SW:RISE OF SKYWALKER Discussion (All the Spoilers Here)

[Ace]

I enjoyed it. Not enough people popped for Wedge in my theater. We got the perfect amount of Lando and a lot more Leia than I expected. The surprise cameo went over really well. The reveal, not as much.

 

[lostinube]

They didn't give us enough time to enjoy (or maybe realize) Wedge's cameo.

On the other hand, man, Samuel L. Jackson has got to be the box office king this year, right?

[just drew]

I liked it. It wasn’t particularly well crafted, but I marked out huge for Lando & the Wedge cameo, Wicket, and Threepio having his hero moments. I liked the new little robot but felt like he had more to do before the movie got edited again. I liked the stuff on Kajimi and thought we could’ve spent more time there.

 

The problem is Palpatine. He just doesn’t fit. All the heavy handed “Sith Fleet!” stuff just doesn’t fit the tone of the franchise. Where did all those acolytes come from? And the crews for those hordes of star destroyers? And the sixteen hour ticking clock felt soooo rushed. Like the spy setup and reveal. 
 

I feel like JJ did his dead level best to fix a no win situation. It’s just mind-boggling to me that the same production company that meticulously planned the Avengers stuff clearly had no long term vision for Star Wars. Idk who’s fault it is, but it’s clearly not happening. It was still a wonderful nostalgia trip, but it wasn’t a good movie. I’ll be interested to see the direction they take Rey in now...

[Control]

This had the most dogshit plot imaginable, but I enjoy lightsaber fights so I guess it’s a 6 out of 10.

[Mister TV]

1 hour ago, just drew said:

I liked it. It wasn’t particularly well crafted, but I marked out huge for Lando & the Wedge cameo, Wicket, and Threepio having his hero moments. I liked the new little robot but felt like he had more to do before the movie got edited again. I liked the stuff on Kajimi and thought we could’ve spent more time there.

 

The problem is Palpatine. He just doesn’t fit. All the heavy handed “Sith Fleet!” stuff just doesn’t fit the tone of the franchise. Where did all those acolytes come from? And the crews for those hordes of star destroyers? And the sixteen hour ticking clock felt soooo rushed. Like the spy setup and reveal. 
 

I feel like JJ did his dead level best to fix a no win situation. It’s just mind-boggling to me that the same production company that meticulously planned the Avengers stuff clearly had no long term vision for Star Wars. Idk who’s fault it is, but it’s clearly not happening. It was still a wonderful nostalgia trip, but it wasn’t a good movie. I’ll be interested to see the direction they take Rey in now...

The blame has to start at the top with Bob Iger and the Disney board, they were looking at the short term rewards the movies would bring in with the long term being all about the integration of Star Wars into the parks.

I know it's kind of Monday Morning Quarterbacking but I wish they would have let Jon Favreau be the creative lead for the new trilogy, The Mandalorian comes off as being inspired by the same things(Japanese cinema, westerns, old time serials and so on) the original trilogy were while the new trilogy just seems to be inspired by Star Wars.

I enjoyed the new trilogy but they all had flaws but that isn't going to keep me from watching them again every few years.

 

[Control]

Both JJ Abrams’ Star Wars movies have the same plot: find a space map that has no reason for existing.

[Chaos]

I've had so many people ask me what I thought, and it's a complicated thing to do without spoiling anything from the film. I'm insanely mixed on this one. I loved The Last Jedi, and this movie going out of its way to rebuke and retcon that film is frustrating, but there are parts of it that are also harrowing.

 

[supremebve]

23 minutes ago, happjack said:

The blame has to start at the top with Bob Iger and the Disney board, they were looking at the short term rewards the movies would bring in with the long term being all about the integration of Star Wars into the parks.

I know it's kind of Monday Morning Quarterbacking but I wish they would have let Jon Favreau be the creative lead for the new trilogy, The Mandalorian comes off as being inspired by the same things(Japanese cinema, westerns, old time serials and so on) the original trilogy were while the new trilogy just seems to be inspired by Star Wars.

I enjoyed the new trilogy but they all had flaws but that isn't going to keep me from watching them again every few years.

 

I have a question, am I the only one who thinks the third movie could have been broken up into a trilogy and been better than this current trilogy?  That way you can expand on Poe's past, and we would actually care about the people from his past that we meet.  We can get a solid answer about any of the 23535346534 things they imply about Finn, but don't ever actually say.  We can have a villain that has a character arc that isn't the same exact character arc from the original trilogy.  I honestly don't really know if you need to see the previous two movies before you watch this movie.  This movie tried to set up so many things and then just ran out of time before they could pay them off.  Honestly, If you had to bet your life on whether or not Finn had feelings for a third of the cast, do you think you could get the answer right? After 3 movies, give me 3 things you know...not think you know, but actually know...about him that have nothing to do with him being a former stormtrooper, which we learned in the first scene of the entire trilogy.  We learned a little about Poe in this movie, but it shoved a series worth of back story into about 15 minutes.  I watched the movie last night, and couldn't tell you the name of anyone who was introduced in this movie...not a single one...and almost all of them had some sort of moment that would have worked better if we cared about them.  We had 3 movies worth of plot, and about 3 minutes worth of character progression.

