edit and it was only held back a tad by wonky sentence-mixing which the editor would inform me was an issue that occurred during the final rendering. Here though? While my ear was trained enough to pick up on the oddities? It is so negligible because overall it sounds so natural but even if it didn’t? This twist works so well. One could argue maybe that there didn’t need to be another layer but to me? This properly builds off Rey being a nobody while in turn adding more weight to the very real concern that Rey could turn which is an issue we saw beginning in TLJ and now we get its fever pitch here. It also works because it is something Kylo could feasibly tell Rey that would be a surprise. Keep in mind, Rey knows about the Force but she only truthfully knows about it in terms of stories and it was her training with Luke that helped set her on the path of truly understanding it beyond just the idea of lifting rocks and influencing the weak-minded. It also gives Luke’s fear over her heading straight to the Dark Side in the previous movie more weight because now we get an idea of how the Dark Side is in a sense kind of ingrained in her and it helps to inform why she’d eventually come to the conclusion that she’d need to exile herself like Luke did because at first of course she’d consider the idea that she’d need to take down Palpatine and how that’s all that matters but once her darker side just keeps coming out, it makes sense then that she’d come to fear what she could do and decide that it’d be safer if she’s out of the equation.
Another thing I want to point out here is that with all the natural cuts comes some really good choices in the form of cutting a great deal of Maz Kanata’s dialogue and most specifically her line regarding Leia knowing what she has to do with the scene instead being cut to where we can infer what she’s doing purely through her actions. Now look I love Maz but if there is one problem I had with the ST as a whole? I personally feel Maz as a character served her purpose in TFA and that she was fine as a cameo in TLJ and that is where it should’ve stayed. Maybe, just maybe the film if it was reworked more extensively could’ve given her a larger role but honestly I feel she should’ve just been relegated to a cameo, maybe at the end when everyone is celebrating the fall of the First Order because she just was not needed here. At most she provided very useless exposition here and some very unneeded fanservice so less of her is honestly a good thing and as a result? It improves upon Leia’s death because the edit also chops out her line to Leia which I thought I was going to end up disliking but the scene is now more poignant. Hell on this watch my eyes actually started watering a little. I also have to note here that by cutting out Rey using Force Heal for the first time with the serpent? It makes the moment in which she uses it on Ben have in a way a lot more impact. Now there is a small issue with this one could bring up and that’s how in the original film the first time it’s used does a good job of introducing us to the ability and its concept while here it comes kind of out of nowhere but honestly I think it still works. For one thing, Force Heal has been a thing in so much Star Wars media that it’s pretty easy to accept it. As an ability it just makes sense for the Jedi to have and visually the idea of it allowing the user to give some of their life-force to another is still conveyed and in a way, one could consider how it works now comes in parts since we see Rey heal Ben and later we see Palpatine steal life from the two of them before finally ending with Ben giving his energy to Rey
That being said, this still has a couple of problems that need addressing. For one thing now that the Palpatine twist is removed? Luke noting that there are some things stronger than blood feels a lot more… odd. I don’t necessarily see how it could’ve been done differently necessarily but it still feels very weird. There’s also still some weird editing where scenes go faster than they should be and you also get an issue that involves one of our returning OT cast members and that’s Lando. Now I’m gonna be frank, I personally feel Lando’s inclusion in TROS was a weak inclusion anyway. Whereas Han, Luke and Leia felt like believably aged versions of the iconic trio and not like a group of out-of-touch boomers who are unable to accept that time is passing? Lando felt like he was just the same he always has been and really seemed unnecessary to the whole proceeding. Granted I understand some of it is due to both the rushed production and also Billy Dee Williams himself being not in the kind of state to where he could do a whole lot but even so, this just always comes across to me as more a glorified cameo for the sake of fanservice than it does an actual integral inclusion and the solution Resurgence comes to for attempting to fix this is… well it’s both a hit and a miss. On the one hand, it does chop out lines that has Lando just state that he’s not cut out for this so it gives you the idea he’s just more involved to begin with and it makes for a pretty satisfying bit of editing where after Poe says to Leia’s corpse that he’s not ready, it cuts right to Ahch-To where we see Rey is having a crisis of her own instead of lingering so that Lando could give advice to Poe. On the other hand, it makes his appearance at the briefing more sudden and awkward and it also really highlights just how unnecessary he is. Speaking of awkward, the edit also cuts out a good chunk of Poe’s speech to everyone and just leaves it in silence for a good couple of seconds too long until he suddenly speaks again which considering we don’t get idle chatter and sounds of everyone preparing for this battle and the way Poe’s dialogue comes back in? It sounds like Oscar Isaac momentarily forgot he should be giving a speech and that he noticed and picked it up again moments later. It takes what should be a triumphant “Kriff yeah! Let’s go take the First Order down.” kind of moment feel very awkward. But aside from that? This is still the point where the movie really picks up steam.
