I have been thinking a little more about Finn’s arc recently since Poppasketti released his own edit, heavily inspired by Hal’s, with some additional ideas from darthrush and others.
I wanted to share this video by Lessons from the Screenplay (which has probably been shared already and I’ve forgotten) that reiterated some thoughts on Finn’s arc. I’m sort of using this as a basis for how improvements to his arc should be approached.
https://youtu.be/GYN2Lp9oHMk
I think poppasketti and Hal both do a great job at finding ways to improve it.
The deleted scene of him stating that his allegiance is not with the Resistance is important to make his arc clear, for example, shouldn’t have been left on the cutting room floor. I wanted to present another moment, that if can be modified, could also help improve his arc.
This specifically relates to when Rose is dragging him to the brig. I think it would help his arc if it felt like going through with this mission was a choice he made, either help the Resistance or be stuck in the brig. As it is, Finn seems quick to recruit himself for this mission.
I’m still not sure if this could work, but in my head I think this would be the simplest solution:
Rose: But who knows where the breaker room on a Star Destroyer is?
Finn looks at the brig, then looks back at Rose.
Could either continue the scene as is, or cut straight to the next scene.
This would require some vfx work to make these shots though. First, you would need to piece together a wide shot in order to make an insert shot of the brig door.
You would also need to find/create shots of Finn looking toward the door, and looking up at Rose. This might be difficult because the scene cuts back and forth quickly, and never sits very long on someone not speaking.
Alternatively, when Rose poses that question to Finn, if any decent shot of Finn not talking for a moment exists, it could be used to give the impression that Finn is seeing a way out, and cutting straight to the next scene allows the audience to imagine Finn making a deal with Rose.
This is the best idea I have at the moment but maybe someone can see alternatives that I’m missing. But I think it would help make Finn’s motivations clearer in the film though, and have a stronger arc as well.
This second idea is a little more relevant since it is pretty debated, and something Hal and poppa’s edit deal with differently.
I think the work done on the Finn’s sacrifice scene with poppa’s is a really great alternative to the theatrical. I do think though some people could still argue that we are losing a final lesson Finn learns from Rose in that moment by removing her saving him. It’s overall importance won’t really be made clear until IX, but if others felt like doing something with that scene, but still keeping that character moment, I have thought of another option for it.
With the idea that Finn gets shot down, what if we maintained the build up of Finn about to get shot down, maybe see/hear more shots pass him during his approach, finally one of them aims and fires, but Rose comes in at the last minute and knocks him out of the way just in time, and in the wide shot we see a shot or two pass them by and hit the ground?
I think partially why the scene originally bothered a lot of people is that Finn stopping the canon is sort of ambiguous, so the idea that even if there was a slim chance that Finn could have stopped it, it feels like Rose damned the Resistance. But if it is made as clear as possible that Finn would have died, it would make Rose’s actions seem not as selfish. If you focus more on him not reaching it before getting shot down like the rest of the skimmers, the futility of Finn’s actions would be undeniable, I think.
Originally I tried to think of ways of having the canon immediately fire as soon as they’re out of the way, but I think this idea would work better.
I know this moment still probably has a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, but I wanted to present another alternative that required less changes to the film but still provided the necessary change to fix the problem many have with it, which I think this change could do.
The reason I keep coming back to this is because I have a feeling the lessons Finn learns in this film will be important to his role in IX. More specifically, I think his newfound role in the Resistance, and this idea of “saving” rather than “killing” will be important for Finn in a potential plot point of him saving the Stormtroopers in IX. This is just a wild guess, but I feel like the story is building up to this. If Finn is just simply a Resistance soldier and what he learned from 8 doesn’t carry over, then I guess it won’t matter as much.
I’m personally curious if that slight change could make that scene work.
I also hope in time to see more edits that try to modify certain scenes for improvement rather than cutting them altogether, like the Fathier chase, but I do understand why many on here choose to remove it!