[Chaos]

Also, for as hard as they tried to pivot from The Last Jedi, the grand irony of Skywalker is that Kylo's "Let the Past Die. Kill it have you have to" line mostly played itself out here.

[RRR]

56 minutes ago, supremebve said:

I have a question, am I the only one who thinks the third movie could have been broken up into a trilogy and been better than this current trilogy?  That way you can expand on Poe's past, and we would actually care about the people from his past that we meet.  We can get a solid answer about any of the 23535346534 things they imply about Finn, but don't ever actually say.  We can have a villain that has a character arc that isn't the same exact character arc from the original trilogy.  I honestly don't really know if you need to see the previous two movies before you watch this movie.  This movie tried to set up so many things and then just ran out of time before they could pay them off.  Honestly, If you had to bet your life on whether or not Finn had feelings for a third of the cast, do you think you could get the answer right? After 3 movies, give me 3 things you know...not think you know, but actually know...about him that have nothing to do with him being a former stormtrooper, which we learned in the first scene of the entire trilogy.  We learned a little about Poe in this movie, but it shoved a series worth of back story into about 15 minutes.  I watched the movie last night, and couldn't tell you the name of anyone who was introduced in this movie...not a single one...and almost all of them had some sort of moment that would have worked better if we cared about them.  We had 3 movies worth of plot, and about 3 minutes worth of character progression.

How about we just break from this whole “Trilogy” mindset if they want to try to be unique and stop living in the past. 

[supremebve]

52 minutes ago, Zartan said:

How about we just break from this whole “Trilogy” mindset if they want to try to be unique and stop living in the past. 

I think my complaints all work within a trilogy that is planned from beginning to end by one person with one vision.  The problem with this trilogy, and this movie in particular, is that it felt like one person started the series, another person took over the entire series, and a third person had a whole other idea to finish the series.  I know that Abrams did both the 1st and the 3rd movies, but I would have never guessed that from watching the movies.  It was like he realized he didn't have any character development in the first movie so he tried to put the stuff he should have put in the first movie in the third and it either doesn't pay off or feels way too rushed.  

[John Austin]

I enjoyed it. My theater marked our with the "....on your left" moment.  That's all I got for now

[EVA]

Just saw it. The first 30 minutes are the most nervous and desperate to please as I’ve ever seen a Star Wars film be.  Even with the bad ones, there was a confidence about what they were and what they were doing.  Once it settles down around the time they find the first Doodad, it gets a little more comfortable in its own skin, but, man, it can’t shake being a J.J. Abrams movie, for good and ill.

[EVA]

3 minutes ago, John Austin said:

I enjoyed it. My theater marked our with the "....on your left" moment.  That's all I got for now

I found it pretty funny that it basically had the same climax as Engame.

[EVA]

Pretty much the only good thing related to the Emperor was the fact that he looked like something out of HELLRAISER

 

EDIT:  I’ll stop at triple posting now.

Edited December 20, 2019 by EVA

[Control]

29 minutes ago, EVA said:

Pretty much the only good thing related to the Emperor was the fact that he looked like something out of HELLRAISER

 

EDIT:  I’ll stop at triple posting now.

Yes! Bad guy from HELLRAISER II for sure.

S’up granddaughter?

Edited December 20, 2019 by Control

[Nomad]

I loved this movie. I enjoyed TLJ, didn’t love it, but I loved this movie.

I liked the story, I liked the action and I loved the cameos. It had just the right balance between big set pieces and emotional touches and it was a lot of fun and that’s what I want from Star Wars.

[quackhell]

I laughed and eye rolled my way through this whole mess of a movie. I am glad some people enjoyed it and found it to be a satisfying conclusion and I am especially glad I don't hold any emotional investment in Star Wars anymore as that died with the original trilogy.

My ideal ending however would have been:

"Rey....(in the emporer's voice Palpatine!!" then she fries the old lady with force lightning. Credits. What a twist!! 

[AxB]

  

On 12/20/2015 at 11:53 PM, AxB said:

If we go with the assumption that Rey was a youngling Luke was training, and he abandoned her on Jakku for her own protection after Kylo killed the rest of his students, that's probably pretty safe. But what if, instead of her being a Skywalker or a Kenobi, he was making sure to isolate her specifically because she has a family connection to the dark side... because she's a Palpatine?

 

Rey is Spanish for King. And a King is sort of like an Emperor, with less territory. 

In 2015, I called who Rey was. 

[John from Cincinnati]

16 minutes ago, AxB said:

  

In 2015, I called who Rey was. 

Thanks for trying to warn us. Forewarned is forearmed. 