Act Three
The third act is in this instance what I’d consider to be… in the middle as far as quality is concerned for this edit. In terms of positives, this has some of the strongest positives I can give it. The moment where Lando flies in with so many ships from Star Wars’ history is awesome and all the call signs that are being thrown out really adds to the moment and makes it so much cooler. I love the dialogue the Knights of Ren have with Ben, especially lines like “You’ll join your father soon.” and when Ben gets the lightsaber, I really love the added joke to emphasize the shrug by having one of them say “That’s just not fair.” and what I think was a pitched down Wilhelm scream when one of them gets tossed. I quite like Palpatine just quickly tossing Ben to the side. On the one hand… it’s kind of a little too quick considering he is so important to this trilogy but on the other hand, I love the idea that Palpatine is just so done with Skywalkers and their nonsense that he’s willing to just take him out and get this Sith revival train rolling. It makes it seem like he genuinely learned from ROTJ and that’s something I can respect. I really like the… idea of the enhanced involvement of the Force Ghosts and when they’re shown at a distance, it’s a really cool effect and even if I’m bugged slightly by the close-up shots we get if only because it’s obvious it’s old footage? It’s still a nice idea at least and I even like cutting out Palpatine’s line insulting Rey’s origin as a scavenger since “I am all of the Sith!” is a great enough line for it.
But this is also where the fanedit’s biggest missteps is in. As Luke Skywalker stated, with powerful light comes powerful darkness and in this case? Indeed for the really good decisions made there are a ton of really awkward ones that are there to match it. The pacing kind of goes up and down. Some of it’s understandable as I get it’s editing out the “Rey Palpatine” stuff and there’s only so much you can do with that but in terms of other moments? The scene where the ships come in is edited really awkwardly to where the Wedge cameo and the added “FOR SKYWALKER!” shout wind up having way less impact than they should, there are a lot of odd cuts that are there clearly to speed scenes up and they’re done without much regard for flow and in one instance it messes up a music cue and then… there’s everything involving Palpatine’s death and the Force Ghosts and I want to start with the former because it’s easy to get through. It includes a classic Star Wars music cue at a point where it really throws off the music and from there we get such a rushed clash between Rey and Palpatine which cuts down tons of scenes and it even takes out Rey’s “And I… am all the Jedi.” comeback and instead replaces it with a sharp “NO!” which to me was such a bad call. I know there are mixed opinions regarding “I am all the Jedi.” as a line, especially when considering the movie came out a few months after Avengers Endgame and felt like it was more just trying to ape the famous “I am Iron Man.” moment and doing so very haphazardly instead of being its own thing but I feel when you have nothing there? The moment loses quite a bit of impact. This is Rey vanquishing the Emperor supposedly for good and yet with how the scene’s edited, it feels so off and like it’s just the Emperor being taken down for now and that he’ll back like a villain from Saturday Morning cartoons. Then there’s the Force Ghosts and here it’s indicative of a problem I feel this edit and Ascendant both grapple with to varying extents and that is the utilization of fanservice.
Fanservice in of itself is to be expected when it comes to fanedits and legacy sequels like the Sequel Trilogy and it’s not inherently bad. When done well, fanservice is that nice little reward for longtime fans who have dedicated so much of their time to these series, hence why the term is called “fanservice” and to be fair? This edit has some good instances of fanservice and in the case of Ascendant, near-perfect use of it. For instance, the quick shots of Han’s death we get from Kylo as the mask is being reforged? Those are brilliant uses of it as it gives us an indicator of what’s going through his head as he prepares to do the unthinkable with his father’s home planet. I also love the imagery of Rey standing up with the Force Ghosts faintly being behind her. It’s pushing things a little bit with the close-up but otherwise that’s fanservice done very right as it’s very subtle and it feels like it’s only adding to the moment rather than taking away from it and like careful consideration has been given to when it should show up and even the moment I said is pushing things I kind of forgive because… well this is Episode IX. This is supposed to be the finale to the Skywalker Saga and at least from what Lucasfilm and Disney have said? There seems to be this indication that it also could mean the end of the numbered episode films so I already know I’m gonna try to be more lenient when things get a little fanservicey. However, there does exist a point where fanservice can be pushed too far and I feel it is important to keep one thing in mind. Fanservice being unnecessary is not in of itself a reason to not use it. What you should consider is if the moment itself works without the fanservice and how said fanservice could enhance it. View it from the perspective of an audience member who isn’t in the know about fanservice. If it doesn’t add anything and instead comes across as just being thrown in for the sake of getting a rise out of the audience and is more distracting than great? Maybe that’s a sign the fanservice should either be tweaked or just plain removed. Case in point, having the scene where Han fell into the chasm in Starkiller Base fade in over the destruction of Corellia is an example of that. It’s incredibly distracting, adds nothing to the impact of the moment and instead takes away from it. The sentiment that Kylo is killing the past is already made very clear just through various filmmaking choices and editing, throwing this in just feels like it’s trying to be even more obvious for the slow audience members in the back and get a rise out of the people who saw TFA. As for the Force Ghost moment? Seeing them raise their hands and getting close-ups of them while they’re doing it is a big problem.