[EVA]

Funniest part of the movie was when Rey’s parents were like, “She’s *definitely* not on Jakku anymore,” and apparently Palpatine’s dumbass minions bought it.

[The Natural]

In 1983...

Edited December 21, 2019 by The Natural

[Eivion]

Just got back from the movie. I enjoyed it a good deal though I wouldn't call it good. I think out of the three movies its easily the best at capturing a good amount of the same feelings you got in the original trilogy. its still kind of a mess trying to work its way into a finale, delivering decent characterization with some depth, all while trying to backpedal on a good amount of the TLJ. Kind felt like a movie was missing in between it and what we got which was kind of expected. As much as I loved The Last Jedi, Johnson kind of made a bigger mess with the ending he left them to work with. It did nothing to set any of sort of finale, and Abrams made things worse by really only carrying over the build to Ren and Rey's stories from it. 

18 hours ago, just drew said:

I feel like JJ did his dead level best to fix a no win situation. It’s just mind-boggling to me that the same production company that meticulously planned the Avengers stuff clearly had no long term vision for Star Wars. Idk who’s fault it is, but it’s clearly not happening. It was still a wonderful nostalgia trip, but it wasn’t a good movie. I’ll be interested to see the direction they take Rey in now...

They desperately needed a Kevin Feige.

17 hours ago, happjack said:

I know it's kind of Monday Morning Quarterbacking but I wish they would have let Jon Favreau be the creative lead for the new trilogy, The Mandalorian comes off as being inspired by the same things(Japanese cinema, westerns, old time serials and so on) the original trilogy were while the new trilogy just seems to be inspired by Star Wars.

The Mandalorian is a smaller story and Favreau actually had Clone Wars/Rebels/Resistance's Dave Filoni by his side to help him out with it. I'm not sure Favreau could have really done the job with a whole trilogy.

15 hours ago, supremebve said:

I have a question, am I the only one who thinks the third movie could have been broken up into a trilogy and been better than this current trilogy?  That way you can expand on Poe's past, and we would actually care about the people from his past that we meet.  We can get a solid answer about any of the 23535346534 things they imply about Finn, but don't ever actually say.  We can have a villain that has a character arc that isn't the same exact character arc from the original trilogy.  I honestly don't really know if you need to see the previous two movies before you watch this movie.  This movie tried to set up so many things and then just ran out of time before they could pay them off.  Honestly, If you had to bet your life on whether or not Finn had feelings for a third of the cast, do you think you could get the answer right? After 3 movies, give me 3 things you know...not think you know, but actually know...about him that have nothing to do with him being a former stormtrooper, which we learned in the first scene of the entire trilogy.  We learned a little about Poe in this movie, but it shoved a series worth of back story into about 15 minutes.  I watched the movie last night, and couldn't tell you the name of anyone who was introduced in this movie...not a single one...and almost all of them had some sort of moment that would have worked better if we cared about them.  We had 3 movies worth of plot, and about 3 minutes worth of character progression.

After the TLJ they desperately needed to drop their devotion to a trilogy. Even extending things out to one extra movie would have helped them out a tremendous amount.

On 12/20/2019 at 1:02 AM, lostinube said:

Speaking of, if you read the Aftermath books, the one carryover from the books does not have a happy ending. And it was done to make us lose hope and then cheapened by having the hope reignited not even a minute later.

Never read Aftermath, but are you talking about Snap? I only know about him via the Poe Dameron comic, but that kind of pissed me off. 

[MonteCarl]

Left the movie entirely underwhelmed. The movie never clicked with me at any point. I enjoyed a lot of individual moments throughout, but the overarching story was lacking and I never connected with it. It was like JJ made his sequel to Force Awakens and then this film as well and just crammed it all in there. It was definitely his response to Last Jedi. Oh you didn't do anything with Knights of Ren in your movie? Well here they are! Rey's parents aren't anybody? Wrong! She's a Palpatine! It was too much movie. Too much happening. Too many new characters showing up with none fleshed out enough to mean anything. But again, that's not to say I hated it. I didn't. A lot of really good moments. But ultimately, as a whole, I'm disappointed. 

[EVA]

6 hours ago, Eivion said:

 As much as I loved The Last Jedi, Johnson kind of made a bigger mess with the ending he left them to work with. It did nothing to set any of sort of finale, and Abrams made things worse by really only carrying over the build to Ren and Rey's stories from it. 

 

I’ve always disagreed with the idea that Johnson made a mess.  If anything, he tidied up the narrative significantly and honed in on the best, most significant conflict in the new trilogy (Rey vs. Kylo).  He basically teed up whoever came after him to tell a simple story focused on character—Kylo tries to kill her (which is what he SAID he was going to do at the end of TLJ, no bizarre bargain with Palpatine necessary) and Rey tries to stop him and save him.

The fact that J.J. couldn’t conceive of a way to tell the story of Ben’s redemption without needing to airdrop in a ton of new story and An Even Bigger Bad to unify the two of them against just speaks to his lack of imagination.