I get the idea being presented here and it’s a cool one. It’s showing generations of Jedi getting involved and it gives us a more visual take on what Rey wanted when she said “Be with me.” and the idea that all the Jedi reside with her. That being said? I feel this is an instance where less is more. Having the Ghosts be with her faintly appearing is more than enough to establish that the Force is with her, that generations of Jedi are with her and that they have her back as she ends an evil that has caused them so much grief for good and in a way if I have to justify them appearing in close-ups? It emphasizes that these people are seeing Palpatine off as he is put down for good, this monstrous puppet master that once ended the Jedi Order and orchestrated events which resulted in the demise of several of who those Jedi deemed to be friends and allies in a moment that he thought was going to be the grand return of the Sith was actually them being put down for good and he has to live with the knowledge that not only will the Jedi continue to live on but as an extra kick in the teeth, he is ended by just some scavenger from a backwater planet who will no doubt be the beginning of this next generation of Jedi. Them doing more disrupts this to a considerable degree. This is Rey’s moment, the ultimate test of the next generation as it puts down an ancient powerful evil for good. Luke and Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan and Yoda? They got their moments, they had their movies. They are what Rey has grown beyond and seeing them play a pretty significant role in Palpatine’s defeat in my honest opinion takes from that idea more than it gives.
And unfortunately… that extends to the very final scenes. The kiss between Ben and Rey is still present and while I am not super for or against those two getting together? I really did not feel this was an earned kiss and while I respect that in terms of structure the scene can’t easily be cut? I just have to point out that it’s still not preferred for it to be here and neither is the editing here where it cuts to Leia becoming one with the Force after Ben gives his smile. I still don’t get if visually that’s supposed to imply that Ben and Leia went together or if Ben’s alive. Whatever the case, it feels super clumsy to me and takes away from the moment. Now there are positives to quickly run through. Seeing Bespin again was really cool, the cutting of Poe’s non-verbal request to kiss Zorii worked as did cutting out Lando and Jannah even if it really demonstrates how odd Lando’s inclusion in the movie was in general, I love the move of the holochess scene to the end and I like that we don’t have Rey looking to Luke and Leia. Her still giving herself the name of Skywalker is weird but at the same time I always liked the idea in the sense that it feels like it takes some pages from takes of the King Arthur legend where King Arthur becomes a title that various people would borrow over the years so the idea that Skywalker takes on that same status works for me. But… oh the inclusion of “Be with me.” and Yoda’s dialogue from ESB coupled with how I think the footage of Rey and the old woman are flipped really take away from scenes that really work best when they are quiet and intimate and thus instead of ending off on a very high note? I feel it kind of… well it doesn’t ruin the ending, it’s more like as the movie makes the landing it sprains its ankle badly and you just can’t help but notice it attempting to keep a straight face despite being very clearly in agony.
Verdict
Overall, I feel like the new version of Resurgence is sadly a mixed bag and much more so than the previous version. Plenty of the issues that older version had are still here and for every issue that seems to have been fixed? There appears to be a new flaw that rises up to balance things out. Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of great moments here and even more great ideas that, if put to use in another edit like maybe if some insane team was able to meld both the best of this and Ascendant together we could have the definitive fanedit of TROS. I also understand that a lot of effort went into this and that if I remember correctly, the editor even went through some health issues and trust me, that effort cannot and should never be knocked. It still deserves a watch and I’d highly recommend people do so because the talent behind this really gave it their all and if you have seen it and really love the edit? Keep on doing so, that is totally amazing. But unfortunately, I have to be honest even if others disagree or it comes across as being very harsh. In spite of its efforts, Resurgence in its current form is a very uneven edit. If I have to give it a number score? I’d say it’s a 5.5 out of 10. It has its moments and I don’t regret seeing it but it is far from the ideal edit of this movie and just comes out to be, much like the movie it’s editing, more than a little disappointing.
